Around 200 million Christians are currently persecuted for their faith, making them the most vulnerable group in the world, according to the organization ACN. This equates to a large percentage of the world's Christians living under pressure at various levels.
Why, you might ask? Because the Christian church wants to overthrow the world order? Well, hardly.
But standing up for the truth comes with a price that one must be prepared to pay, and that price has been paid - from the time of the OT prophets, such as Isaiah, who spoke the truth to the rulers of the day and paid a price: "I let them strike my back and pull the beard out of my cheeks. I did not hide my face from reproach and from spitting." Isa 50:4-7.
And Jesus himself was pursued and persecuted as the first in the history of Christianity, from when King Herod tried to kill him until he was crucified. His love was reciprocated with hatred, lies, envy, torture and an extremely painful death. He was persecuted for no reason (John 15:25).
And the persecution of his followers, the Christians, is - somewhat simplistically put, but true - that we belong to Jesus, because Jesus says: Ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake (Matthew 10:22).
The first Christians expected to be persecuted, because Jesus had clearly told them beforehand, for example in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:11-12): "Blessed are you when they mock and persecute you..."
About the reaction of the first Christians after being flogged, we read that they were "glad because they had been counted worthy to be dishonored for the name of Jesus" (Acts 5:41).
Confessing the name of Jesus never has the wind at its back, because a tailwind creates neither martyrs nor resisters, and it is under external opposition that faith grows strongest. During the first 300 years of persecution, Christ's church grew because Christians witnessed, were crucified, stoned and beheaded, but when confession becomes quiet and anxious, denial takes over. When the wind is at the church's back, you stop counting on it.
But the fire of faith that glows in the darkness and warms in the cold, many forces are directed to extinguish, and often blades are crossed at this light, at this fire. Where the sword of the word and the spirit - the fire - is present, a dividing line is often drawn, not necessarily between people, but between truth and lies, light and darkness, peace and strife.
Walking the "Jesus Way" means taking up your cross and walking the same path as Jesus, and on this path there is something you lose and something you find, and it cannot be otherwise.
This is what happened to Jesus when, as the first man against the current, he walked the path of salvation and reached his goal. Along the way, he lost - yes - but he also found the pearls he was looking for and drew them to him, promising them that he would be with them until the end of the world. And he still is.
At Danish European Mission, we want to share all that the persecuted church can teach Christian Danes. Therefore, every two weeks we will write a short blog post about a Christian point that can inspire, encourage and challenge you. This week's post is written by Niels Peder Nielsen, Chairman of the Board of the Danish European Mission
