Christian Persecution is coming to America, though it may take a different form than you’d expect. With this in mind, how are we to live as followers of Christ?
By many standards, American Christians have easy lives.
American Christians do not live beneath the dictatorship of Kim Jong-un. They are not at risk of being thrown into labor camps or executed for their faith.
American Christians do not live in the tumultuous country of Afghanistan, where the Taliban threaten to wipe out anyone who doesn’t conform to their ideals rooted in an aggressive strain of Islamic fundamentalism. In Afghanistan, Christians must be wary at all times, for anyone – a neighbor, a friend, an acquaintance – might turn them over to their enemies.
American Christians do not live under the harsh oppression of Somalia, which is dominated by conflict and by hatred of non-Muslims. In Somalia, there is no such thing as a ‘safe place’ for those who follow Christ. Every day brings the potential of imprisonment or even execution for these Believers.
Truly, American Christians have it better than many other Christians.
In the United States, a follower of Jesus is free to go to church, attend Bible study, and evangelize on the streets. A follower of Christ is free to talk with non-believing friends, family, and co-workers.
Christians can advertise their faith openly, and there are no laws on the books that prevent them from doing so, except in specific circumstances.
But is this changing?
I believe it is – at least in a way.
A Growing Hostility
200 years ago, the United States was a nation composed overwhelmingly of Christians.
Of course, not everyone lived out their faith. As is the case in all periods of time, from the time of Christ to the present, there were those who attended services on Sunday but did terrible things the other six days of the week. There were pretenders – and probably a great number of them.
But by and large, the United States of two centuries ago was a Christian culture. At least in name.
Life revolved around the church, and to not attend church was to be seen as an outsider or even a pariah.
Today, things have, well… changed.
According to a Gallup poll, the percentage of Americans who counted themselves members of a church, synagogue, or mosque fell below 50% for the first time in survey history in 2020.
According to a 2021 study done by Statista, only 22% of Americans attend church or synagogue services every week. In comparison, those who ‘seldom’ or ‘never’ attend make up a combined 56% of the American population. A majority.
Whereas church attendance was socially expected as recent as the early 1900s, the tables have since turned dramatically. Today, church attendance is seen by many as strange, outdated, or even a complete waste of time.
Why would someone go to church on Sunday? Don’t we only get 2 days a week off, anyway?
To those of us who follow Christ, these attitudes are not new. Even fifty years ago, one would have been able to feel the metaphorical turning of the tide. America’s shift away from Christianity has been long in the making, and a consistent drop in religiosity has been observed since the end of World War II.
But that drop-off has radically accelerated over the last 10-20 years.
In that same span of time, there has been a growing cultural hostility towards Christendom.
One particular pop-culture example that I can think of right off the top of my head occurs in the wildly-popular movie Avengers: Infinity War, where Peter Quill (aka “Starlord”) is asked, ‘What master do you serve?’
To which Quill sarcastically replies, ‘What am I supposed to say, Jesus?’
Quill’s retort – which is loaded with mockery – could be seen as a sort of dig towards Christianity. To use a contemporary buzzword, it is what we might term a “microaggression.”
But I digress.
Pop-cultural expressions of disdain towards Christians aside, direct opposition towards Christians has taken many other forms.
Today, it is not uncommon for those who use Facebook to see others – perhaps even those they consider friends – sharing overtly anti-Christian material. This has become especially prevalent since the Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe v. Wade, as some pro-choice advocates have directed intense hostility towards ‘conservative’ or ‘evangelical’ Christians.
Additionally, further pressures are arising in society that make it increasingly difficult for Christians to live easy lives.
For many Christians, co-workers or classmates are creating hostile environments where faith is mocked or even openly derided. For other Christians, required activities at work or school directly test their faith. To participate in some of these activities would be equivalent to allying with sin.
These things are becoming more common with time, and furthermore, the trend is accelerating. The America of today (September 2022) is far more hostile to Biblical Christianity than it was even ten years ago.
Truly, Christian persecution in America is on the rise. And with that being said, there are some things we must discuss.
