The persecution of Christians today is no
different from those following Christ’s crucifixion.
One after another, the apostles (with
exception to St John) died as martyrs as did St Paul. Through the centuries, so many believers were
killed for their faith. In 2015, 21 Christians were beheaded by Muslim
terrorists in Libya. Pope Tawadros II of the Coptic Orthodox Church on February
21 announced that the 21 murdered Copts would be commemorated as martyr saints.
According to Pope Francis, “Martyrdom is the supreme testimony.”
Yet persecution can come in many forms. For
instance, Christians who stand up for the rights of the unborn children and who
oppose gay marriage have been subjected to attacks, as being insensitive,
politically incorrect and biased. When
has righteousness become wrong; when has God’s commands become incorrect?
Should
faithful believers bend to the whims and caprices of those who think they are
supreme to God, of those who deny God? No.
Every day, we are to testify through our lives, our actions and our words of
God’s truth. We must remain unafraid so like the martyrs who defended and died
for their faith rather than renounce Christ.
For
unlike unbelievers who are of this world, we look beyond this life. “I saw the
souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and
because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and
had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life
and reigned with Christ a thousand years. . . . This is the first resurrection.
Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection.” (Revelation
20:4-6)
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