Are Christians Really Being Persecuted?

10 Persecution Myths and Misunderstandings

Myth 1: It’s only persecution when people are getting killed.

Through the centuries, millions of Christians have been murdered for being Christians. But the persecution didn’t only “count” when they were being murdered. There are many other ways that Christians have been persecuted.

There are many examples in the New Testament of believers being persecuted but not killed. They were forced to be refugees (Acts 8:1). They were beaten (Acts 5:40). They were deprived of rights (Acts 16:23-24). They faced financial penalties and fines (Acts 17:9).

So, in both Bible times and since then, up to the present day – when Christians have their families disown them because they are Christians, that is persecution. When children are denied admission to university because they come from a Christian family, that is persecution. When believers lose their jobs because they are Christians, that is persecution. When followers of Jesus have to pay special taxes because they are Christians, that is persecution.

We might say that compared to suffering death, those are minor forms of persecution – but they are still persecution. Persecution doesn’t begin with murder. When it comes to persecution, actual martyrdom is like the tip of the iceberg – it’s the part everyone notices, but there is much more that people overlook.

Myth 2: As long as someone else is persecuted worse, we shouldn’t complain.

I hear many people say things like this: “If you think you’re being persecuted, you should talk to believers in North Korea or in parts of Africa.” In one sense, this is true. After all, we never want to imagine persecution when it doesn’t exist, and we don’t want to exaggerate whatever persecution we might face.

It is also true that we are full of care the sympathy for our brothers and sisters around the world who face worse persecution than we may face.

However, the thinking, “As long as someone else is persecuted worse, we shouldn’t complain” is really kind of crazy. Can you imagine using this logic with someone whose pastor was murdered or imprisoned? Can you imagine saying this to them: “Well, don’t complain. In Africa twenty pastors were murdered”?

Just because others are being persecuted worse does not mean that we are not facing persecution, or that we should be silent about our persecution.

Myth 3: Persecution has to be violent to be “real” persecution.

Hebrews 12:4 describes early Christians who had not yet shed blood in their resistance to a sinful society, yet they were still being persecuted. It wasn’t violent, but it was real.

When governments or other forces in society carry out laws, policies, or pressures that will hinder the expression or growth of Christianity, that’s persecution. It might be mild persecution, or it might be severe persecution. It might be violent persecution or non-violent persecution. Yet it is still persecution, and it’s real.

The government or the societal force doesn’t have to claim that the purpose of their law, policy, or pressure is to persecute or destroy Christianity or the church. They might have an entirely different purpose in mind. What matters is not their motivation, but the effect.

No matter what the intention is, if the result of a law, policy, or pressure is to weaken and restrict Christianity either in the individual or in the community of Christians (the church), that is persecution.

Myth 4: Persecution has to directly impact everyone before it is real persecution.

There have been very few times in the history of the church when all the Christians in a particular state, nation, or empire were all being persecuted at the same time. Most always, persecution is a local matter. Even when Christians were persecuted in the days of the Roman Empire, in some regions it was worse for Christians than in other regions. It often depended on how zealously a local official wanted to carry out the laws and penalties from Rome.

Therefore, it’s wrong to think “Well, not all of us are being persecuted, so it’s no big deal.” When it comes to an attack on God’s Church, I believe that an attack on one is an attack on all.

Myth 5: Persecutors openly hate Jesus Christ and Christianity.

Through history, we see that some persecutors have claimed to be Christians, and others have claimed to have “nothing personal” against Christianity. Some persecutors simply don’t care about what Christians believe.

In fact, the persecution of Christians was and is normally done for the claimed greater good of society. The people who persecute almost never say, “We hate Jesus Christ and we want to destroy Christianity.” It almost always comes like this: “There are some big problems that need to be fixed in our society, and the Christians are unfortunately in the way. We hope they will get on board with the changes that need to be made.”

An example of this is found in the history of persecution in the Roman Empire. At certain times in the first 300 years of Christianity, the emperors of Rome said that every Roman had to take an oath of loyalty to Caesar and the Rome. This is what they had to do: go before an official, burn a pinch of incense before a statue of the emperor, say “Caesar is Lord,” and receive a certificate that proved they had done it.

The Roman emperors did this because they felt that it was important to bring the people of the Empire together to bring unity. Most Roman officials didn’t care what Christians actually believed – they just needed them to do the thing. If the Christians wanted to pray to Jesus on their own time, they could – but they had to burn the incense and say, “Caesar is Lord.” To the Romans, this wasn’t really a religious matter – it was a matter of public safety, public order, the public good.

Myth 6: Christians are persecuted without reason.

Through history, when Christians are persecuted, almost always the persecutors think and say they have good reasons to do it.  Rarely do the persecutors say, “We hate Christians, so we want to attack and hinder Christianity.”

The Muslim who murders Christians claims a good reason to do it. The Communist who murders Christians claims a good reason to do it. In the Roman Empire, they claimed good reasons for persecuting Christians.

