Some reflections

On my walk today the Holy Spirit brought the theme of persecution to my mind again. He has done this, off and on, since last August. When I consider 2 Timothy 3:12, which says, "All those who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution," I wonder why believers in America seem exempt. I do observe increasing prejudice against Christians, particularly in elite circles, but not the suffering that our brothers and sisters experience in many other countries. In the past i have ruminated on why the Holy Spirit has begun to shift "pioneers" out of the regular churches into house churches. While individuals may have various reasons for their departures, I wonder why God continues to do this. Sometimes I have thought of this as shuffling the deck, with no net gain to the kingdom. Perhaps the possibility of real persecution supplies the answer. In the past thirty years or so, in a wide variety of settings, I have heard only one teaching on the subject of persecution, the gist of which was that we should not hope or pray for it to happen. Yet it does seem a normative experience for the brethren in the NT era. It amazes me how often the subject comes up. Jesus speaks about it in the Beatitudes. "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you, and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matthew 5:11-12) Is it possible that God is establishing home churches to receive those who may have to flee government persecution? It happened in China.