Open Doors Canada raises awareness about persecuted Christians and provides support.

In 2020 one of their workers posted this statement on Instagram: “I remember visiting the believers in China. They didn’t have a building to worship in, so a few of them would gather in their homes instead. Sometimes they would travel across the mountains for two hours just to have a church service together in secret, because they valued that so much.”*

That really stuck with me. It made me think about our own hunger for God in North America. It also made me think about our lack of hunger.

I think living here is great. We have valuable freedoms and countless benefits. But comforts can have casualties. We start to take certain things for granted. 

There are Christians all over the world who would love to gather publicly to worship God without being persecuted… but many of us take it for granted and, to be honest, could also take it or leave it.

There are Christians who would love to have a physical space to meet… but many of us act like it’s a horrible burden to leave the house on Sunday morning. And when we show up, we think people should thank us and consider it an over-the-top act of righteousness.

There are Christians in other parts of the world who crave fellowship, who would cut off their right arm to have their own copy of the Bible, and who would rather die than deny Jesus… but many of us avoid people if they don’t agree with us about everything, neglect our Bibles, and shy away from saying anything about our faith. 

This isn’t to make us feel bad. It’s to make us think.

In Revelation 3:16 the One who died for us gave this warning to the church in Laodicea: “because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”

Don’t just enjoy freedom; take advantage of it.
Don’t just own a Bible; study it.
Don’t just like Jesus; love him.
Don’t just go to church; be the church.

Today, I encourage you to take a few moments to pray for the persecuted church. 

Pray also for anti-lukewarm-ness in North America.

Don’t let comfort smother your zeal. See it as an opportunity to be, show and share the love of Christ.

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Notes:

–*From an Opens Doors Canada post on Instagram (@opendoorscanada) on March 18,2020.

–You can follow Open Doors Canada on Instagram at: @opendoorscanada. Or you can visit their website at: https://www.opendoorscanada.org/ 

–Bible quotes are from the NIV.