Remembering Christians who are persecuted for their faith.
Christianity is being suppressed in China and strangled in Muslim countries while the West looks the other way. The West readily accepts the idea of Muslim states yet reacts in horror at the thought that a country might consider itself Christian. We readily tolerate Muslim countries squeezing out the Christians but insist that once-Christian nations remove even the symbolic trappings of their faith from the public square.Herod has his current imitators. In 1991, China’s state-run press noted the role of the churches in undercutting Communism in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, adding that if China did “not want such a scene to be repeated in its land, it must strangle the baby while it is still in the manger.” Al-Qaeda has declared that all Middle Eastern Christians should be killed, and many Christians in Iraq have cancelled their Christmas celebrations lest they be targeted.Image by Stewf via Flickr
The cosmic battle between good and evil found its ground zero at the Cross. The outworking of Christ's victory achieved there was initiated in the early persecutions against those who named his name; it continues to this day. Fortunately, we know that "he shall reign forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end". But, until then, "there shall be blood".
Every true Christian identifies with the persecuted and weighs the cost of following Christ in his own life. We remember them as our brothers and sisters at this time of year.
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2 comments:
The case of Christianity in China is not so black and white. There is certainly persecution carried out by lower-level officials, but this is not always consistent and coordinated. Some estimates put the Christian population in China at 127 million, which is staggering considering China had 1-3 million just decades ago.
As China develops, and Christians gain a greater foothold in business, government, and society, I truly believe we will see a change in the government's attitude towards Christians. Indeed, just a few years ago, the Communist party established a panel to study the religions. More specifically, the government has even asked specifically for Christian students to study in China and spread morality and ethics.
For more information about the rise of Christianity in Asia, check out www.1040movie.com
Anon. I agree with what you have said. Thank you for the post. Thank you for the 1040 link. I'll check it out.
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