I think Voddie Baucham, a pastor out of California, said it best. Christians in Nigeria are dying for their faith, and we complain about being persecuted because the media said mean things about us. I do think there are varying degrees of persecution, but I also think that losing your life is way worse than having hurt feelings.

I do believe that real persecution is coming to America. I’m not a prophet, so I don’t claim to know when or how or any of the details, but I know it will come, first because Jesus promised it would come and second because America has been an anomaly in history as far as the Church is concerned. That will end.

But one thing persecution does is to clarify your priorities. If you can practice your faith in a comfortable setting, you won’t value it as much as if confessing Christ could cost you your life. You’re less likely to treasure your Bible until it becomes illegal to posses one.

But it’s not another doom and gloom pronouncement in an age of doom-scrolling. The Church has always flourished under persecution. Persecuted faith is faith that is purified under trial and comes forth as gold. Just as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego could see a fourth man in the fire, so we see Jesus more clearly in the midst of persecution. We can know He’s near to the suffering and close to the brokenhearted.

If I’m honest, I confess that I don’t look forward to persecution and hope that it doesn’t come in my lifetime. I also confess that if it does come, God has promised to be with me and to give me strength to bear it when the time does come. Or God will be my strength in that hour.