“Are we, as Christians in our country, slowly but surely being persecuted for our faith, or is it not so bad and must we first of all count our blessings?” That was the question posed by the editorial staff as introductory theme for this article.

At the end of August, the Reformed Daily newspaper reported on a speech given by former Anglican archbishop, Rowan Williams, during a book fair in Edinburgh. In his address he called upon Christians in the United Kingdom and the United States (but it surely also applies to the Christians in the Netherlands) to “grow up” and not to exaggerate by saying that they are suffering from persecution because of their faith. “Western Christians are not being persecuted, even though they attest to that at times. They are only experiencing a mild discomfort.” True persecution means, according to Williams, “bitter enmity, physical force and murder”.

A Difference⤒🔗

The head of the editorial department of the Reformed Daily Newspaper responded to the address a number of days later, and expressed total agreement with Williams. “It is certainly true that the Christians of today have it less easy in a number of Western countries than they did 50 years ago. Then the Christian faith was the dominant factor in society. Christian parties also often had a deciding voice in the political debate, the opinion of churches was taken seriously by the authorities and the assessment framework for morality was the same as Christian norms. Today there is very little left of that. That does, however, not say that there is any question of persecution because of faith in our country or in any other Western European country. There is a difference between a somewhat less comfortable existence and persecution”.

I was actually quite happy with this clear explanation, for I believe it is totally on the mark to call a halt to the worrisome sighing which Christians in our country are sometimes inclined to express and in their dwelling on and emphasizing of their difficult position. It is totally true that Christians in our country experience the consequences of a steadily decreasing influence of the Christian faith in our society, also that this experience causes pain. Christians experience an ever-increasing exclusion from the political and public discussion, an increasing lack of understanding for choices made on the basis of a Christian life ethic, being passed over in functions and having subsidies withdrawn on the ground of the Christian convictions of organizations, mockery and blasphemy. Certainly, that hurts.

Giving Thanks←⤒🔗

But this is still something different from persecution. Churches in our country are still allowed to hold their worship services every Sunday; Christian political parties may still function; Christian books may still be printed; Christian broadcasters may set up programs and each of us may be a confessing Christian without being imprisoned for it, or murdered. In short, yes, along with the editor of the Reformed Daily Newspaper, my answer to the above question would also be: certainly we must count our blessings and be tremendously thankful for the possibilities and space that we have! For, this is not the “normal” situation which Christ depicted for his followers.

But exactly because it is not the “ordinary” situation, and because the Lord Jesus did not speak of rest and peace, but of suffering and persecution, I think that it is perhaps good to do something more than only counting our blessings and being thankful for the room that we have (although we must definitely take hold of that space and use it well!). It would not be good if we stopped with a personal feeling of happiness because of our situation and thankfulness that we have been spared, at least, from being imprisoned, being tortured, being murdered, as a result of our confession of the name of Christ.

Suffering Along With Others←⤒🔗

This brings to mind what a minister said lately in our congregation in his introduction to a series of sermons about the Psalms. He shared that he sometimes receives a complaint from members of the congregation that the singing of the Psalms is so far removed from their own experiences: “there are so many Psalms in which I cannot recognize myself”, those people said, “I come to church on Sundays, joyfully, in the hope of an encouraging service, and then we sing things like “we are despised, more than we can bear” and “out of the depths I call to you” — what is that about? Those are words that I don’t understand and in which I do not recognize myself”.

Following this, the minister said two things. The first was this: we have, in our culture, a strong inclination to think and to read and to sing from out of ourselves, our own experience. But perhaps the Psalms were not at all intended to be read pertaining only to ourselves. It may be that I do not recognize myself in certain Psalms, but perhaps I have to learn to recognize another person in those Psalms, to recognize you in them, my brother, who is suffering because of his faith, or you, my sister, who is “despised more than she is able to bear”. Psalms connect us as God’s children everywhere in the world and help us to place ourselves in the situation of another, in order to share in suffering, to lament together, to be thankful, or to pray together.

Would that not place a huge responsibility on us, as “free” Christians, for us to research and discover and connect with the situation of our brothers and sisters in days of fear and persecution? That means, for example, that when we read texts in the Bible about suffering and persecution, which do not first of all apply to our situation, and therefore spiritualize them so that they do have application to us, that we also read them with an eye to those to whom they literally apply, and that we learn to understand those people in such a way, and learn to pray along with them and live beside them. We live from the same Word, and exactly when we ourselves are blessed with a safe life, should we not then find much opportunity to encourage them with that Word?

Preparing Oneself←⤒🔗

And so, I have come close to the second thing that the minister introduced about our relationship with the Psalms. He said: perhaps I do not recognize myself in all the Psalms, perhaps I do not recognize myself in them yet…but you can come into a situation just like that, quite suddenly, in which you will recognize yourself in them, and then you suddenly understand how valuable the things are that you have learned to say and to confess from the Psalms. In short, thinking along the line of the topic of this article, use the time in which you are not directly involved with the suffering that is mentioned, as a time of learning, of preparation, of spiritual “equipping”. Without warning, we also, in the free West, can end up in a situation of physical persecution. Will we be able to withstand that?

Preparation also includes our being able to learn from our brothers and sisters who are being persecuted; how are they able to endure? From where do they obtain their courage? The annual Open Doors day is on November 2 this year DV, in the sign of “courage” — courage to endure suffering, courage to remain steadfast. And the question grips you: would I be able to do that, suffer, remain steadfast? Are persecuted Christians super people who are able to do that? When you hear their stories it is apparent time and again: no, they are ordinary Christians, with fears, with mistakes. But they also have “lessons” to share, lessons they have learned and that we may receive from them. For example, that courage is not something in yourself, but something that you may receive from God, and that holding fast to the Word of God helps you to remain steadfast in spite of the fear which remains.

By allowing ourselves to be equipped and encouraged in this manner, and vice versa, also doing this for others, we can perhaps do somewhat more than counting our blessings, namely, receiving them with thanks and using them.