If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.
John 15:18
What persecution can you expect to face here in America in this day and age? Compared to the stories mentioned so far, what hardships do we really have to deal with if we’re Christians? Here in the Land of the Free, our “problems” are sitting in traffic jams in our air-conditioned cars, not being happy because we can’t afford the right kind of clothes, and wishing we didn’t have to eat our vegetables.
In persecuted countries, the believers are fleeing for their lives, wearing only the clothes on their backs and eating grass to stay alive. At most, the only persecution we face here at present is of the mild verbal sort from “friends,” co-workers, the media, and Hollywood. However, various levels and branches of government are turning their backs on our country’s spiritual roots more and more. Surely you have noticed this is growing.
The truth that I want to continually convey is this: if you want to serve the Lord on the front lines of this great spiritual battle we are in, you will be persecuted. Jesus told us so in John 15:18-23. The world hates us because they hate Him. The world persecutes us because they persecuted Him. Perhaps that is why so few of us give our lives fully for His service, for we are too happy with our lives here in this Disney World we call the United States of America. It is a high and hard calling to turn our entire lives over to the Lord for His use.
Jesus acknowledges the problem of only a few being willing to serve Him in Matthew 9:37-38 when He said, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field”. Now I am not asking you to consider missionary service. There seems to be a concern among Christians that God wants them to pick up and move to some remote village in Africa or Asia.
The truth is, once you become a Christian, you are a missionary – right where you live. Your purpose in life is to share Jesus with those around you, no matter how they treat you. Whether they chastise you here in America or beat you in a country overseas, Jesus is worth the hate that you will receive.
I do believe that we are seeing the precursor of persecution in America. As political correctness and a growing sentiment of “anything goes” increases, the cases of targeting Christian business owners, politicians, and other community leaders will increase.
Perhaps one day soon, persecution will become common in America. With the current erosion of Christian values taking place today, it is naïve to believe that this isn’t possible. We must pray for America to return to its spiritual foundations that are so deeply rooted in the Gospel.