Things are getting tougher for Christians in the West. But what we face is nothing compared to millions of our brothers and sisters elsewhere in the world.
Many Christians both in Britain and in the USA have suffered for their faith in one way or another in recent years. Street preachers have been arrested for quoting passages of Scripture that don’t accord with political correctness.
Doctors have lost their jobs for refusing to do abortions and nurses have been disciplined for praying with patients. Air hostesses have been forbidden to wear a cross and bakers have been fined for refusing to write a pro-same-sex-marriage message on a wedding cake.
We make a lot of fuss about these things saying that persecution of Christians is now taking place in Western nations. Certainly, Christians are having to learn to live in societies that are now hostile to the Christian faith, which is a new experience in nations that have enjoyed Gospel freedom for centuries and have taken a leading part in worldwide missionary activities. A handful of Christians have actually suffered for their faith, but this is not persecution! It does not come anywhere near martyrdom!
Christianity Being Wiped Out in the Middle East
Since the beginning of this year, thousands of Christians in Mosul, northern Iraq have been faced with the stark choice between converting to Islam or being killed. Many have been beheaded and vast numbers have fled their homes, joining the hundreds of thousands of Christians who have been driven from their homes in Syria and other parts of Iraq. According to the Open Doors World Watch List, the situation for Christians is not much better in Iran, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, and even worse in Afghanistan and Pakistan.1
The extent of the tragedy taking place today in the Middle East is indescribable! Christianity is virtually being wiped out from the whole region where the Gospel was first preached and where communities of Christians have lived and worked for 2000 years.
The tragedy taking place today in the Middle East is indescribable.
Why is it that we make such a fuss about a handful of Christians who have experienced hardship in our nation (not to belittle their suffering in any way) but there is no outcry about what is happening worldwide with vast numbers of Christians being savagely murdered?
Though accurate statistics are notoriously difficult to find, the Centre for the Study of Global Christianity in the United States estimates that 90,000 Christians died in 2016, targeted because of their faith – that is one every six minutes!2 Meanwhile, around 500 million believers live in areas of the world where they are unable to express their faith freely.3
Hundreds of Millions Facing Persecution
Christians are jailed in Pakistan on trumped-up charges of blasphemy against Islam, whilst Pakistani Christian girls are systematically targeted for rape and murder; churches are burned and worshippers are slaughtered in Nigeria and in Egypt. Approximately 215 million Christians are reported to be currently experiencing ‘high’, ‘very high’, or ‘extreme’ persecution in different parts of the world today.4
North Korea is said to be the most dangerous place to be a Christian with large numbers languishing in jail and regularly suffering brutal torture. But, according to an Open Doors report, it is Islamic militant extremism that remains the global dominant driver of Christian persecution.5
The report says that 35 out of the 50 countries on the 2017 World Watch List are Muslim-majority nations where systematic persecution of Christians is taking place. The killing of Christians by Muslims in Nigeria last year rose by 62%.6
Around 500 million believers live in areas of the world where they are unable to express their faith freely.
The Western Church is Silent
Why are church leaders in the West so pitifully quiet about the persecution of our brothers and sisters in Christ? Why do we hear nothing from our church leaders? Why do we hear nothing from the Archbishop of Canterbury, bishops in the Church of England or the leaders of the Methodist Church, the Baptist Church, the Catholic church and other denominations?
Prince Charles has done more than the leaders of the churches to draw public attention to the incredible suffering of Christians in many parts of the world. He even devoted his contribution to Thought for the Day on BBC Radio 4 just before Christmas to speaking about the plight of Christians.
It surely is nothing less than a scandal that the Western churches remain so silent whilst their brothers and sisters are cruelly slaughtered or tortured and imprisoned simply because they refused to renounce their faith in Jesus, their Lord and Saviour.
Prince Charles is perfectly right in saying that Christians are the most persecuted people in the world. According to the International Society for Human Rights, a secular group with members in 38 countries, 80% of all acts of religious discrimination in the world today are directed at Christians.7
Why are church leaders in the West so pitifully quiet about the persecution of our brothers and sisters in Christ?
Leaders Must Speak Out
Yet still we hear nothing from church leaders in the USA, or Britain and Europe! Why is this? Is it because most of the killing of Christians is the work of Muslims and church leaders are afraid to say anything that might incur the wrath of Islamic leaders – especially if they are based in the oil-producing parts of the Middle East? Is it global politics that is shutting the mouths of Christian leaders? Or is it simply a case of ‘out of sight, out of mind’?
Church leaders should be seeking dialogue with Islamic clerics, who are the only ones who have the authority to say that the verses in the Qur’an calling Muslims to fight against Jews and Christians are not valid today. It is these verses that are used by terrorists to justify their actions: such as “Fight against those to whom the Scriptures were given (Jews and Christians) as believe in neither Allah nor the Last Day, who do not forbid what Allah and his Prophet have forbidden, and do not embrace the true faith, until they pay tribute willingly and are utterly subdued.” (Surah 9:29).8
But Christians should not be waiting for Church leaders to act – they should also be seeking dialogue with their Muslim neighbours. A good starting point is to compare the teaching of Jesus with that of Muhammad quoted above. Jesus said:
You have heard that it was said, ‘love your neighbour and hate your enemy’. But I tell you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. (Matt 5:43-44)
Church leaders should seek dialogue with Muslim clerics, and Christians should also be seeking dialogue with their Muslim neighbours.
We Can Each Respond
There are many other things Christians can do, such as responses suggested by Open Doors, which include prayer, writing to persecuted Christians, signing petitions, writing letters to local papers, writing to MPs and generally raising the subject with friends and neighbours and promoting discussion in the public square. We could even offer to take a refugee family into our home – or is that asking too much?
Jesus warned his followers that there would be persecution in the last days but he also said that God would hold us accountable if we do nothing to care for our brothers and sisters who are suffering and in need. Jesus said that when he returns in glory and brings the nations before him he will say to those who ignore the needs of others:
I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison you did not look after me. (Matt 25:42-43)
References
1 Open Doors Country Profiles.
2 Hallett, N. Christians most persecuted religious group in the world, study says. Breitbart, 28 December 2016.
3 Ibid.
4 Weber, J. ‘Worst Year Yet’: The Top 50 Countries Where It’s Hardest to Be a Christian. Christianity Today. 11 January 2017.
5 Open Doors: Persecution Trends.
6 See note 4.
7 Sherwood, H. Christianity under global threat due to persecution, says report. The Guardian, 13 October 2015.
8 There are many similar verses in the Qur’an. Click here for more information.
