Persecuted Christian? Don't Expect These Pastors to Speak Up

In what may appear to be a controversial article on the WorldNetDaily website today, we read that about fifty percent of pastors will not talk to their churches about Christian persecution.  This is according to a Barna Research Associates Survey which was commissioned by fellow persecution ministry Open Doors USA.  Here's a part of the article:

The Barna Research Associates survey, commissioned by Open Doors USA, says a significant majority of American Christians, some three out of four, want to hear about the persecuted church.

But the same study showed that 52 percent of America's pastors don't want to talk about persecution and have no plans to talk about it.

In the nationwide poll of more than 800 Christians, 74 percent of America's churchgoers want to hear about the persecuted church.

But the same survey said only 48 percent of the pastors want to discuss the issue.

If you're as stunned as  I was, well, you're not alone.  The article goes on to explain a little bit why only about half of pastors care to share the plight of the persecuted church.

"Seventy-four percent of American Christians who go to church regularly said they would like to hear sermons from time-to-time on the suffering church or persecuted Christians," Moeller said.

"That was a huge gap, we thought. Almost half of the pastors in American were never planning on preaching on something but three-quarters, almost three-quarters of their congregations want to hear on it regularly," Moeller said.

"We thought that that was worthy of reporting back to the American press and to the American church, pastors in particular," he said.

"People are really hungry; they want to know, they want to pray. They want to do something, speak out, take action, on behalf of suffering Christians wherever they can," Moeller said.

Christian human rights group International Christian Concern's Middle East Area Specialist Aidan Clay believes the problem comes from the pulpits.

"The persecuted church reminds us that the decision to follow Christ is all or nothing," Clay said. "It reminds us that Jesus promises persecution in the Scriptures and that the Christian life was not intended to be easy."

Clay said the reality about Christian persecution isn't popular.

"That's a difficult teaching to swallow in some American churches today that are centered on self-improvement and feel-good sermons. And, perhaps pastors fear that the topic of Christian persecution will drive complacent Christians or those who are unsure what they believe out of the church," Clay said.

Clay said he's pleasantly surprised that the message of persecution has a solid impact on American Christians.

Please spend time today praying for the pastors in America.  Ask the Lord to awaken a love for His complete body, including those who are suffering for the name of Christ Jesus.  You may read more about this fascinating study here.