Blessed Are Those Who Are Persecuted

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Now, it hasn’t always been this way. We need only to look at the Book of Acts and see that the church was the focal point of everyday living. The church was an absolute necessity in the life of the believer. It was necessary for survival. This is the way God intended.

Go to the early church fathers and see the history of the early church. Against all odds, against all forces, the church persevered. In the midst of rampant persecution, the church flourished. Why? It was necessary for survival!

It is interesting to read of the frontier church here in America. It played a pivotal role in the development of America. It was said that a church member who did wrong would rather face the sheriff than the pastor. You see, the church was a vital necessity in the lives of the early settlers.

But then, an interesting phenomenon began to appear. Political socialism was introduced during the Great Depression, and the government began to do for people what the church used to do. The politicians created a cradle-to-the-grave program. Every need that a person had was to be met by big brother government. The pursuit of happiness became the cult of modern America.

There was once a time when the church was called "the Queen of Science." It promoted and cultivated scientific endeavor. Then secularism was introduced and soon science and the church were separated. Soon science prided itself in its godless secularism.

There was a time too when healing was a major aspect of the church. The church, as it was created to do, was meeting the needs of its parishioners, and in so doing, created what is called "medical science." But somehow, in some way, there was the feeling that medicine was too important to leave within the church, so the church abdicated its role in medicine.

But, in spite of all of this, it remained that the heart of the church was to touch the soul of man. The birthright of the church is to minister to its own and in so doing, touch the lives of all. This was true, that is, until psychology came along and claimed for itself man’s soul. In the guise of a science, psychology laid out its claim, and evangelicals fell all over themselves in selling the birthright of the church for a mess of psychological porridge.

What then? The government meets every material need. The medical world meets every physical need. Psychology meets every emotional need. (Or at least this is how it appears to most.) And since science cannot measure the spirit, it doesn’t count. It would seem there aren’t even any crumbs left over for the church. It is a small wonder that the church isn’t necessary for survival -- that is, in America anyway.

It’s not this way in Nigeria. I know; I was there. I saw firsthand how the church flourishes when it is necessary for people’s survival. It’s not that way in other countries – for whenever the church becomes a necessity, it explodes.

I grew up an atheist in a religious America. Now, I wasn’t an atheist because of any mental reasoning or intellectual prowess. I was an atheist because no one in my family knew Christ personally. Church was not part of my family life.

It was while I was in the army in Okinawa that someone confronted me with my need for Christ. Skeptical at first, I soon came to the point of seeing Jesus as my only hope. And so it was that one evening I knelt down on the beach on the East China Sea and surrendered my life to Christ.

The next year was an exhilarating year. Personally discipled by godly missionaries, I grew and matured in my faith. It wasn’t easy being a Christian in the barracks, but because the church there in Okinawa, such as it was, was necessary, it abounded. God was at work.

I looked forward to coming home to America. I believed that, since most Americans were Christians, it would be much easier to live the Christian life. Dear me, but was I mistaken! I discovered that with so many so-called Christians, Christ wasn’t a way of life. Rather, the Christianity I discovered here in America was a joke compared to what I had experienced overseas.

By the way, the men who were held in captivity in Vietnam found the same thing. The faith that sustained them through all of that nightmare was found to be wanting here in America when they returned.

Back in the States, I soon found that I was in over my head. My family was opposed to my newfound faith. My wife was aghast at my Christian activities. It was when I was going down for the third time, spiritually speaking, that we found a little church, a church that became necessary for my survival.

What a relief! What a change! I found a group of like-minded believers who had gathered together to honor and exalt the Lord Jesus. To all of us the church was vitally necessary, and because it was, it prospered.

Now, God has a recipe to make the church necessary for survival. We find it in the Acts of the Apostles. Look at the life of Paul. Whenever he spoke, it would seem there was either a revival or a riot – one or the other. But that’s the recipe. If the church is to flourish, if it is to be all that God intended it to be, then there must be either revival or riot.

However, it is really the riot end of things that makes the church truly necessary for survival. You see, persecution always brings out the best in God’s people. They are forced to band together, to work together, to live together. Gone are the nitpicking things that separate. Persecution breeds unity.

"Blessed are you," Jesus said, "When men revile you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely on account of me." I would rather see revival – and it is coming as sure as you are reading this right now – but just as certain, persecution is coming – intense, severe persecution. Revival might precede it and prepare us for it, but the church in America will see and experience the hostility and hatred of the masses.

And when it comes, it will be a time, not for sadness, but for joy. It will be a time for rejoicing, a glorious time. For it will reveal the mighty hand of God as never before in brining this country to its knees. As the blood of the martyrs spilled on the Roman arenas brought about a great outpouring of God’s Spirit, so will the persecution of the church in America bring about a similar outpouring. "Blessed are those who are persecuted . . ."