I wish we didn’t have religious freedom anymore

Now that sounds crazy, even as I read it to myself it sounds crazy.  But here’s the deal:  it seems like the things that we have right at hand we totally take for granted and don’t value it as much. Precious stones are called precious not because they are cute, but because they are not only beautiful but they are rare.

Freedom to vote in America is not precious anymore. Municipalities bemoan the fact that less than 20% of the populace turns out to vote. I remember the purple fingers of Iraq and how proud Iraqis were, especially women, showing their purple finger. I cried when I saw those purple fingers. The freedom to vote was precious to them.

There is a materialistic spirit that dominates and saturates America. If the American church would put into its relationship with God what it puts into gaining and working for wealth and things, America could skip the tribulation and usher in the millennial reign! I know that’s not good theology—I’m just illustrating the misplaced effort and how extremely backward it is—America is upside down and a relationship with God is not a priority. Is this backwardness because religion is too free?

Last night Pastor Shirley and I watched a video on the revival that is taking place in the Chinese underground house churches. They don’t have big expensive and fancy buildings to meet in—they meet in house churches. What impressed us was the depth of the Holy Spirit’s move in their groups. They are seeking God with all their hearts and they are moving to find the secret place of the Most High. They are pressing in to the Kingdom of God and making God first in their lives. The growth of the Chinese underground church is phenomenal but there is a price they are paying—some with their lives, many with jail time—but they do so willingly because this relationship with God that they have sought after and found is precious to them. Precious gems come with a high price and the Chinese are willing to pay that price.

In one of those videos a man states, “I wish we had the religious freedom that America has.” I look at America, and then I look at China. I wish we had the fervor for God that the Chinese have. I really do thank God for the freedom I have to worship God, but I think for most that has become the freedom to choose not to worship God instead.

Maybe America needs a little persecution to remind us what is precious.

Pastor Don