Does persecution make me more Christian?

The corollary of this, often implied if not outright boldly stated, is: “Those who are not facing persecution are far from Christ.”

This is a dangerous idea, because often as not it’s probably untrue!

Yes, we certainly should be bold in our witness. Boldness can bring persecution on us. Sometimes that persecution takes the form of danger to body, and other times it may take the form of emotional or mental attack. It is never a sign of spiritual maturity to shy away from witness in the face of danger.

That said, many Christians do not live in situations of grave danger, but rather in largely Christian, or Christianized, or mostly tolerant, communities. If you were to ask the cashier at your local supermarket if you could pray for her because you sense she’s having a bad day, provided there isn’t a line 20 people long behind you, she’d probably appreciate the prayer. You’re not going to get a raging mob looking to stone you.

Moreover in “post-Christian” societies the form and intensity of persecution can be vastly different, and very complex. I am reminded of the Arizona Bible study that was told they couldn’t meet because they violated city ordinances. Some called it persecution. I’m not convinced (and this is a good summary of why (http://www.christianpost.com/news/city-of-phoenix-release-fact-sheet-in-michael-salman-jail-pastor-home-bible-study-case-78153/) ).

For any given place/people, there is an early stage where Gospel work must be pioneered, and this can be dangerous. However, once the church is established, and grows to encompass the whole of the community, it is obviously less so. Already, globally, we see a significant decline in persecutions and martyrdoms around the world. There are far less martyrs today than in the 1970s. And the intensity of martyrdom isn’t nearly as high as it was during certain years under the Roman Empire. (And let’s remember that most of the time under the Roman Empire Christianity thrived and was tolerated; there were only a handful of emperors who tried to stamp it out, and they didn’t live long.)

What happens when an area is Christianized? In much of the world, the church grows more through demographic growth (babies born to Christian homes) than through conversion growth. I’ve written before about why this is the logical end of Christianization (http://www.justinlong.org/2012/03/when-declines-in-church-growth-signal-success/) .

At that point, two things must happen: first, the church should be sending workers to other less Christianized places (the missionary impulse), and, second, the church should be focused on sustaining worship. (And I’ve written about that, too (http://www.justinlong.org/2012/09/a-sustainable-multi-generational-idea-of-closure/) : that “closure can be reached, but must be reached in an ongoing, sustainable way”).

Are the goers who get close to persecution somehow closer to Christ than the senders who remain behind, in relative safety?

What of Ralph Winter’s statement, that it can be more strategic to remain behind and send 1,000 than to go yourself? Is he urging us to remain far away from Christ and send others closer to Christ?

I can get very far into silliness with this idea, but I’m sure you’ve already gotten my drift. If we were successful in the Great Commission, no place would face the possibility of persecution because all places would be united under the King. (Depending on your eschatology that might or might not be possible, but you get my point.) In short, mission (and persecution) ceases to exist where worship does – and if worship exists largely everywhere, mission and persecution largely will not.

Thus, when you have a Christianized region, people cannot define their “proximity to Christ” by the probability of persecution. If they did, no one would be very close to Christ at all.

I understand the main sentiment behind this idea of “get close to Christ in spite of persecution” – there are many places on Earth where darkness is great and lights are snuffed out. We must not be afraid to bring candles there. It is a dangerous task but we must not shirk from the danger. We must be brave (http://www.amazon.com/Brave-Nichole-Nordeman/dp/B0009FGX0M) .

That said, I think we should be careful about judging the quality of one’s obedience to Christ by the level of persecution it engenders. That could be a dangerous road.