A Qualifier: Christian Persecution in America is Still Mild
Some who read this article might immediately say, ‘Persecution? What are you talking about? American Christians have it easy. They are still privileged and protected.’
To that I will say the following: you are right.
When I write about Christian persecution in America, I am not likening said persecution to that dealt with by those in harsh Islamic regimes or at the hands of Marxist governments. As followers of Jesus, we still lead historically-easy lives.
But we are noticing a shift. There is a pattern change.
Instead of overt government persecution, American Christians are experiencing cultural hostility. Faith in Christ will not get an American killed, jailed, or even fined (at least not yet). Faith in Christ won’t get you formally blacklisted or forced underground, without friend or companion.
Compared to what many Christians in world history have had to deal with, we still have an easy road.
But the fact is that life is getting tougher for American Christians – and it’s only going to get tougher, not easier.
But such a difficult life need not be one filled only with heartache and pain.
Rather, it can also be a life lived to the glory of God in a way that might not otherwise be possible if persecution were not taking place.
The Blessing of Persecution
The New Testament was written to a persecuted church.
In the earliest days of the Christian Church, persecution came from both the Romans and the Jews. After all, Jesus was turned in by Jews and crucified by Romans. Following the death of Christ, the Church spent its earliest days in the crosshairs of hatred and violence from both the Pharisees and the Romans.
Consequently, persecution was a big topic in Scripture. In Matthew 5, Jesus said,
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:10)
Luke 6:26 has a slightly different take on this, as Christ says,
“Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets. (Luke 6:22-23)
Later on in Luke 6, Jesus says,
“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them." (Luke 6:27-31)
In Christ’s day as in our own, the natural human response to persecution was to either (1) run away, or (2) fight. How much more true is this when persecution runs deep – when it jeopardizes our lives or the lives of our loved ones?
I think we really need to stop and put the words of our Savior into context here.
In the decades following Christ’s death, Christians were slaughtered for their faith. I doubt that many Americans (unless they’ve been overseas to a persecuted nation) truly understand what this was like. There are men and women who literally had friends, spouses, children, and parents stolen from them and murdered… all because they confessed Jesus Christ as Lord.
Imagine if one of your loved ones was murdered simply because they followed Christ. How would that make you feel?
I’m sure the words ‘angry,’ ‘sad,’ or even ‘vengeful’ wouldn’t even begin to describe it.
We as American Christians get angry when an atheist reviles God on Facebook. And, perhaps, rightly so. But this is absolutely nothing in comparison to what the first Christians went through.
And yet, Jesus’ words spoke to them just as much as they speak to us.
Jesus called upon the first century Church to bless and pray for their persecutors.
Seriously?
Bless and pray for those who just drug your best friend off to prison? Bless and pray for those who got you fired from your job, reducing you to a beggar on the street? Bless and pray for those who had your sister killed, all because she refused to renounce Christ?
When we frame it this way, Christ’s words sound like insanity. It is one thing to say, “I will pray for that man who cursed at me because I mentioned Jesus to him.” It is quite another to say, “I will bless the person who killed my son for following Christ.”
Yet Jesus calls His people to radical kindness and radical obedience. And this obedience looks like the faithful and steadfast endurance of persecution, no matter how horrible that persecution gets.
Why?
Because hidden within persecution is blessing. The faithful endurance of persecution requires a total reliance upon the Lord. And total reliance upon the Lord brings us to a place where we are entirely at His disposal.
In a way, persecution is like fire. When it comes, much of what we are is burned up. But what remains is more valuable than gold or precious stones. What remains is like refined silver, purified for the glory of our God. When your faith is tested, God is refining you.
One of the things God is always trying to teach us is to love as He does.
Godly love looks totally different than the love we find in this world.
The love of the world is reciprocal. It is easy to love those who love you. In Luke 6:32, Jesus says, “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.“
If you love someone because she showed you kindness, you’re not showing any special form of love. If you love someone because he took you in and provided for you, you’re not showing the world anything it doesn’t already have.
But when you love someone – when you pray for them, bless them – despite their hostility and hatred of you, that’s when the love of God comes in. Because we are incapable of this apart from Him. This is the love that makes those in the world shake their heads in disbelief, in shock.
