“For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you, that it was not in vain: but even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention. ” 1st Thessalonians 2:1-2

If I may be blunt, American Christians are soft.

The typical Christian in America today cannot even begin to fathom the depth of persecution that happened in the first century to the young churches and disciples. I do not deny that there are times when bodily harm, personal property, or livelihood are threatened. But these incidents are isolated rather than epidemic.

Persecution in America is typically nothing more than schoolyard teasing. Christians get their feelings hurt and cry foul, hide or deny their faith, and run crying to social or mass media. This pattern of behavior is foreign to Scripture.

When, Paul was persecuted, he kept on preaching. He was beaten, jailed, stoned, and ridiculed yet he just kept finding more opportunities and places to preach the gospel. Not only did he not stop, Paul became more bold in his efforts to talk about Jesus.

There are Christians in other countries who have died for their faith, and they stood strong. We should pray for their deliverance and realize how blessed we are to have so great a freedom of religion and expression in our land.

We should be thankful for our freedom in America, and should do everything possible to protect it. At the same time, we should not fool ourselves into thinking that we will always have the luxury of religious freedom we so greatly enjoy, and take for granted, now.

Every day we should grow in faith and knowledge of Jesus through deeper devotion to God through our church and fellowship with believers. These bonds will strengthen us when true persecution comes.