[Pim Pendergast]

Pro 16:7 When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.

This verse came to mind when I read this article about how the church in the West has "failed" Christians who are being persecuted in other countries.

The mastermind behind the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) in the US has said the Church worldwide has "fundamentally failed" to raise awareness about religious freedom and persecution.

Speaking on the "Washington Watch" radio program, Former Congressman Frank Wolf, said America used to do a better job of educating its citizens about Christians being persecuted around the globe.

He said: "Most churches used to have a Religious Freedom Sunday where they would bring in somebody from Sudan and China. And now, they are almost all gone.

"Unless there is change in the hearts and minds of people, I think the fundamental failure has been the Church.

"Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, 'If you don't speak and you don't act...' I don't see the Church speaking and I don't see the Church acting."

But why should we stand up for people whose ways clearly don't please the Lord? In the West we Christians have many enemies: atheists, secular humanists, scientists, etc. We are persecuted daily by the existence of people who disagree with us. And yet because our ways please the Lord, He has made our enemies at peace with us. We are free to assemble in places of worship unmolested. We don't face the threat of torture and execution. This is what the Bible promises those whose ways please the Lord.

The Bible is replete with examples where this is the case. You may remember the story of the Philippian jailer (Acts 16:25-40), when Paul and Silas were imprisoned for preaching the Gospel and God sent earthquake to open the doors of all the prisoners' cells. When the jailer saw what had happened, he asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved . . . ? And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house" (Acts 16:30b, 33-34).

If these third-world "Christians" were righteous in God's eyes, all they would need to do is simply cry out to Him, and He would save them.

Ps 34:17 The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

How can they remain so strong in their "faith", even in the face of martyrdom, when the very situation they find themselves in should be telling them that God is not pleased with them? They are clearly suffering strong delusion. It's almost as though they think their suffering at the hands of their enemies confirms their salvation. Yet we know that there are no contradictions in the Bible, and it promises that if a man's ways please the Lord, he will make even his enemies to be at peace with him. This is how one knows he is right with God.