Thank You, God, for Freedom

[On April 6 Stephen Harder posted a series of thought-provoking questions on his blog. I highly recommend reading it click here. One particular section of his post caught my attention since it had to do with the topic of persecution--a topic on which I have been thinking of late. I desired to respond to his article, but was unable to consolidate my thoughts enough for a comment. Hence, I decided to write several posts on my own blog in response. This is one of them. I should caution the reader in advance that none of these posts is intended to give the complete picture of my thoughts on the subject, so try not to judge me too quickly if I do not approach the topic in the same way you would. If you do not like one you may like the others, so stay tuned. I should also point out that though Stephen's article was the catalyst which caused me to write, and though I may reference it from time to time, I am not actually addressing what he wrote. If I appear to attack some wrong-headed thinking from time to time, it is probably my own that I have in mind.]

Nearly every Sunday at some point during the day I can count on hearing someone thank God for "the freedom to worship publicly." Here in the United States we do not have to worry about the police forcing their way into the service and dragging away our pastors and other church leaders. We do not have to worry that the visitor we see sitting in the back row might be an informer. We have it easy compared to many of our brothers and sisters around the world. Oftentimes I find myself saying that we have it too easy--especially when I hear of the plight of God's people in other places. However, I should remember that our religious freedom is a gift from God, and I should not carelessly overlook it in favor of some romantic view of suffering that I hold (and which will be further discussed this week).

I believe that 1 Timothy 2:1-4 speaks to this topic when it says:
"1 Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."
In this passage Paul exhorts Timothy to pray for "all men", but he calls out rulers for special mention. The purposes for which he instructs Timothy to pray for them are 1. that they would be saved (v. 4), and 2. that Christians would be able to "lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence" (v. 2). I have listed the purposes in reverse order because I want to focus on the second one. The terms "quiet" and "peaceable" both speak to the idea of tranquility, which leads me to picture a dead-calm lake with no ripples or waves. God's purpose for this tranquility (the same tranquility for which he encourages us to pray) is not so that we would have stress-free lives, but so that we would be free to live our lives quietly in godliness and reverence, which are pleasing to Him. God has given us the opportunity to live out our salvation in just such an environment in the United States. This is not a permanent condition. Looking back, we find that religious freedom was unknown in early America as the different factions of Christianity built miniature kingdoms in the colonies in which they persecuted each other through the same means they had used in Europe. Looking ahead, we can easily envision a time when Christianity will no longer be accepted the way it is today. For now, however, God has granted us tranquility. May we not flatter ourselves with the idea of what we will do when persecution arrives, but instead be wise and thankful stewards of the opportunity God has given us in the era of religious freedom in which we live.