Introduction
Paul Chappell, the senior pastor of a church in California stated this on the idea of persecution, “The devil doesn’t persecute those who aren’t making a godly difference in the world.” It is beyond evident that there is still severe persecution going on around the world. The question that is found quite often asked is, “How is it affecting you,” or “What are you doing for the Kingdom of God?” The very definition of persecution according to Merriam Webster dictionary is, “the condition of being persecuted, harassed, or annoyed.” We as Christians are promised persecution by Jesus in the Bible. We are told we will face hardships and will have to take a stand for what is right even though life may be difficult and some can face punishments harsh as death. There are even over 40 stories of persecution documented in just the Bible.
In this research paper, the writer will focus on the topic of persecution that has happened in the past, that is currently happening, and how Christians should react. Along with bringing in various stories of both well-known events of persecution, and not so well known events, many biblical scholars and writers will have their opinions and worries shared in this research paper. Relating to scripture, Acts 8 will be the main scriptural references used, but other books of the Bible will be pulled in to make the point of this paper more clear. Things not included in this paper will be things such as; the writer’s personal examples of persecution. The writer will maintain a focused paper based on facts on research done throughout the trimester. The conclusion of this paper will include some practical information on how Christians today can live through persecution and still advance the Kingdom of God.
Persecution in the Early Church
There are several examples of persecution in the Early Church. Some of the major events were the following: John and Peter being taken by the Sadducees, and being beaten, Saul imprisoning several hundred Christians, Paul being close to death by stoning, and Paul in Jerusalem planned to be executed, but made his case known before the emperor. Acts 4:18-21 says, “Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened.” They were being persecuted for simply preaching and teaching the name of Jesus, but then God showed up, healed a man over the age of forty and they were released. The most inspiring story is in Acts 8, mainly verses 3 through 4. “But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison. Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.” People were being arrested and thrown into prison, for simply being a follower of Christ, yet they still go out and do the work of Christ. Despite knowing they would be persecuted and possibly killed, they desired to advance the Kingdom of God.
Persecution in the Early Church lasted over 130 years, with emperor after emperor going out of their ways to end Christianity. God cannot be stopped though. As seen in the early stories stated, God still moved despite the pain. Why the persecution though? To fully understand or even have a miniscule grasp of why, the reader must understand the Romans ideas on religion and government. Almost every Roman was completely dedicated to the state, and if something dared to stand in the way of that, it had to be ended. Could it be that the rulers of that time saw Christianity as a threat to their ungodly ways of rule? Perhaps, the 14 rulers during that time period were just so hardened to the idea of Christ and His love that they believed they didn’t need Him and they could be okay without Him. Scripture after scripture proves the opposite point of view of those rulers. We as broken individuals need the love of Christ to come down and wreck us so we turn back to our Creator.
Persecution in the present day and age
Unfortunately, persecution hasn’t let up since back then, if anything, it has increased and the amount of persecuted people has nearly tripled for the last 60 or so years. One can find stories of persecution in the news, in books, and also in Hollywood’s take through movies.
Focusing on the news, according to Christianity Today, in late March of 2016 in Lahore, a suicide bomber caused more than 70 to be killed, over 300 injured during an Easter celebration. The most heartbreaking part of this story is most of those killed were just young “children enjoying an Easter weekend outing,” The Pope soon following this terrible attack pushed the idea of peace among the people and nation even more. One thing not often told in this story was that there were also several people of the Muslim faith joined in with Christians celebrating. They put aside differences and had fellowship.
Another story that has recently been on the news was a story on “German refugees experiencing harsh treatment from their Muslim neighbors.” According to the news article, over 40,000 in just that one area were facing persecution. It is also reported that a majority of those did convert to Christianity from Islam, therefore their persecutors “disowned” them. Yet again, despite the harm being done to their homes, communities, and families, the local pastor expects major growth in the faith and number of conversions. The amount of trust in God, in other words, “faith,” shown by these men, women, and even children is beyond inspiring to Christians in America. Americans should find themselves blessed to be in a country that puts emphasis on “freedom of religion.”
Books based on Christian persecution
During the time spent researching this topic, the writer has found that there are several books on the topic. Two books found the most interesting are Persecution: How Liberals Are Waging War against Christians, and Religion on Trial. Both books focus not only on how the government is trying to intervene with Christianity and religion in general, but also how it is being seemingly attacked from all sides.
In David Limbaugh’s book, Persecution: How Liberals Are Waging War against Christians, the opening sentence is one of the most profound, weighty statements one interested in such a topic could find. “Christian expression is treated as profanity and worse in many public schools and certain federal courts across the nation.” He later goes on to tell many stories about young people praying in their schools over their lunch such as Kayla, a girl who had disciplinary action taken against her for simply praying out loud over her food at lunch time. Kayla’s parents then went on to file a lawsuit against Saratoga Spring’s district which was settled in the acknowledgment that Kayla had the “right to pray out loud, so long as she did not disturb her classmates or invite them to pray with her.”
