Religious Freedom is a Threat to Christianity

Newsletter article for May 1997

© 1997 by Rev. Paul A. Wolff

Early in April an article in the newspaper attracted my interest. The headline read: “Religious freedom kills Christianity among Japanese.” The article told about the history of Christianity in Japan. Saint Francis Xavier brought Christianity to Japan in 1549 and the message flourished. By 1600 there were at least 300,000 Christians in Japan. Shortly afterward, Japanese general Hideyoshi banned Christianity and began a fierce repression. Until the 1850’s it was widely believed that the Christian faith had died in Japan, but then a French Priest found a group of Japanese Christians. There were as many as 50,000 people who were secretly Christian. Generations of Japanese people were “Hidden Christians” and had kept the faith alive from the 16th century to the 19th century despite persecution.

However, the present day descendants of those “Hidden Christians” say that although their ancestors were able to remain faithful through centuries of active antagonism and persecution, there is a new threat which is turning the next generation away from Christ. That threat is religious freedom.

It may be difficult for us to see religious freedom as a threat to Christianity. Many of our predecessors in this country came here to escape persecution so that they could worship God freely and openly. The Christian church has had its ups and downs in the past two centuries, but for most of the 20th century Christianity has been overwhelmingly popular in America. However, we face the same threat that the Japanese Christians face.

It seems ironic that a faith that could last hundreds of years of persecution might not survive religious freedom and tolerance, but that is often how it works. The country in Asia where Christianity is growing the fastest is China and Christianity is still banned in China. History tells us that during the persecution of Christians in the first few centuries after Christ, the church grew exponentially. Much of the growth of the early church did not occur despite the persecution. The church grew because of the persecution! Or rather, the church grew because of what the martyrs believed in (i.e. Jesus Christ).

It worked something like this: because the martyrs were willing to suffer and die for their faith in Jesus that showed other people that there was something special about Jesus Christ that made people willing (and even eager) to die for his name. When these observers tried to find out what was so special about Jesus, they heard about God’s grace and love for all people, the forgiveness of sins, and eternal life through Jesus. Thus many people were converted and the church grew throughout the time of persecution.

There are no lukewarm Christians during times of persecution. If Jesus doesn’t mean that much to you, or if you are not absolutely sure of the resurrection from the dead, then you are not going to risk your life proclaiming your faith. However, if you are convinced of your salvation, and agree with St. Paul that “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18) then no threat of punishment, or even death, will cause you to lose your faith. Also by your witness, others will see the truth of Jesus and will be converted.

The word “martyr” comes from a Greek word meaning “witness”. When the martyrs were killed for their faith in Christ, they were acting as witnesses. A witness testifies about what he or she has seen, or knows. A Christian testifies that Jesus loves us at all times, and that he saved us from our sin so that we will have eternal life.

So what does religious freedom have to do with this? We usually see religious freedom as a guarantee that we can worship Christ without harassment. However, even in our society we can see signs that such freedom isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Any anti-Christian preacher, or false prophet can start his own “religion” and he is free to lead as many people to their destruction as he is able. And he has the full protection of the law up to the point where he breaks the law in any way. This was tragically shown by the recent “Heaven’s Gate” cult earlier this year. The leader of that cult could tell as many lies that his evil mind could imagine, but he was protected by the law until he started murdering his followers.

But it isn’t only cults that threaten people’s faith, it’s also our secular society. With the religious freedom that we have we are bombarded on many sides by pressures to take our Christian faith for granted. The outward freedoms that we enjoy cleverly conceal the fact that there is a real battle going on. Satan didn’t go on vacation just because we are able to freely worship Christ. Instead, Satan uses more subtle means to make us complacent in our faith, as he tries to lead us away from Jesus. We can see that Satan is at work when, after the mass suicide in San Deigo left 39 people dead, there are still people thinking that there may have been some truth in what that cult was teaching. We saw these people on the television news shows.

There are countless ways that we are tempted to turn away from Jesus. If we let it, our job might pressure us to take over the time we would otherwise devote to worshipping God. Our hobbies or special interests could also interfere with Sunday worship. Even our family could lead us away from Christ. And over all of this is the temptation to deal with people in a selfish way, rather than in a loving way that Christ has called us to do. St. Paul encourages us in Philippians 2:3 to “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”

So what is the meaning of all this? If the real key to church growth is persecution, then should we pray for persecution, or actively seek it out? No, even in the early church those who ran forward and offered themselves for martyrdom were called “spontaneous martyrs” and were considered to be false martyrs. Martyrdom was considered to be a special gift that God granted to certain people under extreme circumstances. No Christian wants to die, because this life is a gift from God, and we should not take it lightly. However, this life isn’t all there is, and there are more important things than life. Our faith in Jesus is more important than life because we know that the life that we have in Jesus is eternal, so that even if we lose our life for Jesus’ sake we know that we really haven’t lost anything because Christ Jesus will give us so much more in the life to come.

Don’t take your faith for granted. There are people suffering every day for their faith, and you never know when it will happen to you. No matter what happens in your life, you don’t want to be caught unprepared. But don’t be afraid about what might happen to you in your life. God is watching over you and will take care of you. “Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! ... Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:27-28, 32)