Maybe that’s the problem. If you look at the history of the Church, we’ve always thrived under persecution. That persecution isn’t the exception, it’s the norm. If you look at the Church in America, we’re the exception in that we have so much religious freedom and cultural acceptance (or at least we did and still do to an extent, though that acceptance is decreasing rapidly these days).

I don’t want anyone to think I’m in favor of the Church in the U. S. undergoing persecution. I definitely don’t want us to lose our freedom to worship how we choose. But sometimes, I wonder if all that freedom hasn’t made us soft. I heard the analogy that we have a cruise ship mentality where we want to be entertained and comfortable where the biblical idea is of a wartime battleship where we seek to save the lost at any cost (or at least point them at any cost to Jesus who saves them).

That cruise ship mentality gives us an unbiblical view of how Church works. We look for the Church to cater to us and our needs. We throw out any theology we don’t like or that makes us uncomfortable. We accommodate with the culture to maintain our comfort instead of being true salt and light with the true gospel.

I hope we can see revival. Maybe what we need is another reformation like in Martin Luther’s day. What I’m afraid is that it will take persecution and poverty and even prison to wake us up.

The greatest period of the Church in my mind was during the early days under Roman rule when it was illegal to be a Christian. So many were willing to die for their faith rather than deny Christ. The result was that the Church exploded and transformed the world, not because of all the fancy production value or the mega-million dollar facilities or the crafty branding but because they loved Jesus more than their own lives. People could see them and tell they had been with Jesus, first and foremost above all else.

That’s what we need. Not more political power. Not getting the right people elected. We need to get back to laying down our lives for Jesus and the gospel. Period.