PREPARING FOR PERSECUTION - 2 (Spiritually)

"Bittersweet days. How exciting/frightening to be living in the midst of so many fulfilled prophecies!" RW, wife, mom, grandma, Bible teacher and artist, Southern California

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Surrounded by wildfires, this seems a good time to discuss preparing for persecution. We need to plan ahead for the probability of persecution just as we plan ahead for the probability of natural disasters. (In the middle of the fires we also got a small earthquake!)

One friend who read my first letter on persecution said she, as a teacher, is already suffering persecution and she gave examples. Her experiences are painful and unjust and I sympathize. But when I speak of persecution I'm including something systematic and organized, government policy (or mob/vigilante groups), carried out by soldiers or police. Something like Poland and other European countries experienced under the Third Reich.

The Religious Liberty Commission has issued four Persecution Categories:

Level 1. "Life can be difficult for Christian minorities and harsh for converts." In places where human rights are poor and Christians are a minority, but where politics is secular or relatively progressive and religion is largely nominal, life can be difficult but not severely or pervasively. We're already starting to feel this in America. This is the environment, for instance, in which my friend the teacher lives. Public schools are a secular place. She as a Christian--and a white person--is a minority in Southern California and is suffering accusations from other minorities who feel denigrated or insulted when no slight is intended on her part. This (Level1) is the world in which many ethnic minorities, especially African-Americans, have lived since this country was founded and of course at times the level of persecution has been much higher. (Of course no one can "convert" to an ethnic minority. I suppose there are some who would like to "convert" out of one.) Republicans have experienced Level 1 persecution recently and they, in turn, have scrambled to distance themselves from George W. Bush to save themselves from more of it. (Poor W! History will show he did more good than he's getting credit for at the moment.) Homosexuals suffer as a minority. Although it is not a legitimate minority according to the Bible, there is no excuse for the slurs, jeers and physical assaults some "Christians" have subjected them to.

Level 2. "Christian minorities suffer systematic discrimination and persecution." This is one degree worse than the above category, usually because religion and politics are more entwined and religion is less nominal.

Level 3. "Persecution of Christian minorities is pervasive and severe."

Level 4. "Historically Christian ethnic minorities at risk of genocide." The Commission cites Iraq, Kosovo (Serbia), Northern Laos and Papua (Indonesia) as being at this level. Pockets of certain countries may be at different levels; levels of persecution in some parts of China and India are much higher than in others. Sometimes a country gradually moves from Level 1 to higher levels--or the reverse. Sometimes, as in Europe under Hitler, China under Mao Zedong, Cambodia under Pol Pot, persecution may start with Level 4.
Let us assume that under the "change" promised (or threatened) by President-Elect Obama, we "intolerant" Bible-believing Christians will continue to be subjected to increasing heat and pressure as we have been until now, like lobsters--only at an accelerated pace.

How do we prepare for gradually accelerated persecution?

Just like preparing for a natural emergency, start with a First Aid kit, a cell phone, a radio with plenty of batteries, money, an escape plan. (One 18-year old Westmont College student escaped the flames which devoured eight buildings on campus a few days ago with only "a laptop, a phone, a Teddy bear and a debit card." That sounds like a good balance!) Persecution may involve being denied some of the resources we are used to or some which will still be available to others but no longer available to Christians.

For instance one of these days, the Bible says, we will not be allowed to buy or sell without the "mark of the beast" on our hands and/or foreheads. Americans are already used to having our hands stamped at amusement parks but this will apparently be a more permanent and more personalized mark. Many of our pets already have something similar inserted under their skins so they can't get lost. The "mark" may have our name, address, phone, family, religion, church, pastor, health history, economic history--if I'm not mistaken, one of the books I read said this information is already on identification cards in China which every citizen is required to carry with him at all times.

Once considered outrageous and "sci fi," we have been easing into a society, through credit and debit cards, where implanting this information in our bodies will seem the logical next step. Not only does our own personal bank know practically every financial move we make, Amazon.com already keeps a record of every book we buy from them and Ralph's market knows every item of food we buy. It would behoove all of us now to pull back on our credit and debit card use, if we can, to get unentangled from dependency on them and to eliminate some of the paper trail. We personally are as high profile as any of you in this.

REMINDER: If the government ever requires a permanent mark on our bodies, DO NOT GET THIS MARK! Enough said, for now.

Okay. Long-range planning.