It is the love that, ultimately, often works as the way in which God reaches even the hardest of hearts.
Moving Forward in a World of Persecution
As this nation continues to shift in an increasingly un-Christian and even anti-Christian direction, persecution will only heat up. Barring a miracle – a widespread revival the likes of which have not been seen in decades or even centuries – our country will continue to sink into darkness.
People will grow more hostile.
Whereas today animosity towards Believers may be primarily channeled via social media and snarky comments, the persecution of tomorrow will be more overt. Some jobs and schools might make intrinsically anti-Christian activities mandatory. Some states will pass laws that regulate what can and cannot be preached from the pulpit.
Some localities might come close to banning the preaching of what we know as Biblical Christianity.
And all the while, a generation will rise up around us that is totally unfamiliar with the message of the Gospel. This will be a generation that has largely never seen the inside of a church, a generation that has no qualms about saying ‘I have no religion,’ when asked.
Already, this has begun. But it’s going to get a whole lot more intense.
This will be a generation that openly derides the Christian faith, treating the Bible as an outdated book of fables (at best), to an engine that justifies oppression (at worst).
So what is our role? What is our job as Christ followers? How are we to handle this?
1. Be Thankful
In all honesty, I see the coming environment of persecution as a good thing for the Church.
Historically, Christianity (and I mean true, Biblical Christianity – not watered-down cultural Christianity) has flourished under pressure.
When Christian persecution in America grows to a level where being a faithful Christian has real, life-altering consequences in society (i.e. loss of your job, fines, social exclusion, or school discipline), we will notice the death of “cultural Christianity.”
We will see the demise of the “nominal churchgoer:” the person who goes to church on Sunday, but doesn’t really care about the things of God.
What this will look like is a mass exodus, a mass falling-away. People will continue to leave the church in droves. Magazines and news outlets will report that Christianity is failing, and is soon to be a relic of the past practiced only by one in hundreds or even thousands.
Much will be made of the death of Christianity – a religion long suffering from illness, but now on its deathbed.
But all the while, God will still be at work.
In the heat of persecution, God will draw hearts to Him. He will work in ways we have not yet seen in this nation. As those of us who remain faithful to Him are forced into tighter corners, we will savor His truth more. We will cast ourselves upon Him more often.
For those that remain in His service – that is, the true Church – the era of American Christian persecution will be an era of both physical danger and spiritual blessedness. There will be a rich harvest of souls as we work in the hostile environment of the culture. We will get the opportunity to interact with people who have never been taught the Gospel. We will see converts come out of lives of sin and darkness.
As darkness abounds, light will shine all the brighter.
Just because persecution is coming – whatever form that persecution takes – doesn’t mean that God is somehow losing. Rather, He is refining His people. And He will continue to bring people into His service in miraculous ways.
Be thankful.
2. Be Prepared
In 2 Timothy 4, we read,
Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry." (2 Timothy 4:2-5)
2 Timothy, which was written by the Apostle Paul to Timothy, was an exhortation towards the younger evangelist. It was an exhortation for him to be ready for the service of Christ.
Although 2 Timothy was written by one man (Paul) to another (Timothy), there is much for us to take away.
You see, Timothy shared the Gospel in a far more difficult environment than what we have in the United States. In fact, he shared Christ in an environment far more hostile than any we are ever likely to face in the United States, at least in the foreseeable future.
And in this tough environment, Timothy needed to be ready.
He needed to be ready at all times to ‘reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.‘
In a similar manner, we are called to be ready at all times. As the metaphorical skies grow darker outside, our light will shine out all the more. But we need to be prepared.
We need to be prepared to lay down our lives in patient love and servitude. We need to be prepared to answer tough questions, confront tough realities, and give answers (even if the answer is, ‘I don’t know’) to those who are hurting and broken.
In 2 Timothy 4:5, we read, ‘As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.‘
To bear witness to Christ is to be involved in a work. It’s a job. It’s a calling. And it’s a more important calling than any other you may have on your life. We need to be ready to “do the work of an evangelist,” and to “fulfill our ministries.”
