Today
thousands of Christians will die, tomorrow thousands more will join
them. I am not referring to the men, women, and children who are just
the inevitable casualties of the daily grind; cancers, mystery
deaths, beatings, car accidents, and such. I am eluding to the poor
souls who are exterminated daily for their faith in Jesus Christ.
Those who have decidedly and willfully accepted the fact that God
gave his only Son, Jesus Christ, to die a miserable death on the
cross, to absolve us from our sins; are being systematically
destroyed on an hour by hour basis.
Christians
are facing the most precarious time in history, not just in third
world nations like Africa, but developing countries such as India,
Pakistan, and China to name a few. It is alarming. As a devout
follower of Jesus Christ and a witness unto the blessings and
tremendous love he has brought me, it is hard to be objective.
However the facts speak for themselves. Christian persecution is
nothing new as you read this a women in Pakistan is being jailed for
blasphemy. Shamim Bibi, a 26 year old mother of five was arrested
after her neighbors had accused her of uttering remarks against
Mohamed. In Pakistan, a country the United States taxpayers give
hundreds of millions of dollars to, blasphemy against Mohamed is
punishable by imprisonment or death. In Nigeria Churches are being
burned, children are being raped and murdered.
Although
I would certainly enjoy continuing to enlighten and inform everyone
as to the suffering and indignity Christians battle everyday, this
short writing is in regards to another sinister development.
Physical, economic, emotional and mental persecution aside;
Christians face a daunting task with life in general. We wholly rely
on our religious leaders, sometimes with blind abandonment, to direct
us toward righteousness and obedience. We often place our salvation
in their hands, for we believe that God has entrusted them with our
spiritual welfare. In most cases this is true, God has chosen good
men and women of faith to spread his Holy Word and teach those of us
who yearn to be free. The only true liberty and freedom is through
our faith in God.
Even
those who the church places in authoritarian positions struggle with
sin, the most ardent pastor or priest often find themselves asking
for forgiveness. At the end of the day they are only humans, fallible
and weak. Keeping that in mind, it is those who assume leadership
roles in our churches, who should be constantly be aware of their
motives.
Recently
a friend of mine who has been a valuable member of a local church
doing ministry work and being a role model for other women, came
under fire when she decided to live with her fiance. The pastor and
the deacon disapproved of her decision and threatened to remove her
from her role in the church. She pleaded for their understanding and
found no quarter. Although the bible does not state that living
together before marriage is a sin, it was their church doctrine that
opposed it.
Together
with parishioners from the local church they alienated and maligned
her as if it were suddenly righteous to condemn a person for
disagreeing with their desired social order. It wasn't enough that
they removed her from her beloved ministry work, but they chastised
her for her decision and tried to garner support from her peers. The
frightening truth was that even though they had grown close for
years, when the young woman didn't comply with their orders they
abandon her. Compassion and understanding was not afforded to her and
instead she was served hostility and anger from people she had grown
to trust and admire.
Thank
goodness this woman's faith had endured, to find out all she had
known for close to three years had been contingent on her obedience
to the church, not the Lord. She has grown exponentially through this
adversity and pain, but what of those whose faith is not so concrete.
In United States there is a war for the soul of the people, not just
between God and Satan, but the Godless progressive dictatorship vying
for control of our government and its people. They are removing all
reminiscence of the Christian values in which this country was
founded upon. Not all the early pioneers of this nation gave their
life to Jesus Christ, but the vast majority understood that for our
nation to remain free and prosperous Godly laws and traditions must
be adhered to and recognized.
Today
Christians from all denominations should build on their common belief
in Christ. It is extremely difficult for people of faith to navigate
through this ever growing secular society and all of its deadly
trappings. When I hear disappointing situations such as what my
friend has endured, it becomes hard not to be skeptical of these
people we put so much trust into. Leaders who have lost their way,
they have become so diluted with their robotic doctrine, so self
absorbed that they have forgotten what's important, like salvation,
understanding, and love. Christians are being slaughtered every
moment for their admiration and declaration to Christ, yet these mere
men remain concerned about their petty allegiance to the small world
they have created. At a time when we should encourage fellow
Christians and save our dying people, situations like this reveal
just how far we are from God.
Moral
of the story: Follow God, not mans belief of what God might want. The
church doesn't decide sin, God does. Love your fellow Christian with
all your heart and never give up on them, because God doesn't give up
on you!
