Persecution is coming. Christians are the most persecuted group in the world. And we’re kidding ourselves if we don’t think that persecution will come here. For some, like the Christian professor who was fired for challenging students’ liberal beliefs about sexuality and marriage, it already has. Fortunately, that professor, Eric Thompson, was reinstated after an arbitrator ruled in his favor. But these freedoms are eroding in the West. And it’s just a matter of time before we’ll have to choose between fidelity to Christ or our jobs, friends, and homes. 

About eight years ago, my husband and I joined a small group of Christians campaigning to elect three fellow Christians to our local school board. Our campaign didn’t begin as a school board race, but as a simple request to allow our children to read alternative books.

One of my neighbors had alerted me and several others to a novel our children were assigned that was essentially a primer to the hook-up culture. It chronicled a young man’s coming of age, which included a graphic sexual encounter and allusions to several others.

Naively, I thought that when we respectfully expressed our concerns to the school board, they’d grant our reasonable request. After all, we weren’t asking for any books to be removed from the curriculum; we were simply asking for options for our kids.

Boy, was I wrong.

Board members ridiculed and scorned us, and some teachers became antagonistic towards our children. Quickly, we realized the only way to have a voice on the school board was to elect board members who shared our beliefs and values.

We researched prior school board elections and learned that very few people vote in local elections. If we could just mobilize the faith community, we reasoned, we’d win in a landslide. But mobilizing the faith community proved much harder than we imagined.

Time and time again, when we’d talk to our Christian neighbors, they’d express appreciation for our cause, but refuse to help. “I’d really love to help,” they’d say, “but I’m afraid if I do, Johnny will experience backlash at school. Teachers might give him a lower grade. Classmates might make fun of him.”

The campaign, which we lost, was disillusioning to say the least.

I thought about that experience this week when I heard Pastor Andrew Brunson’s message to pastors at the Southern Baptist Convention Pastor’s Conference. Brunson, who spent two years in a Turkish prison for his faith, told the gathering that the American church isn’t prepared for the persecution he believes is imminent.

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