We Must Focus on Ending Persecution of Christians Worldwide

Last Friday I had the privilege of speaking at the United Nations on the topic of the persecuted church. If you missed what I said, click here. Even though I’ve had many wonderful experiences in my role as a Christian journalist, it was a peak experience to go to that august assembly and be given the floor to speak out for those who have no voice.

Since Friday there have been reports of Christians thrown overboard by Muslims on a migrant ship in the Mediterranean apparently only because they were Christians. And some Ethiopians were slaughtered in Libya only because they were Christians.

When will the killing end? The United Nations and U.S. leaders must pass resolutions to protect Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East.

It’s also vitally important that President Obama appoint a Special Envoy for the protection of religious minorities in the Middle East and call for the establishment of an International Day of Prayer in solidarity with Christians in the Middle East.

There was an impressive lineup of speakers from Rabbi Jonathan Cahn to Lt. Gen. (Ret) William Boykin, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, and representatives from nearly every segment of the Christian community. The speeches were so good that we will publish most of them in the next two weeks. It’s my way of giving attention to the problem.

While it was a great honor to be invited to speak and I delivered my remarks with conviction, I realized the real value in my being there wasn’t to speak as much as for me to be reminded of the seriousness of the problem. Also, it reminded me that I can’t be content to write about it from time to time rather than make it a focus.

We must focus on this. If we don’t, who will? And we can’t just feel persecution of Christians is something that only applies to others in some far away place. If one part of the body of Christ suffers, we all suffer. And in a way, we’re victims of the same anti-Christian feelings—there is more societal discrimination of Christians in the West too.

I call on other Christian media like Christianity Today, WND, Christian Post and Salem Communications to focus on this too. In addition, Christian radios and TV should raise awareness since the secular media seem to minimize it.

Friday’s event, as historic as it was, received minimal coverage in the press.

So you can help by making your friends and fellow church members aware of the problem. Speak up. Make your voice heard. Forward articles on Christian persecution to your friends on social media—including the ones we publish.

And pray. We must pray for those who suffer. We must pray the suffering will end. We must pray that the U.N. will speak up to condemn this as unacceptable in the civilized world.

Do you agree? Leave your thoughts below.

Steve Strang is the founding editor and publisher of Charisma. Follow him on Twitter @sstrang or Facebook (stephenestrang).

To read more about Christian persecution and Islamic terrorism, please check out Mark Gabriel’s Journey Into the Mind of an Islamic Terrorist. You can purchase the book by clicking here.