Amazed...

I'm amazed... but not really in a good way. The Persecution Blog reported that today, the Pakistani Christian Association in America and other organizations, held a protest outside the Pakistani Consulate. Why, you might ask? To demand the release of Asia Bibi and repeal of blasphemy law.

As many may know, Asia Bibi has been in the news quite a lot lately. She supposedly blasphemed the "prophet" Mohammed when she stated to some Muslim women harassing her about her faith, “Our Christ is the true prophet of God and yours is not true.”

Asia is in need of much prayer. My question, however, is should those who claim the name of Christ be protesting against the persecution? Do we see this exemplified in the Bible?

When looking at the Bible as a whole and the book of Acts in particular, I think we see the answer. It is a resounding no! When the apostle Peter was imprisoned (Acts 12), did the early believers stage protests decrying the evil government? No, they simply went to the Lord in prayer. When Paul was taken to Rome, did Christians riot and demand his immediate release and equal religious status? My guess is you probably know the answer to that question. No, they didn't.

Christians today have turned to the wrong means for gaining release or reprieve from hard situations and persecution (both for themselves and other believers). Many within the body of Christ don't wait for God to do something great, but instead, seek to change the circumstances by political (or other) means.

Who knows, but if the early Christians had held protests in the book of Acts, things may have turned out different for Peter. However, one thing is sure, they wouldn't have been able to see God work in a miraculous way on their behalf.

These are just some thoughts I have been pondering the last twenty-four hours or so. I grieve to think that instead of turning to the Lord, we have sought help from other places and as a result, lost out on seeing God work wonders.