The question I must ask is: Is there still a disconnect between the American
Christian culture and the persecuted believers overseas?
The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP) is on November
2nd. Organizations are working tirelessly to bring unity to our
dysfunctional spiritual family but research shows a lack of interest in
participating in the IDOP.
In his book, Heirloom Love: Authentic Christianity in this Age of Persecuted, Dominic writes, “During the week prior to the
2014 International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, we reviewed the
websites of the one hundred seventy leading churches and denominations. Nearly
all of these leading Christian organizations had Veteran’s Day- or
Thanksgiving-related “food for the hungry” programs advertised on their home
pages.
None of them
mentioned the Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church on their website’s home
page. Only ten of them had it listed on their website’s calendar of events or
somewhere else on their websites.”
The statistics are clear:
western Christians have lost their love and burden for the persecuted church. Why is it that we can receive persecution news in “real time” and yet lack the heart to pray? These persecution stories are not just statistics; they are real people who are
part of our spiritual family.
The media brings reports
about my spiritual family...and your family too. This morning I asked myself the
question, what would I do if my parents were threatened, abused or imprisoned?
How would I respond?
Should I not feel the same urgency for all the fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters being persecuted right now? Jesus is calling us to “Remember those in prison, as if we were there ourselves. Remember also those being mistreated, as if we felt their pain in our own bodies.” (Hebrews 13:3)
Should I not feel the same urgency for all the fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters being persecuted right now? Jesus is calling us to “Remember those in prison, as if we were there ourselves. Remember also those being mistreated, as if we felt their pain in our own bodies.” (Hebrews 13:3)
Take at least five minutes to
pray. Pray that God would revive your heart to “remember them as though you
were with them” and that you would “feel their pain in your own body”.
After all, “If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it” (1 Corinthians 12:26) …because we are family, right?
After all, “If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it” (1 Corinthians 12:26) …because we are family, right?
3 comments:
The Church in the West has become so comfortable in these times of Grace the Lord has given us, it has driven us to be so inward focused. In our privileged position of peace, we have neglected to remember not only the persecuted Christians, but that our position is actually not 'normal' - and that it is quite likely that we are not experiencing this persecution because we are being called to help, pray and fight for the cause of the church in bondage... instead of warm the pews, live life for ourselves, and form 'holy' groups - all in the safety of our Western World.
Thankyou for sharing this... and for challenging us to think more deeply about this, and to pray!
Love,
Emily xo
Great article and good job researching. I was googling around trying to find news about Nov 2, but found nothing. The only info about what actually happened around the world that day I found in comments on the VOM facebook page.
Wow Emily! Great thoughts. Thanks for sharing.
Yims, thank you for your kind words. VOM did share some information on the IDOP. Open Doors and International Christian Concern also advertised this special event. I hope and pray that more churches will start joining in everywhere. Thanks for stopping by my blog!
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