Is religious persecution possible prior to the rapture?

There is perhaps no more troubling question on the minds of Bible-believing Christians of our day than the threat of persecution for what they believe concerning Jesus Christ and the Bible. We have for so long enjoyed religious liberty that the thought of losing it is indeed troubling. But the threat is real, and it is growing day by day.

The truth is that this is purely an American question, for it is beyond dispute that Christians are being persecuted around the globe even as we speak. Recently we learned of a Mayan pastor who was mercilessly beaten and his wife almost raped by their own family members, just because he dared to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is no question that there is persecution before the rapture, just whether or not it will come here.

Believe it or not, many of our Chinese brethren are praying just for this. Somehow they have come to believe that there is something lacking in our Christianity that only persecution can provide. And you know what? I am inclined to agree with them.

If persecution comes to our shores, one of the first things it will do is purify the churches. Matthew 13:20-21 says, “But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.”

What I am saying by this is that there are a lot of churches out there whose members have an academic interest in Christianity, but they have never repented of their sins and turned to Christ for the salvation of their souls. Oh, they may think that everyone needs a church home, or that they were baptized as a baby into their church and have some sort of obligation, but they’ve never been born again; their Christianity is only academic. And what’s more, their churches don’t even care just as long as the pews are filled and the offering box is full.

But all this will change if persecution arises.

But it will do more than just purify the church — it will remove impurities from the lives of true believers. I Peter 1:6-7 says, “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.”

Gold in its natural state is often found with other metals, but even if these metals have value of their own, they are often less than that of gold and are thus called “impurities.” Fire at least used to be the only method of removing these impurities to purify that precious metal.

The same thing is true of our faith. There is something dreadfully wrong in Christianity today, and it can be seen in how people choose their churches. It seems like the church with “the mostest” becomes the biggest. Whoever has the most entertaining teen and children’s programs for the tithe dollar wins.

But all this will go away if persecution visits our shores. Then we will see what really is important for the cause of Christ.

And if persecution does arise in America against true biblical Christianity, it will also prove yet again to the lost that it is a very poor tactic. In Acts 8 when persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem, it only caused them to flee and preach the gospel everywhere they went. What the foes of Christ really need to get a hold of is that persecution has always been the seed bed of growth for Christianity, while prosperity has been her ruin.

Think about it: Except for a brief interlude of about 200 years beginning in the late 18th century, biblical Christianity has been fiercely persecuted since the days of the apostles, and we are still here. Jesus said the gates of hell would not prevail against the church, and they have not, though they have tried.

If persecution does come to America, O Christian, just be ready to rise to the occasion, that when you stand before Christ, you will not be ashamed.

Ron Hamman is pastor for Independent Baptist Church of Wasilla. Contact him at 357-4229.