Violently (yet relatively quietly) Christians are dying out in Bible lands. In the place where Paul was converted and in the location of the church that first sent an offering to help needy Christians—in these ancient Bible lands, Christians are dying at an alarming rate. Actually, the more accurate way of saying it is that Christians are being exterminated throughout the lands of the Old and New Testament narratives. In Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Syria—and all over the Middle East, Christians are severely persecuted.
Not too long ago, I posted about a controversy brewing in Germany with Chancellor Merkel. She made the claim that Christians were persecuted more severely than any other group. Now, a new study affirms the statement made by Chancellor Merkel. Christians are nearly gone in the Middle East.
The Telegraph headline reads: Christianity Close to Extinction in the Middle East. Several telling quotes will give you the overall flavor of the article:
“The study warns that Christians suffer greater hostility across the world than any other religious group.”
“Exposing and combating the problem ought in my view to be political priorities across large areas of the world. That this is not the case tells us much about a questionable hierarchy of victimhood,” says the author, Rupert Shortt, a journalist and visiting fellow of Blackfriars Hall, Oxford.
He adds: “The blind spot displayed by governments and other influential players is causing them to squander a broader opportunity. Religious freedom is the canary in the mine for human rights generally.”
Christ is no longer welcome in the Middle East. Ostensibly, the problem is militant Islam. As the article states,
The “lion’s share” of persecution faced by Christians arises in countries where Islam is the dominant faith, the report says, quoting estimates that between a half and two-thirds of Christians in the Middle East have left the region or been killed in the past century.
As Christians, we ought to pray much for Christians suffering persecution throughout the Middle East. We should also remember that persecution happens where Christ is present. He is present with His people in these oppressive places. The enemy senses a weakness in the body of Christ right now, so he is striking there particularly hard.
There are many instances in Scripture (such as John 8) in which enemies wished to kill Jesus, but they could not. Even on the night of His arrest, enemies fell to the ground under the influence of Jesus’s divinity (John 18). Yet, when Jesus was arrested and bound, the mocking, spitting, cursing, and ridiculing began. Jesus was not simply executed on a cross; he was tormented and persecuted all along the way. As then, so now, when the body of Christ is weak, the enemy will strike hard.
Yet now, as then, the greatest redemption occurs after the worse persecution. Christ is present with His people in the Middle East (regardless of how few of them are left). If we were of a sound spiritual mind, we, too, would be present in Spirit with our body suffering in the Middle East.
While praying for God to strengthen the saints suffering in terrible places, also pray for us to be awakened from our celebrity stupor of vanity Christianity so we might remember those who are ill-treated, since we ourselves are in the body.
Related articles
- Will Germany Help Syrian Christians (gregoryccochran.com)
- Christianity ‘close to extinction’ in Mideast (wnd.com)
- Why Aren’t Christians Persecuted? (gregoryccochran.com)
- Terry Waite: The plight of Middle East Christians took me back to Lebanon (guardian.co.uk)
Gregory C. Cochran 