Spiritually:
Soak. Get into God's word as you would into a Jacuzzi after a hard day. Memorize it for a future when Bibles may be forbidden or confiscated and memory may be all you have. If you have trouble memorizing, just read over and over, feed on, passages about the attributes of God, his power, his love and mercy, his sufficiency. His commands. His promises. Read psalms offering strength and hope. Read and sing spiritually nourishing hymns. You will be stocking your mind with food the Holy Spirit can draw forth when you are spiritually hungry.

(Note: A reader recommended a site (click on word highlighted in blue) in response to our recommendation to "soak" in the Word.)

Yoke. "Take My yoke upon you and learn from me. . . for My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Of all the "horses in the stable," we have been chosen to be yoked up with the only one who can really do this job! We're just petted children's ponies or old, tired-out nags. Why would HE want to be yoked up with US? What do we have to offer? But that's his invitation. "Get into harness with me. We'll do this together. I'll be right alongside you. I'll do all the work, hold you up and keep you going. And we get to spend time together! I'll make you lie down in green pastures. I'll lead you beside quiet waters. I'll restore your soul . . .I'll feed you in the presence of your enemies!" All this, while we are being fired at!

Rick Joyner, in The Final Quest, has a wonderful picture of how we can simultaneously be under active attack by the enemy and walking quietly in the garden with Jesus. Brother Yun, in The Heavenly Man, who was systematically starved, beaten and tortured with electric cattle prods over a period of years, had such precious times in the Lord's presence and with other believers while in prison that when he was released, he said he wished he were back there because he missed them.

Thank. Thank him for all that you have and thank him that if you lose it all, you will still have him.

Listen. "The Bible says, "My sheep hear my voice and they follow me." But it also says it is a "still, small voice." So we have to be still to hear it and we have to practice listening for it. Sin can block his voice--pride, conceit, arrogance. Fear (part of me has huge fear at the very thought of persecution). Anger. Self-condemnation. Deal with those, then try again. Learn to ask one question at a time and listen until you sense an answer. (As I was developing this skill, I sometimes asked a lot of questions at once and there would be silence. I realized God was waiting for me to back up and pick one.) Eventually we will be able to recognize God's voice from the enemy's.

For instance, the enemy condemns. God's Spirit convicts. Condemnation is a sickening cloud of self-blame, shame and depression, pressing down, hard to shake off. The condemnation of the enemy can come into our minds in the first, second or third person: "I'm bad, it's my fault, I deserve to be punished," "You're bad--" or "She's bad--." from lies we believe which he stirs up and pokes us with. Condemnation is never from God. "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

The Spirit's conviction is clean and sharp as the thrust of a sword. It's the "wound of a brother." Conviction is specific and calls for specific repentance. Then it's gone.

A great deal of the psychological torment of persecution is accusation and condemnation. We need to learn to keep our shield up and let these things shoot on past us, not take them in. Satan is the accuser of the brethren. He is out to kill, steal and destroy. And he doesn't play fair; he kicks us when we're down. So we need to learn not to take his accusations seriously, not to debate him or defend ourselves and not to beat ourselves up for him, using his weapons. We can be condemned by the enemy and still be undergirded with the peace of a clear conscience.

God often speaks to his people in persecution. He can be very specific. He told Joseph, "Get up! Take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him." When a judge sentenced Freddie Sun to 15 years in prison, the Lord told him he'd be out in five (and he was). The Lord warned Brother Yun, China's most wanted man at the time, as he was trying to escape the country, "When you enter the customs hall at the airport, say only what I instruct you to say." Yun got out of China safely--with an obviously forged passport. (Customs officers pointed out indignantly that the photo in the passport was of some other man who looked nothing like Yun! He just kept silent and the officers waved him through!)

Talk. Talk to God. (Prepare by pre-prayer!) Develop the habit of spending time with him, a relationship in which you can be honest with him even when you're angry or in despair. If you ever end up in prison or a slave labor camp for your faith, you'll find it helps. Find a psalm that expresses what you're feeling and read it to him. Pray for those who are already being persecuted around the world and for us, when it becomes our turn. Here are suggested ways to pray:

Pray God will raise up more leaders within the persecuted church and supply courage, strength and boldness for all the believers.

Pray the Gospel will continue to bear fruit in the nations officially closed to Christianity.

Pray for imprisoned Christians to sense the presence and comfort of the Holy Spirit, to count it an honor to follow in the Savior's steps, to be able to count their suffering all joy and see it as light affliction in comparison to the weight of glory to follow.

Pray for Christians who are beaten and tortured, that the physical violence and psychological torture will stop "not a minute sooner or later than God wants it to,"* and their bodies, minds, spirits and memories will be healed. Pray these brothers and sisters, like Jesus and Stephen, will forgive their tormenters.

