The Danger of Christianity

There are a great number of Americans who now, in retrospect, believe our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan to be a failure. Many want our troops back home. I can certainly understand where these people are coming from and I sympathize with them. To date we have lost more than 6,000 lives when you tally both so called "wars." Military involvement is dangerous and it not only affects the soldiers, but their families, friends, and neighbors as well.

On the other hand, we respect our troops and hold them in high regard for standing up for our nation. In the past their efforts have been the ones that ensured peace and freedom here in the States, depending on the war you reference. There is no doubt that war has taken many casualties throughout the ages, and unfortunately so. It is a terrible thing.

However, as Christians, we often overlook the danger of our faith because of living in the West where Christians are not physically persecuted. We do not think about the staggering statistics! On average, 171,000 Christians are killed every year simply because of belief in Christ. These are the ones who are on the front lines battling heresy and false religions overseas where Christians aren't treated so well. They are not backing down, denouncing our God, for the sake of life on this side of Heaven.

We owe a great deal of gratitude to these people. They are the brave ones standing in the face of danger and often death, but not backing down. One Christian has even made big headlines lately because he is a pastor being held prisoner in Iran due to converting to Christianity. His death sentence will be judged on whether or not he converted before the age of 15 because of sharia law. This is apparently the determined "age of accountability" within Islam.

This is not new to Christianity and it is not only a treatment we receive from Islamic regimes. Rome, during the times of the early church, persecuted and put to death numerous Christians. Their deaths are fascinating. Diaries belonging to Roman soldiers have been discovered and translated describing members of the early church. Over and over the diaries refer to the love and selflessness early Christians had toward one another in particular. The soldiers were dumbfounded by the fact that Christians were eager to jump in front of a brother or sister to take a spear and save others' lives.

For me the most fascinating story is about Perpetua, a young 22 year old nursing mother. She and a friend, Felicity, were placed into the Coliseum with two heifers. Roman rules required animals that were similar in gender to be the beasts for women. At first they were thrown into the Coliseum nude and Perpetua is described to have still been dripping milk from her breast due to nursing her child. The Romans thus demanded she and Felicity be clothed so they would not feel as guilty. They were. If that were not wild enough, when the heifers first attacked, ripping their clothing, Perpetua and Felicity were more concerned with modesty, attempting to cover themselves up where their clothing had been ripped, than they were with survival.

When will Western Christianity mimic this kind of devout nature to Christendom?

My point in saying all of this is that the Iraq and Afghanistan efforts are a tragedy regardless of whether one is for or against them. Either way lives are being lost; Americans and others as well. Though 6,000 may not be a lot in comparison to previous wars, every life lost is a tragedy and should not be rejoiced in. Even the lives of the terrorists, such as Osama bin Laden. Death is the direct result of sin. Many are dying to end up in Christless eternities everyday. This is a tragedy, not something to rejoice in, even when it comes to our enemies.

We must be thankful for those who lost their lives due to persecution or the defense of global freedom, but we also need to be advocate for equal treatment of Christians and all of humanity globally. In a very real sense, there is an ignored genocide taking place in the 10/40 window of Christians who are living in either Islamic or communist nations. We need to be standing up for those brothers and sisters overseas just as the early church did for one another, in prayer and in deed.

Every morning we awake in the comfort and safety of our homes, we ought to be sobered by the fact that others overseas are not so fortunate. I am not completely convinced this persecution is a terrible thing in one sense. Those who are being persecuted for their faith are not weak in it. They know the reality of Christ and they are willing to die here because they know what awaits them on the other side.

In the West we gripe about prayer being taken out of school and evolution being taught in the classrooms. Elsewhere, Christians do not know if their kids will another day to see a classroom. I am not saying we should ignore our faith being denigrated in the public square, but it could be much worse.

In America in particular, we do not have to worry about whether or not we will be killed for believing in Christ yet we still back down from the truth of Scripture because we simply do not want to offend anyone. We have created civil religion in the name of political correctness and have become like pagans, accepting all kinds of sin as okay, claiming Scripture is out of date, needing to be made relative once again.

Today I challenge you to meditate on how Westernized your faith has become. Consider reforming what you believe to stand for biblical truth rather than what culture deems as truth. Christians in America do not face death for believing in Christ, so why is it we are more likely to denounce the teachings of Christ than those in the Middle East or elsewhere in Asia? Seek truth, it will set you free!