In James Jarnicki’s book, Religion on Trial: A Handbook with Cases, Laws, and Documents, He opens in his first part with another weighty statement, “Although the United States was founded on the principle of freedom or religion, religion has been “on trial” in America almost from the first days of the republic.” After giving example after example, case after case, documents after documents, he concludes his book with the thought/mindset that being a Christian in today’s times is truly testing, will surely receive judgement, may one day be outlawed, but is worth the crown that one will receive in Heaven.
Persecution amongst different Christian denominations
Unfortunately, not all Christians get along as Christ commands His bride to. There is much disagreement among the different denominations which quite often causes one denomination to have a skewed view of another. The two denominations that will now be discussed are the different views between two well-known denominations; Baptists and Pentecostals. These two denominations are quite opposite when one truly sits down and does research into each individual statement of beliefs and doctrinal statements.
Pentecostals tend to be quite charismatic in their services due to their belief in “a personal experience of God through baptism and the Holy Spirit.” While Baptists tend to stick to a more strict scheduled service. Many Christian comedians also have parts in their skits mocking the differences between the two groups. For example, well known comedian Tim Hawkins has a particular skit in which he gives examples of different hand-raising types amongst different churches he has attended. At a skit in March that I attended, which happened to be in an Assembly of God church, one could feel an unspoken tension during this particular part of the skit, that is until he gave everyone gathered bubbles to blow during a song he performed. Truly Christ did not mean for denominations to form, did He? He pushed unity, especially among the Early Church. Is it because He knew there would be persecution, especially increasingly so much as time went on? Is it because Jesus simply knew that there would be a “time such as this,” that nothing would be more important that His bride coming together to stand for His Kingdom?
Practical Application
There is no doubt that there is still persecution directed towards Christians today. One lesson that Christians today can learn from the Early Church is that no matter what God cannot be stopped. Despite the laws that may be put in place, despite the people killed for His cause, despite the government intervening in almost everything faith related, the movement of God cannot and will not be stopped. Matthew 16:18 just gives the reader a glimpse of strong God truly is, “This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out.” In each story told earlier, the persecution did not cause God to stop moving. If anything, more people came to know Christ due to the actions of a few men and women who chose to take a stand. Now does that mean run and go look for chances to be persecuted? Absolutely not, as any person who has lived in the faith for any amount of time knows, the time will come, sooner or later when people will disagree with what you believe in. But you have to make that choice to trust God with your life, and trust that He knows what is best. Psalms 46, (verse 10 specifically), is well known for the following statement, “He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Something that needs to be realized by all who are facing persecution or will face persecution is that this was not a suggestion, this is acknowledgement of Christ’s power. The God who made the world, who knows the amount of hairs on each and every persons head, has made His mind up on that His name will be known throughout the earth. The government cannot stop God. Laws cannot stop God. Persecution against God’s children will not stop the movement. The only thing that could make life for Christians harder is the lack of unity. This thought often comes into question, “Is the church unified to the point where it can withstand persecution?” With several different denominations how will Christians in general face persecution? How do they stand against the government and fight for God’s Kingdom? What needs to drive this type of movement is prayer, and complete commitment to God and seeing His will come to past. If there is constant bickering amongst groups how will the world even be able to differentiate Christians from non-believers? In this day and age unity needs to be the one thing the church, despite differences of opinions, focuses on. Unity is formed by raising up generations after generations that seek the face of God in everything they do. Unity is formed by prayer. A.T. Pierson says this on unity through prayer, “There has never been a spiritual awakening in any country or locality that did not begin in united prayer.” Is it possible that through unity and prayer, those finding themselves persecuted will have the strength to stand? Surely it is so. God is able to do exceedingly more than what anyone could ever think of. That I what Christians need to constantly remind themselves of when faced with persecution.
Conclusion
In this paper the reader learned what persecution was, how it affected the Early Church, and how it is affecting the church today. Among the list of previously stated things, the reader discovered particular events in recent times of Christians facing persecution and how they reacted to it. Events such as John and Peter being beaten all the way to German Christians having to hide in basements to avoid being attacked, or worse killed. Books such as Religion on Trial were brought to the reader’s attention along with examples of how the church needs to operate in unity and prayer despite differences amongst denominations to truly shake the world for the Kingdom. The paper then concluded with practical application to help the reader learn how to face persecution when it did rear its ugly head. The paper mainly remained focused on the topic of persecution throughout, while giving small detour lectures on topics relating to persecution such as towards the middle of the paper when the writer discussed Tim Hawkins and his comedy skit that poked fun at the different denominations.