With this in mind, I would call on all of us – myself, my family, and anyone reading this article – to start preparing. Get in the Word. Get in prayer. Don’t neglect the things of God any longer. Spend time with Him, receiving His strength and His mercy.
We will need it in the days to come.
Be prepared.
3. Be Mournful
For all I’ve written about being thankful, I believe there is also a place for mourning as Christian persecution in America rises to ever-increasing heights.
Why should we mourn? And for who?
We should mourn for those around us who don’t know Christ. We should feel a burden for their souls. As hostility towards Christ and His followers intensifies, we would do well to remember that the worst effects of this hostility will fall not on us, but upon those who direct it towards us.
Those who are hostile to God, those who persecute His people, are those who are most to be pitied. Unless saved by God, they will spend a lifetime in hatred, before departing for an eternity of all-consuming punishment. These people will live miserable lives, scratching for anything they can find in the world that might bring them pleasure.
We see this today already.
Those who have the most worldly possessions are also often miserable. Those who seek after drugs and alcohol get wrapped up in lives of sickness, poverty, and crime. Those who hate Christ cannot find rest. They can self-medicate, they can distract themselves, and they can turn to the vices of the world to cope, but they cannot find rest.
This will only get worse with time.
As the world turns against God, the world will be digging itself into a hole. Misery will abound. The great lie of Satan is that God withholds good things, and that true pleasure and goodness is found by going around Him.
As the world buys the lies of Satan, its situation will only deteriorate – not improve.
This should burden us and sadden us. It should inspire us all the more to repent of our own sin and reach those who are sinking. We ought to have our hearts broken over the brokenness of the world, and over the disastrous effects of sin – both towards ourselves and towards those who don’t know God.
Be mournful.
Christian Persecution in America: a Conclusion
In John 16, Jesus says,
"Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." (John 16:32-33)
Looking ahead to the future, we might be tempted to be either angry or fearful. We might be tempted towards anger at seeing the destruction of cherished traditions. We might be tempted towards anger at the thought of living in a world that hates us, and doesn’t hide that hatred. We might be tempted to be fearful of what may happen.
How bad will things get? Will the government ever outlaw Christianity? Will there come a time when I must choose between my job and my public profession of faith? What then?
These fears are rational, but I don’t think that God wants us to either bury them or dwell on them.
Instead, reflect on what Christ said in John 16: ‘…take heart; I have overcome the world.‘
Ultimately, our sense of security and worth comes from Jesus. This world will approach us with every manner of things. In the world there is temptation. Temptation pulls us to turn our backs on the Lord.
In the world is also hatred and vitriol. Such hatred pulls us to feel angry, powerless, and discouraged.
But Jesus Christ, our model in all things, dealt with everything we will ever deal with and more. Christ dealt with slander and accusations. He dealt with temptation. He dealt with being thrown in prison, wrongly convicted, and brutally murdered.
And even after His resurrection, Christ has been present with His Church throughout centuries upon centuries of persecution, hatred, slander, and slaughter.
But His words remain the same: ‘Take heart; I have overcome the world.’
Does this mean that we are immune from the things of this world? No. But if we cast ourselves on Jesus Christ, if we fully lean into Him, we will be able to take heart.
There’s a reason why history is full of examples of people who were beaten, jailed, or enslaved for their faith, yet came out the other side all the more in love with Christ.
It’s because Jesus has already overcome the world.
Nothing can touch Him. Nothing threatens Him. Nothing happens outside His knowledge and His ability to deal with. And He is able to care for all the needs of His followers, whatever situation they find themselves in.
We still live in the world, and we have to deal with the world, but Christ has overcome the world. Whatever suffering we must endure in this life is but for only a short time. And even the worst suffering ever endured by a follower of Christ will be but a light affliction when viewed in light of the reward that is coming.
Take heart, Believer.
Christian persecution is coming to America, but our Lord will have the victory. And as we follow Him, as we serve Him, we too will share in this victory. And so will all those who we bring into the Kingdom as we serve Christ.
Take heart.