It’s 300 a.d. Your pastor and his wife along with 100 church members have been arrested. They’re being held for trial for the crime of sedition, a crime that carries a 15 year sentence. Your church has been stripped clean. The pulpit and cross have been torn down and burned, and a business has taken the place where your church rented space. Roman soldiers stand outside the building where your church met turning people away with a warning and taking names.
Many of those who escaped are in hiding. Some who were caught have been exiled never to return to their home town. After almost a year of waiting, your pastor is sentenced to 9 years in prison, and his assets are seized.
This is what life was like under the Great Persecution, 250 until 314 a.d. It is also the story of what is happening in Communist China today. The scene above is actually taken from an article in The Guardian of January of 2019 and another article from The Federalist this last December. Only the time and names are different.
The pastor’s name is Wang Yi, pastor of the Early Rain Covenant Church in the city of Chengdu, China. He was sentenced just this past December. His wife and others arrested have been released but their movements are monitored and restricted.
The Chinese government is very aware that Christianity is growing swiftly in China. Currently, about a fifth of the population is Christian. The government’s idea is to turn the church into a government-friendly and regulated movement.
Since I began this blog three years ago, it has reached 47 different countries with more than 5,000 views. Even some in Mainland China view our blog. The first year (2016), Communist China was seventh on our “hit list.” Last year, it was fourth. So far this year, China is second only to the United States in the number of views. Amazing considering English is not their common language. Something is going on there.
I wanted to let the readers in China know we are aware of some of what they are going through and ask you, the reader, to please pray for these people being persecuted in their own country. Many Christians must meet in secret in fear of being arrested, tortured, and killed. Even so, Protestant Christianity is the fastest growing religion in China. Christianity is not technically illegal in China but is supposed to operate under the authority of the municipal and Provincial council. In other words, the legal church is government ruled. It is one without denomination or any overarching church authority. The government has authority to censor and control local churches if they wish to meet openly.
Because of the restrictions on church teachings, the House Church Movement arose where congregations will meet after hours in bars and restaurants and homes. These churches are, of course, illegal and openly persecuted, but there is no oversight from the Communists. To these congregations, Christ should still the Head of the church.
The Gospel Coalition puts it this way: “The church in China is often lauded in the West as the pinnacle of modern Christian discipleship and church planting. And in some ways it’s a reputation well deserved. The church in China has been forged through the fires of persecution, and the Christians there are men and women of immense faith with great joy in the Lord.”
Why is this important?
Christ spoke of persecution. We should expect it.
John 15:18-21 (ESV)
18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.
I have to say I admire the Chinese Christians who hold fast to their faith through terrible persecution. I wish that I had the depth of faith they must possess. We need to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters. They are most certainly on the front line of the battle.
2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 (ESV)
11 To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
We in the west can pray, and we can do everything possible to help the persecuted around the world. China is only one battleground. In some Islamic countries, you can be killed for preaching on the street. In India, Christians are persecuted and killed by Hindu nationalists.
Persecution of Christians didn’t end with Constantine ending the Great Persecution in 314. It’s alive and well today.
I don’t usually give outside sources of information, but might I suggest you look here: Open Door. ChristianPost
Believers Armed and Dangerous 