When it comes to the horror stories of Christian persecution around the world, Jeff King has heard and seen it all. As president of International Christian Concern, he has spent nearly two decades working on behalf of those who have endured the worst of it, and he admits that the job took an emotional toll that once left him very discouraged.
Thankfully, he began to see that no matter how helpless things seemed on this earth, God was behind the scenes working in mighty ways for the kingdom of heaven.
Subscribe to have The Washington Times’ Higher Ground delivered to your inbox every Sunday.
“I looked at the sweep of history, the sweep of church history, and I began to understand how persecution works,” Mr. King recently told The Washington Times’ Higher Ground. “I began to see how and why it makes the church grow, the very thing that the dictator and the despot do to strangle the church and to kill it off is what makes it grow and makes it grow the fastest. And that has been proven time again. You look back at history over and over, the Lord wins, His kingdom advances.”
The oldest example comes from Acts 12 when the apostle James was put to death by Herod and Peter was arrested, but “the word of God continued to spread and flourish.” And to this day, there continue to be instances of persecution making the church grow all over the world.
“It’s not in every case. It’s not in every incident. You can’t say that, but the broad sweep of things, there’s no mistaking it,” Mr. King said. “The church wins, God wins, and yet we have to be vigilant and we have to be ready to defend our religious freedom when living in a democracy.”
One of the dangers Mr. King noted is a “growing misunderstanding about religious freedom and what it actually is.” Indeed, religious freedom encompasses so much more than just the right to choose one’s own religion. In fact, threats to Christians here in the U.S. are often less about going to church and more about how faith affects their everyday life.
“Religious freedom is an amalgamation of any number of rights,” Mr. King noted. “Think about it: You have the right to congregate, to associate, it’s a right to your conscience, it’s free speech, all these different rights. It’s an extremely potent force for democracy. And in the end, what it does is it protects us from each other, and that is the core of democracy.”
“Human beings, we’re tribal,” he continued. “At the core, we are tribal. We oppress those who are different. So, we have to be protected by whoever is in power, you know, at the moment. And so, there’s a level playing field and protection for all people, but religious freedom is the queen of the rights.”
And if trends continue the way they are going, Christians in America have every reason to be concerned — especially when it comes to debates around the First Amendment.
“If you draw back and look at the world, it’s not getting better. It’s getting worse. Christians are the most persecuted religion. It’s not even close,” Mr. King said. “It’s something we need to be concerned about in all places, especially at home here in the west and especially our own country.”
—
Marissa Mayer is a writer and editor with more than 10 years of professional experience. Her work has been featured in Christian Post, The Daily Signal, and Intellectual Takeout. Mayer has a B.A. in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing from Arizona State University.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.