Even If i Walk Alone

Instructing and encouraging you to live your life as a disciple of Jesus

persecuted

Outsiders

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If you follow Jesus with any consistency in this life, you’re going to find yourself as a cultural outsider. There’s no way around it. Our values are different. Our morals are different. Even our goals in life are different. We are not of this world, and we do not live like we are of this world (John 17:14-16). The very act of following Jesus Christ puts you on the outside, looking in on the rest of the world. You’ll be weird.

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The people of this world will hate, despise, and maybe even kill you. For certain, they will never understand you. Jesus lived on the outside too and he promised we would face trouble (John 16:33). He told us in advance that the world would hate us because it hated him (John 15:18-19). Authentic followers of Jesus will never be on the inside of the coolest and most popular circles. They will always be outsiders.

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The Persecuted

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For many in the West, it is uncomfortable to talk about the persecuted Church around the world. While we may face ridicule and discrimination to one degree or another, we have no reference point for the brutality inflicted against our brothers and sisters in far-off countries. Much like the television commercials depicting starving children or animal shelters, the images are hard to look at so we close our eyes, mute the sound, or change the channel.

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We know these things exist but we would rather not think about them. But our discomfort does not change the reality of what is happening to our brothers and sisters. Imagine if it was your flesh and blood sibling who was enduring such things. Would you not keep them in the front of your mind and do everything in your power to help and encourage them? Then why are we so reluctant to discuss and bring attention to the plight of our brothers and sisters in Christ?

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Praying for the Persecuted

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I want to encourage all followers of Jesus to remember our brothers and sisters around the world who are facing mistreatment, persecution, violence, and prison. It’s easy to read their stories, throw up a quick prayer, and move on. Their names can be difficult to pronounce, their cultures foreign to us. But each of these individuals is a man or woman, just like you and me.

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They feel fear and pain. Many have families they love and who count on them. They are not so different from us. No, they are just like us. The only difference between us and them is most of us have been blessed to have been born and/or live in countries that afford religious freedom.

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Persecuted

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I pray daily for our brothers and sisters around the world who are being persecuted for their faith. It is both devastating and humbling to read what they are going through because of their commitment to Jesus. In many countries, becoming a follower of Christ will lead to job loss, inability to rent or buy housing, harassment and beatings from friends and family, and often imprisonment or death. For many believers, this is the harsh reality of their lives.

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Some stories are unimaginable to those of us who sit safely ensconced in our comfortable homes, living in a freedom unmatched in history. The bravery and courage of our persecuted brothers and sisters should compel us all to lift their needs in prayer often. Those who are out of sight must never be out of mind.

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