Someone posted on their social media status recently, “Will you still serve God if Christianity becomes a felony?” I’ve heard and read statements like that over the years and have given them a passing shrug, thinking, “of course I will,” never considering that becoming a felony is a very real possibility, not in years to come, but in the coming weeks or months.

I’m sure you’ve noticed the increasing hostility towards Christians who hold tenaciously to the authority of the Bible as God’s written Word, inerrant and unfailingly accurate. It’s not popular because scripture is uncompromising in what is truth, righteousness, and justice—and it does not support even a little bit the world’s “truth” and interpretation of justice, because there is no righteousness in the philosophies and beliefs of unregenerated mankind—because only God is righteous.

I know that there are Christians whose beliefs fall in line with the nationwide COVID-19 mandates forbidding churches to meet and to worship; and there are some whose health demands they take extra precautions. Others (like myself) believe that church is an essential service, and if it were not so, the Holy Spirit, through the writer of Hebrews, would not have told us, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:24-25)

And as far as worship is concerned, Psalms is a good book to seek counsel:

“Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love, for His wondrous works to the children of man! Let them extol Him in the congregation of the people and praise Him in the assembly of the elders.” (Psalm 107:31-32)

“Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, His praise in the assembly of the godly!” (Psalm 149:1)

Often, what seems to be little things to us, like staying home just to be safe, just because not staying home would be “selfish,” just because the church is people, not a building (though people meet together in buildings)—it’s also the little things, the little compromises, that will begin to undermine and erode our relationships with one another and with the Word of God. Human reasoning and worldly logic seeps in to bully, manipulate, and intimidate believers who do not have a firm foundation, built solidly on the Rock, who is Jesus, and the Rock that is the Word of God.

Saying what scripture says about gender—God made two of them, male and female (Genesis 1:2), with very different characteristics and not to be confused one with the other—is offensive to those who want to be their own gods with their own opinions taking the place of what God says it true. And God recognized our need for companionship, so he designed marriage—one man with one woman for a lifetime (Genesis 2:22-24)—however, the enemy perverted the goodness of our Creator.

Saying what God says, what the Bible says, has become hate speech in this day and age. And it is not easy being called a hater, a racist, or xenophobic, knowing that is not who you are at all. God is Love, yet His love also embraces His righteousness, truth, and justice—Jesus told His disciples (and us), “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you….” (John 15:18-19)

The apostle goes on to write, “…I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me.” (John 16:1-3)

I’ve written about this verse before— “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:1-4)

Of course we want, “…that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life” to mean unthreatened and undisturbed, going about our own business, or running our businesses according to biblical principles, going to church and Bible studies, supporting leaders who defend life and exposing those whose goals align with the enemy’s mission to steal, kill, and destroy. But we know, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that hatred, intimidation, and persecution are inevitable for “all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:12)

What matters most, though, is peace with God—and sometimes that means we won’t have peace with people. It pleases God when we pray, intercede, and give thanks for all people, even those who are in positions of authority, who we don’t like and those we disagree with. The conclusion of our praying for our leaders is that to do so “is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Sadly, I’ve heard Christians curse those they hate and condemn them to either to prison or hell. We need to confess and repent when we hate someone so much that we are not willing to obey God in praying for their salvation.