The “new media” isn’t that new anymore, but it does provide an alternative to its predecessors in that its outlets give daylight to stories that don’t fit the accepted narratives or that some would prefer be swept under the rug. For example, you won’t find the MSM covering the slaughter of Christians in Nigeria, at least not without the government-approved caveats. On October 20, Religion News Service ran a piece refuting the claims of Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) regarding the ongoing massacre in Nigeria, claiming that Muslims are also being targeted:
"If anything, what we are witnessing is mass killings, which are not targeted against a specific group,” said Olajumoke Ayandele, an assistant professor at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs who specializes in conflict studies. “The drumming-up of genocide might worsen the situation because everyone is going to be on alert.”
Open Doors, however, would beg to differ and takes a more in-depth and nuanced view. You can follow the link to read the entire piece, but the upshot is that while there are a number of factors contributing to the violence in that country, Nigerian Christians are being targeted.
I won’t launch into a diatribe about why the legacy media and other left-leaning outlets ignore or downplay the persecution of Christians in Nigeria, Syria, and other places around the world. If you have been reading PJ Media long enough, you know the answers to that question. My question is, how seriously are American churches taking the problem?
Years ago, I was a volunteer speaker for Voice of the Martyrs, an organization devoted to combating Christian persecution around the world and bringing the stories of the persecuted to light. I know that VOM had its fair share of issues, and if someone wants, they can explore that down in the comments. But I didn’t know about those issues at the time, and just because VOM had some serious flaws doesn't mean the issue of Christian persecution isn't very real.
After I was officially approved as a speaker, I started casting around for churches that might be interested in learning more about the issue. There were two.
At the first presentation, as I delivered my speech and showed the photos and videos of the victims, there were a few people who broke down in tears and sobbed uncontrollably, but most people looked bored. After the service, everyone, even those who had wept unabashedly during my presentation, was more interested in coffee and donuts and heading out the door to spend the day on their ATVs than in learning more about the situation.
At the second church, I had a few people interested. Still, I clearly remember one young woman who was greatly vexed that her morning of worship music had been interrupted by an interloper who told her that Christians were being burned alive, chopped into pieces, sold into slavery, shot, drowned, imprisoned, and tortured in other parts of the world. I recall one elderly woman, who could have been someone’s grandma, lecturing me on the problems with VOM before adding, “Besides, they help Catholics!”
So, I guess we show the love of Christ by allowing Catholics to get run through the meat grinder? Okay, got it.
It’s natural to want church to be a place where we can forget the world exists. The time of immersing ourselves in the ritual of the Divine Liturgy or the traditional Mass, or maybe singing the old hymns, or listening to Contemporary Christian Music with the lights, the smoke, and everything that comes with it. We like the socializing, the small-group Bible studies, and the feel-good message that may contain enough useful and fun information to help us through the week, but nothing that would make us feel uncomfortable or self-conscious. We want that dopamine hit that comes with church, but we don’t want the stuff that may give us reason to reflect.
As one young woman who had been tortured and imprisoned for seven years in China once told me, “Everybody wants Jesus. Nobody wants the Cross.”
Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
"What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”
“We can,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.
For too long, American Christians of all denominations have been comfortable. They have been comfortable in their rituals, in their music and lights, with celebrity pastors and podcasters, with ancient tradition, and with comforting TED Talks masquerading as homilies. In some cases, comfortable with “social justice.” And while we have grown fat, sassy, arrogant, and lazy, our brothers and sisters in persecuting countries have been baptized with the same baptism of Jesus. They have counted the cost, and they have taken up their crosses. They will not just be martyrs, but the next generation of saints.
It is tempting to argue about whether the Book of Revelation is about the future or the past, or whether it is to be taken symbolically or literally. I’m not going to start that discussion here, but the Letters to the Seven Churches should be taken very, very seriously. In fact, that part of Revelation should be preached in every pulpit in every church in the nation at least once a year.
We are well on our way to becoming the Church at Ephesus in Revelation 2:4. The persecuted church suffers and calls it faith. We indulge ourselves, and call it worship. And if any of this has given you offense or troubles you while you are jumping up and down in the worship center or crossing yourself and genuflecting on Sunday, I guess I’ve earned my $1.95 for the week. If it’s any comfort, it troubles me, too.
Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is still ongoing, and polls are now showing Americans are increasingly blaming the Democrats for this mess, but we can’t let them spin their way out of it.
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