Persecution in the United States

QUESTION: How do you avoid persecution in the United States?

ANSWER:

Persecution against Christians in the United States is not something that is avoidable. It is something that Christians will have to deal with and understand. The key to coping and dealing with the persecution of Christians and Christianity in the U.S. is our reaction to our persecution. It is in this reaction that our true colors will show. It is said in the book of Revelation that Christians will be persecuted and we must understand that persecution has been a part of Christianity since the beginning.

The key to understanding and thriving through the persecution is in reacting as Jesus Christ did. The body of Christ cannot retaliate. Instead, we are called to turn the other cheek. When Jesus Christ was on the cross, He prayed for forgiveness for those who put Him there.

The same is true for us. If we are all truly living as God has commanded - if we are living the words that come from our mouths - then when someone persecutes us, we will respond with love and patience. We have a knowledge that we are, to some degree, above needing to respond to their accusations with accusations of our own. We are commanded to love one another as Christ loved us. There is no watering this down; there are no corollaries or nicely defined niches that someone has to fit into before we are to love them. The command was not to love your fellow Christian brother and sister as Christ loves. The command was to love all people.

The way to avoid persecution in the United States is to simply not persecute others and not judge others. We should all stand up for what we know to be true, and we should not be afraid to share our faith, but we also should not force or think that everyone is going to respond to us kindly. Those who do not know the Truth, the lost of this world, are not our "projects." We can let God work on their hearts and He will use us as a bridge to them.

Persecution is inevitable. We are different from the world. The followers of Christ have been persecuted from the beginning, but still we grow and we learn to rely on God. No matter what the circumstance or severity of persecution, when we stand up for Jesus Christ as our Savior, we lose nothing and gain everything!