HOW TO REDUCE PERSECUTION

The church age started 2000 years ago with 3000 baptisms on the day of the Pentecost. The original church had no buildings, no Sunday service, no salaried pastors, no musical instruments, and no tithing. They did not even have the printed gospel in their hands. They did not have any financial resources or political power but they had the power of the Holy Spirit and so the churches grew exponentially.

As time went by all these things were added by human ingenuity and church growth and multiplication dwindled to a halt. They broke bread (ate food) and gossiped about the gospel and the churches grew in numbers and in strength daily.

Persecution is not new. Lord Jesus himself was persecuted and so were his disciples as well as the churches throughout its history.  The worst scenario was when the institutionalized powerful big churches started persecuting the little house churches. However, the more they were persecuted, the truer churches grew in numbers and strength (Acts 16:5). Persecution is now a global phenomenon which is the best indicator of an expanding church. The worst kind of persecution is no persecution because Satan does not consider you worth the bother because you are just a compromised Christian.

There are many types of persecution. When governments have a different ideology, then they actively persecute Christians like the Communists and faith-based dictators and tyrants do. However, the silver lining is that wherever there is persecution, there is a rapid growth of healthy churches. Examples are Communist China; the church has grown from one million in 1948 to 100 million now which is way more than the Communist party membership. All the growth is in the invisible underground churches. They have requested Christendom not to pray to stop persecution lest they become lukewarm. But pray for boldness to preach the gospel where Christ is not known. Ask God to stretch forth his hand to heal the sick and deliver the demonized. (Acts 4:29-31)

In Buddhist South Korea Christianity has grown from 0 to 40% of the population in the last 70 years. In nomadic Mongolia, it has grown from 5 Christians to 75,000 Christians in the last 25 years. In the 100 years, it has grown in Africa from zero position to almost all the countries of the continent, barring some countries in the north. Even in hard-core Muslim Middle East countries like Iran, it is the fastest-growing religion with as many as 300,000 Muslims who have accepted Hazrat Essa as their savior. It is the same in Hindu Nepal, the Rohingyas of Myanmar, and the Catholics of Cuba. The house church grew exponentially during the covid lockdown when all else came to a grinding halt. They were open to people of all faiths and truly became the house of prayer for all nations. (Mark 11:17)

India is no exception where the movement has now spread across to at least fifty percent of 650 thousand North Indian villages where 25 years ago there were none. For example, 25 years ago there were hardly 65 pastors in the whole of Punjab state. Recently India Today, a secular Magazine (14^th November 2022) reported that Punjab now has an estimated 65,000 pastors. Maybe a little exaggerated, but it nevertheless shows the trend.  They have maintained their Sikh culture, including the turban, beard, mustache, dress code, and names. Their churches are designed like Sikh Gurudwaras and have communal meals together including Gidda dancing and Tappa singing.

Persecution comes in various forms. Communities that lose their membership do not like it and persecute those who abandon their religion and culture. However, the main cause of persecution is visibility and audibility. If you gather large crowds of people and make a lot of noise with musical instruments, build ostentatious buildings, present Christianity in triumphalistic terms and vilify other religions, you are inviting persecution. (Acts 19:35-37)

The other things to avoid are some of the Christian terminologies we use routinely without understanding its implication and their impact on people of other faiths.  For example, “conversion”. This word is not found in the Bible. The word used in the Bible is “Be transformed” (Romans 12:2) or new creation (2Cor. 5:17 or born again (John 3:3,5)). Now the word ‘conversion’ has been criminalized in India and anyone indulging in it can be put behind bars. Anyway, Lord Jesus did not ask us to make ‘converts’ but make ‘disciples who make disciples’ (Matt. 28:19,20). The word ‘repent’ means to return back to the original position. It is a ‘homecoming’, like the prodigal son who returned home after being lost. So, it's best to use the word ‘homecoming’ in the local language like ‘ghar wapsi’ in Hindi which is what the Hindus use when someone returns to their fold. It is a Biblical concept, “You are no longer strangers and foreigners but members of the ‘Household of God’.” (Eph. 2:19,20)

The designation Christian, Evangelist, Missionary, Pastor, Reverend, etc. should be avoided as they are colonial words interpreted as proselytizers by force or inducement. These posts did not exist in the New Testament church. The title of Reverend is reserved only for God (Psalm 111:9). There are no more foreign missionaries in the country and those who came from South India are dwindling as more and more local leaders stand up to reach their own people.  It is better to use words like ‘Sevak’ (minister) or Yeshu Bhakt (Jesus devotee) or Shishya in Hindi or Shagird in Urdu (Disciple). Another word is ‘baptism’. It is a Greek word and not an English word. Several alternatives can be used such as ‘Pavitra Snan’ or ‘Jal Diksha’ meaning holy bath or ‘Shuddhikaran ka Snan’ meaning ‘cleansing bath’ in the Hindi language. Muslims can use the word ‘Pak Gusl’ or ‘Gusl e Pak’.

Another word to avoid is ‘church’. Lord Jesus used the Greek word ‘ecclesia’ e.g. “I will build my ecclesia” (Matt. 16:18) which means assembly or gathering. Ekklesia means a place where people gather to get justice (Acts 19:38,41). So, it is better to use words like Satsang (Truth Gathering) commonly used by Hindus, or “Jamaat” in the Urdu language. Hindus have no objection to attending a Satsang and Muslims have no difficulty attending a jamaat but will not enter a church.

 The Lord Jesus used the word church only three times but the New Testament uses the word Kingdom over 80 times. Therefore, you are to preach the Kingdom rather than the church. Lord Jesus in the opening sentence of his ministry declared, “Repent for the Kingdom of God is nigh.” (Matt. 4:17). He taught us the Kingdom prayer (Matt. 6:9-15) and to preach the Kingdom (Luke 9:1,2). So, if your goal is to reach the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8) then the focus must change from growing church membership to multiplying disciple-making disciples into the Kingdom.

Another important thing is to stay engaged with the community; however hostile they may be because that is the only way you will win them to Christ.  For this, you must build relationship bridges with them and participate in all their cultural activities barring idolatry, occult practices and drinking alcohol etcetera.  To learn their religion, culture, and worldview is critical for building bridges. As there is a strong ‘Guru (teacher) culture’ in India, it is better to address Jesus as ‘Satguru’ or ‘Sadguru’ (True teacher). Also please avoid calling him just ‘Jesus’ but honor him by calling Prabhu Yeshu (Lord Jesus) or ‘Satguru Yesu’ or in the case of Muslims call him Hazrat (Master) Isa or Khudawand Isa (Lord Jesus).

Finally, do not waste resources in building buildings and investing in all the paraphernalia that goes with it to preach to the converted. Rather invest in people who are engaged in discipling lost people. Lord Jesus did not ask you to build buildings but make disciples that multiply disciples. Lord Jesus made his disciples while on the go while his disciples made their disciples on the dining tables while breaking bread from house to house (Acts 2:46,47). Discipling cannot be done with large crowds but by following Lord Jesus’ instruction, “Where two or three are gathered together, I am present.” (Matt. 18:18)

These simple measures will not eliminate persecution but help reduce the quantum and the severity of persecution which is escalating because we are the problem creators.