(I said I wasn’t going to post in November, but I feel as if this warrants it. I recently read God Less America by Todd Starnes, and ever since my heart’s been filled with this burning desire to speak up about this matter.)
We hear the stories.
Stories of Christians being persecuted, all over the globe. Church-burnings, imprisonments, even deaths.
We hear the horror stories and we breathe a prayer of thanks that we live here, in America, the land of the free.
We don’t even realise that we’re facing persecution too.
No, it isn’t violent; American society is too smart for that. It’s subtle– wrapped up in a gift of “acceptance” and “civil rights”, tied up with the ostentatious ribbon of “tolerance”.
So subtle, in fact, that many Christians around our county don’t even know it’s happening. Perhaps that’s why we’re so frustratingly complacent.
Do we even care that religious liberty is slipping from our fingers like shifting sands?
Or are we too wrapped up in our coffee shop Bible studies, our John 3:16s and Jeremiah 29:11s, our youth groups that have become more social functions than actual church?
There are things that we’ve all heard about.
A&E’s temporary suspension of Phil Robertson for sharing his opinion on homosexuality when he was asked in an interview.
The Chickfila fiasco.
The Hobby Lobby lawsuit because the company refused to fund employees’ abortions.
The German homeschooling family seeking refuge in America that the Obama administration wanted to deport back to Germany, where they would get in severe trouble for wishing to school their children the way God was calling them to. People seeking religious freedom being turned away from an allegedly free country.
In all these situations, Christians have flocked together in furious defiance– and won— because together, we are a blazing inferno, a kingdom that cannot be shaken.
But what about the stories we don’t hear, the ones that don’t make mainstream news?
Like the schools who tell their chorus students that they can’t sing traditional Christmas carols for fear of “offending anyone”, the banning of Christmas trees and Santa decorations for that same reason.
Like a college who boasts of open-mindedness and then insists that a student remove her cross necklace.
Like the military firing noble men who dare to profess Christianity because “there is no place for religion here”.
Like an anti-bullying lecture at a public school where a gay speaker proceeds to (ironically) make fun of Christians with very offensive language, causing believing students to stand up and walk out of the room in a state of disbelief and fury at being thus attacked.
Like the college students who are told that they must make a choice between science and faith– and when the brave few choose faith, they are ridiculed.
Like the way anyone who dares to say that homosexuality is wrong are immediately attacked, by the very people who preach “tolerance” vehemently.
Like the way Christ-followers are portrayed in the media as ridiculous, uptight hypocrites with no sense of modern culture.
Like the way a Muslim man can haul a prayer mat out whenever he wants, but set up a cross anywhere and society gnashes its teeth.
Like the many, many times where people have been told that, for whatever reason, they are not permitted to speak the name of Jesus.
…but isn’t this supposed to be America, the country where freedom rings?
It seems as if the religious liberty bells are being silenced– for Christ-followers, anyway.
Friends, this should make us angry. This should make the flame of righteous indignation burn in our souls.
Because if it doesn’t, our presence will be removed from this country before you have the chance to process it.
If it doesn’t, we will eventually become one of those nations where churches are burned and people are killed.
We can’t let that happen. We must rise. We must not sit cushioned in our comfortable Bible-belt bubbles any longer. It’s time to act.
For society can try and bury the workmen, but the work will go on.
For they can silence our voices, but they can’t stop our song.
For they can drown us in water, but they can’t snuff out our flame.
For they can take the entire world away from us, but they can’t take our Jesus.
It breaks my heart to hear these stories, to see similar ones in my own community, and it’s one of those things that it’s physically impossible for me to keep silent about.
Christians, it’s time for us to stand. It’s time to let our voices be heard.
Who’s with me?
Romans 1:16.
I am not ashamed of the Gospel….
{love, Em}
{A Portrait of Grace} 