The Darkness Before The Dawn

It always makes me laugh when people say that people become Christian because they like the idea of having a God to take care of them, or because of a ‘saviour complex.’ 

Because I spent the first weekend as a Bible believer contemplating my fate being beheaded in a concentration camp because of my beliefs. I had connected with one Christian who had a rather literal (and slightly wonky timeline) version of Biblical events, and it was terrifying. I had yet to deeply connect with the immense love of God, and that feeling of being taken care of, because the first book of the Bible I read was Revelation. 

It was only later, as I learnt more that I realised that there are different interpretations of Revelation that the terror receded, and I was able to let go of fear, and trust in God. 

Nevertheless, the signs are there that we are heading for a world that will outlaw Christianity. 

Christians are the most persecuted faith group on the planet, with 13 killed for their faith every day around the world. In many countries Christians cannot practise their faith openly, and must meet undercover. In China, people sometimes travel a whole day to get to church and memorise parts of the Bible, not just because it deepens their relationship with God, because they know they might not always have access to a bible.

In the ‘civilised’ West, we experience ‘persecution lite,’ in the form of insults and judgements. As I wrote the media is full of anti-Christian messaging, which also fuels the preconceived negative ideas about Christian. (It must be acknowledged that lots of people have traumatic experiences within churches that have bad interpretations of Christianity. Also historically there had been much abuse in the name of ‘Christianity,’ and so, it’s a complex issue. But nevertheless, there is an element of attacking Christianity, because of its central core message; the Gospel. 

Jesus said, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life, no-one comes to the father but through me.’ 

The problem is that this message is inherently offensive. The Gospel is offensive, because Jesus said he’s the only way. Jesus is utterly intolerant of other paths to God. 

Recently a woman was arrested for preaching, and saying that the muslim Mohammed was a paedophile. She was released without charge. (Mohammed did actually marry his wife when she was 9 years old.) Another woman was arrested for praying silently on the street. 

The Bible tells Christians that they will be hated and persecuted, ‘If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you’.

We are, even in the ‘civilised’ West, moving rapidly towards a situation where Christians will be imprisoned for their faith. 

On the surface it can look like we are moving into a world that is becoming more and more tolerant, and fair. A society that calls for equal rights for women, and calling out racism. A move away from ‘controlling religion’ to more freedom will be seen as a triumph to many. Yet Jesus himself wasn’t religious, he was killed by religious leaders, and if he was living his human life in these times would probably be imprisoned, or locked up in a mental institution.  

If we look beneath the surface, and really ask, are things actually getting fairer? There might be a lot of lip service paid about political correctness, but every day more and more people are plunged into poverty. We see Sam Smith with his Satanic performance at the grammys, and see the darkness behind the curtain. 

Many of us have become aware during the last few years that we are living in a ‘spiritual war,’ and see the darkness. Yet Satan himself plays both sides, and is operating as an ‘angel of light.’ 

The true light of Jesus Christ is there for all who are willing to put aside their preconceived notions of ‘religion,’ and invite him to their life. Not as an avatar, or prophet, or a consciousness that is within us all, but the son of God who laid down his life to die for our sins, because he loved us so much.  

If you would like to learn more about the evidence of Jesus’s Christ’s existence, check out my links here, and feel free to pm me if you’d like a prayer to invite Jesus into your life.