Persecution of Christians worldwide is on the rise. The communists are clamping down on house churches now in China. Muslims are murdering Christians in Nigeria, taking their homes, capturing their daughters and forcing them to marry Muslim men. In the Middle East, violent anti-christian sentiment is on the rise. Christians are subject to being falsely accused of blasphemy at any time. In India, Hindu extremists are forcing Christians out of their homes and causing them to live under trees.

Here in the U.S., the anti-Christian ideologies are gaining power and this is already resulting in persecution against Christian business owners such as the owners of Sweetcakes by Melissa, who were forced to close, and corporate executives such as Brendan Eich, who was forced to resign.

However, the pulpits in the US have mostly been silent about these things. Why? Big church pastors feel pressure to keep their messages positive and services uplifting, lest church attendance fall and they be unable to pay their bills. Christians are afraid to speak up, too, lest they be targeted and lose their jobs. The tactics of intimidation and bullying are working, placing fear in Christians and even pastors about openly speaking up concerning sexual morality.

In addition, it is so easy to be distracted by TV, the internet, and all of the other forms of entertainment and pleasure so freely available to us here in America.

In Gulliver's travels, Gulliver slept while the Lilliputians wove strings around him. The American church is also sleeping while our enemies do the same to us. We are a giant and have the power to stop it, if only we would rouse ourselves from our comfortable sleep. We can use our political and economic leverage to bring an end to much of the persecution happening overseas. We can re-assert our rights to freedom of speech and religion. We can also re-assert the vital importance of sexual purity. But we must arise and do so before it is too late! Otherwise, our enemies will keep weaving strings around us. Then when we finally try to escape, it will be too late and we will be unable to get up.

Edmond Burke said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

Allie Stuckey said, “In a world of wickedness, weak men are nothing more than enablers of wicked men.”

The respite from persecution that the Western church has enjoyed is beginning to draw to a close. The door will be completely closed if we do not rouse ourselves and dare to start speaking up. And we will only have ourselves to blame for it.