In the Western world, those who persecute Christians and work against them think they are doing good. They earnestly believe they have good reasons. These reasons will often be stated in terms of public health or safety.

It could be said like this: “What you Christians teach from the Bible is responsible for hatred towards homosexuals and transsexuals. They are being beaten, murdered, and committing suicide because of what you claim the Bible teaches. For the sake of public safety, public health, you can’t teach that anymore. If you do, you will be fined or punished.”

When that happens, those who make those laws will think they have good reasons for punishing Christians for making the community worse.

Myth 7: Christians should always silently accept persecution.

There are times when Christians certainly should simply endure persecution without objection. Jesus did this when He was arrested, tried, beaten, and crucified. He silent like a lamb before its shearers (Isaiah 53:7). There were also times when Paul and his companions silently received persecution, making no immediate objection (Acts 16:19-24).

However, it is wrong to think that the Bible says that this should always be the way Christians respond (or don’t respond) to persecution. The Bible tells us to make a defense for the faith (1 Peter 3:15). Jesus told us that the Holy Spirit would tell us what to say when we are brought before religious and governmental officials (Mark 13:11).

Paul appealed to his rights as a Roman citizen and made a defense (Acts 16:35-40, Acts 22:24-29).

In history, early Christians were strong defenders of the faith – they tried to persuade both the officials and the people of the Roman Empire that the accusations made against Christians were not true, and that Christians were in fact a blessing to the empire, not a problem. They were not silent, and they tried to persuade others that it was wrong and unnecessary to persecute Christians.

Myth 8: Persecution always unites the Church.

I believe that it is difficult for us to understand persecution, especially those of us in the Western world. We have directly faced so little persecution for so many generations that we can sometimes have romantic and overly heroic ideas about times of persecution. We don’t understand how frightening it is.

We also don’t understand how times of persecution are often times of painful division among believers. Almost always, when a government officials or other people in power start persecuting the church, there are some in the church who say, “What they are doing isn’t unreasonable. We can accommodate this.” Others disagree, and division can be common. It isn’t always easy to see who is right and who is wrong; who is being reasonable and who is being unreasonable. Persecution often divides Christians, separating among those who think there is a way to accommodate, and those who think there is no way to accommodate.

Myth 9: Persecution never “Works.”

We are absolutely certain that in the long term, Jesus always wins. His promise is true: He will build His church and the gates of hell will not prevail against His church (Matthew 16:18).

However, in the short term – to our human eye of observation – there are times when persecution seems to work. It is sad, but true: sometimes Christians renounce the faith. Or, at least those who completely appeared to be Christians renounce the faith in times of persecution.

Sometimes Christians leave as refugees. This has been the sad case in the last 50 years of so in the Middle East. Many, many Christians have left their homelands in the Middle East to live with greater safety in the USA, Canada, or Europe.

And sometimes, because of persecution, places and regions that were once dominantly Christian do not have much a Christian presence or influence for hundreds and hundreds of years. Did you know that the whole region of North Africa was once strongly Christian? Now, under the sway of Islam and with few Christians, it seems (to our human observation) that persecution “worked.”

Of course, that isn’t always the story. When missionaries were kicked out of China in the early 20^th century and Chinese Christians were persecuted, God used it all to remarkably strengthen and multiply Christians in China. All this came through a lot of suffering and pain, but it came. But through history and across the world, this isn’t always the story when persecution comes.

Myth 10: Persecution is the worst thing that can happen to Christians.

Whether persecution is minor or major, whether it is just beginning or has been around a long time we can take comfort in the truth that persecution is not the worst thing that can happen to believers!

The abiding truth is that Jesus Christ is Lord, and there are aspects of His glory that only shine forth in season of persecution. Persecution has a purifying influence on the church. We don’t say this lightly; the purification that comes to the church through persecution is painful! Yet even in that pain, believers can join Jesus in the fellowship of His sufferings.

We can follow the amazing progression that Paul wrote about in Philippians 3:10. First, Paul said: “That I may know Him.” Knowing Jesus is wonderful! Then Paul said he wanted to know “the power of His resurrection.” What amazing power that is! But look what Paul wrote next about knowing Jesus: “and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” That sounds really painful; but there is a glory in that pain, because in it and through it I truly come to know Jesus better.

Because of all this, we know that as difficult as persecution can be, it isn’t the worst thing that can happen to believers. Ongoing spiritual, doctrinal, and moral compromise is really much worse.

Here are the ten myths about persecution together:

1. It’s only persecution when people are getting killed.
2. As long as someone else is persecuted worse, we shouldn’t complain.
3. Persecution has to be violent to be real persecution.
4. Persecution has to directly impact everyone before it is real persecution.
5. Persecutors openly hate Jesus Christ and Christianity.
6. Christians are persecuted without reason.
7. Christians should always silently accept persecution.
8. Persecution always unites the Church.
9. Persecution never “Works.”
10. Persecution is the worst thing that can happen to Christians.

© 2021 By David Guzik for Enduring Word – ewm@enduringword.com 

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