Pray God will provide for families of those taken away and alleviate their worry for each other. Pray they too will forgive. Keep families and friends from betraying each other. Give Christians discernment to know whom to trust. Pray God will provide for all who have lost homes, farms, food, sources of water, income in ways that show them His fingerprints and remove fear from all who are threatened with loss or pain.

In Safely Home, a novel by Randy Alcorn, two former college roommates meet again after twenty years. Li Quan has returned to China where he is undergoing severe persecution. His American friend Ben Fielding visits him in prison and asks, "When I go home, Quan, what do you want me to tell people?"
Quan replies, "Tell them if they wish to help, send us Bibles. And pray for us. Pray that those witnessing our suffering will see that Zhu Yesu (Jesus Christ) must be real in order to sustain us. Pray that the rotten prison food will actually taste good to us. He has performed this miracle for me many times. Pray that the rags we prisoners wear in winter will keep us warm. Pray that the beatings and torture will not weaken us, but strengthen us in our faith. And that the enemy will not overcome us and our families with despair and discouragement. Pray that the prisons all across China will become centers of revival, and that Christians in registered churches will be bold, and that house churches will be invisible to the police but visible to everyone else. Pray that our sons and daughters will not be ashamed of their fathers and mothers in prison."

*Brother Yun, whose story is told in The Heavenly Man, writes, "I knew I'd be released from prison as soon as my ministry in that place was completed, not a minute sooner and not a minute later. . . The first time I went to prison I struggled, wondering why God had allowed it. Slowly I began to understand he had a deeper purpose for me than just working for him. He wanted to know me, and I to know him, deeply and intimately. He knew the best way to get my attention for a while was to give me rest behind bars.

"Whenever I hear a house church Christian has been imprisoned for Christ in China I don't advise people to pray for his or her release unless the Lord clearly reveals we should pray this way.

"Before a chicken is hatched it is vital it is kept in the warm protection of the shell for 21 days. If you take the chick out of that environment one day too early, it will die. Similarly, ducks need to remain confined in their shell for 28 days before they are hatched. If you take a duck out on the 27th day, it will die.

"There is always a purpose behind why God allows his children to go to prison. Perhaps it's so they can witness to the other prisoners, or perhaps God wants to develop more character in their lives. But if we use our own efforts to get them out of prison earlier than God intended, we can thwart his plans, and the believers may come out not as fully formed as God wanted them to be. . .

"Christians in China appreciate whenever believers around the world try to help them during times of imprisonment or persecution, but all efforts to help need to be bathed in prayer and rooted in God's will, otherwise it only seems to make things worse.

"The world can do nothing to a Christian who has no fear of man."

Yes, the thought of persecution is scary. It involves the unknown. It means having control taken out of our hands. Like the apostle Peter in his old age, it may involve "being taken where we don't want to go." It means injustice. It means being misunderstood. It may involve being falsely accused, with no way to clear our record. It may mean loneliness. It may involve pain.

But it also means we will be "following in His steps." It means knowing him on a deeper level through participating in his suffering. It means appreciating more what he did for us. It means being drawn into mystical union with the saints listed in Hebrews 11, some of whom were miraculously delivered, others who were only delivered through death. It means having that fellowship of faithful ones, from those murdered in the Colosseum of Rome to those who were martyred in Indonesia yesterday, watching and cheering us on from the heavenlies, eager to welcome us home when we've run our course.

Persecution may not kill us. All those I have been reading about--Diet Eman, Freddie Sun, Dorothy Sun, Brother Yun, Vek Huong Taing, Gracia Burnham--survived brutal persecution decades ago and are alive, thriving and active in ministry today.

Again, "The world can do nothing to a Christian who has no fear of man!"


"All we can do is pray like never before now. To be honest I believe very shortly the church in America will be thriving. From history we see the true church really shine when they are persecuted. Once this persecution starts in earnest everyone's prayer life will improve. God bless you richly." HB, husband, father and concert pianist, Illinois

"There is an intimacy with God we can anticipate and look forward to in suffering that those without God can never know. In all honesty, despite the grief I have for the worldly civilization we have lost, I am excited to know that God is going to draw His people out of their spoiled, selfish and childish ways into intimate fellowship with Him. I am strangely anxious with anticipation for the great works He will do in my heart and the hearts of my family through the path He will lead us. It is almost like Christmas. I know there are blessings in what is to come and I can't wait to open them!! No matter what happens I know that my God is good, He draws me ever nearer to Himself and His hand of protection is invincible." KT, wife, mother of three, Oregon

I see I'll have to save practical preparation for next time. . .