The Persecuted Church

I was struck by something in my quiet time today. I'm still doing the Beth Moore devotional, "90 Days With The Beloved Disciple," a study on the life of John. The reading was from Acts, and was right after the stoning of Stephen, when persecution of the early church was running rampant. The persecution of the church had the exact opposite effect on the spread of the Gospel than the oppostion had intended. As the church was persecuted, the Gospel spread like wild-fire. The following is a quote from the book, The Two St. Johns of the New Testament by James Stalker,

"Not infrequently, it was by persecution that the new faith was driven out of one place into another, where, but for this reason, it might never have been heard of; so that the opposition which threatened to extinguish the fire of the Gospel only scattered its embers far and wide; and wherever they fell, a new fire was kindled."

As I thought about the early church, I couldn't help but think about the persecuted church today. There are Christians all over the world who are dying and being persecuted for their faith in Christ. The Church in persecuted areas is growing like wild-fire! I think as Americans we are so complacent in our faith (can we even call it faith sometimes?), and we never want to step out of our comfort zones. We don't really have to sacrifice much for being a Christian. Sometimes I wonder what it's going to take to get us out of our comfortable churches and out in the community meeting lost people at their point of need (and believe me, I'm talking to myself here!) Does He need to turn up the heat? Would the American church grow in the face of persecution? I'm scared to consider the answer to that question! I guess the point I'm trying to make as I ramble on is that authentic faith grows in the face of persecution and trials. Can you recall a difficult circumstance that has pushed you to grow spiritually? This is where trusting Him comes in. Do we trust Him enough to allow our trials to change us and grow us? Here is Beth's commentary on the subject:

"I suspect that God has allowed you to experience a fence pushed down painfully in your life to expand His horizon for you. God is faithful, isn't He? Even when He turns the ignition on a holy bulldozer to plow down a confining fence."

Why should we let trials or persecution go to waste in our lives? Let's live by faith and trust Him to use even our difficult circumstances to shape us! He knows what He's doing and He can always be trusted!