The Church is at the center, not the periphery

As we follow Christ and are made more into His likeness, it should come as no suprise that we're out of step with the culture around us -- and we will see persecution as a result. We are like foreign invaders to the body, triggered an immune reaction. Here come the white blood cells! (You may also want to meditate on this question: "What does it mean about my life if I'm not being persecuted?")

Check out Ann Coulter's column "It's the Winter Solstice, Charlie Brown!" for a review of David Limbaugh's book Persecution: How Liberals Are Waging War Against Christianity The examples of public school teachers and boards squelching prayer are sobering.

It's critical that we keep perspective, men. This helps me:

"[Jesus] is in charge of it all, has the final word on everthing. At the center of all this, Christ rules the church. The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ's body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everthing with his presence." (from Ephesians 1, The Message translation by Eugene Peterson)


And let us not forget that persecution comes in degrees smaller and larger. Consider Richard Wurmbrand's story in Tortured For Christ.