Why We Must Speak Out for the Persecuted Church

The recent beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians woke me up.

I have prayed for the persecuted church and have faithfully supported ministries like Open Doors and Voice of the Martyrs. But I don't think I have ever been confronted with such brutality and blatant hatred toward Christians. 21 Egyptian Christians were marched out to the beach and systematically murdered…in a slickly (and sickly) produced video for the world to see. This is public execution taken to the furthest extremes in our digital, media-addicted world.

Unfortunately, it is just the tip of the iceberg.

Away from the camera-captured brutality of ISIS, Christian men, women, and children are being oppressed, threatened, imprisoned, sold as sex slaves, and executed in Nigeria, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Afghanistan, Iran, Libya, and in many other nations around the world.

What can we do?

Pray. It sounds like a cliche but, in the face of persecution, our first priority as believers is to pray. As John Calvin said, "Against the persecution of a tyrant the godly have no remedy but prayer." Voice of the Martyrs has a that is a good place to start. When we pray, God not only responds but changes us in the process. So get on your knees and pray.

Give. Support ministries that support the persecuted church and also work to spread the gospel in restricted lands. Open Doors, Voice of the Martyrs, and Samaritan's Purse are the ministries that immediately come to my mind. I am sure that there are others. Just as the apostle Paul spent a large majority of his ministry raising money for the persecuted church in Jerusalem, we should make giving to the persecuted church a high priority as well. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God (2 Corinthians 9:12). So click a link to one of these ministries above and give.

Speak Out. Proverbs 31:8 says, Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Just as we are to pray for governmental leaders to provide liberty and protection to believers (1 Timothy 2:1-2), we certainly should speak out for that liberty and protection as well…especially if we have the opportunity to do so. With all the potential negative aspects of social media, the one positive aspect is the ability to spread the message of the gospel and to alert others to the injustices committed against our brothers and sisters in Christ.

In that vein, I started a petition to encourage President Obama to clearly acknowledge and speak out for persecuted Christians and denouce Islamic extremism which is responsible for much of the persecution around the world.

Why did I do this?

Primarily because I could. I wrote an email to him and saw the opportunity to start a petition at We the People. It may not go anywhere (it needs at least 150 signatures to "go live") but it was at least an opportunity to get the word out there in a different kind of way.

Two disclaimers about the petition…

I am not trying to be political. I certainly disagree with President Obama on a number of issues but I have prayed for him and continue to do so. The escalating persecution of Christians (and Jews) around the world is not a Republican or Democratic issue. It should concern us all. And when our President, for some reason, refuses to clearly call it what it is, it should bother us all. This is not a time for our leadership to be politically correct but to be boldly direct.

I am not making a statement against Muslim people. In fact, many of the people being brutally killed by ISIS are Muslims. And I am thankful that Egypt, as a Muslim-majority nation, has responded against ISIS for the killing of these 21 Coptic Christians. However, to act as if Islamic extremism doesn't exist is to be naive, willfully blind, or deceptive. As a recent Atlantic article pointed out, ISIS, if anything, is Islam taken to its most literal and extreme form. We cannot hope to counteract and defeat an enemy if we are afraid to even identify it.

So now is the time to pray, give, and speak out. I know that there are many other issues out there, but few (if any) are more important at this present time, especially for the believer in Christ. If one part [of the church of Christ] suffers, every part suffers with it (1 Corinthians 12:26a).

And whether one is a Christian or not, ISIS and similar Islamic extremist groups cannot be ignored or underestimated. They are more devoted, more deceived, more barbaric, and potentially more dangerous than Nazism (if that can be imagined).

If their brutality doesn't wake us up, then we are not just asleep. We are dead.

Perhaps literally.

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