Three Truths For Standing With The Persecuted Church

Ladies and gentlemen, friends, and brothers and sisters in Christ—

In 2025, as we gather here in freedom, I want to turn our hearts and attention to a sobering truth: there are more Christians facing persecution around the world today than at any other time in modern history. For millions of believers, faith in Jesus is not a weekend routine or a spiritual preference—it is a daily risk. It is a costly, courageous stand that they choose to take, even when everything around them warns them not to.

Across the Middle East and North Africa, Christians are beaten, imprisoned, and driven from their homes. In parts of Asia, believers gather quietly in home churches, knowing a knock on the door could mean arrest—or worse. In nations where Christianity is considered a threat to the government or culture, pastors disappear overnight. Bibles are confiscated. Churches are burned. Families are torn apart.

Some are targeted by extremist groups. Others by their own communities. Many by their own governments. Yet the pattern is the same: the world’s most vulnerable Christians stand firmly for Christ, even when the cost is everything.

And as Americans—people who worship freely, speak freely, and gather freely—we must ask ourselves: What is our responsibility? Why does their suffering matter to us? And what are we called to do in response?

Let me give you three truths—three convictions—that make it absolutely necessary that we stand with the persecuted church in 2025:

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1. We stand with them because Scripture commands it.

The Bible does not give us the option of indifference. Hebrews 13:3 says, “Remember those in prison as if you were there with them…” Not as outsiders looking in. Not as people observing from a distance. As if we were in the cell beside them.

When Paul was in chains, the early church prayed earnestly. They didn’t scroll past his letters. They didn’t turn their heads. They interceded. They wept. They acted.

In 2025, the persecuted church is not an abstract idea. These are our brothers and sisters. Our family. The body of Christ is one body—and when one part suffers, we are called to feel it.

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2. We stand with them because their faith honors Jesus.

I believe persecuted believers carry a kind of faith that purifies and awakens the global church. They remind us what following Jesus truly means. Their worship has no production, no stage lights, no social media applause. It’s raw. It’s costly. It’s pure.

When believers in underground churches whisper their praises to avoid detection…

When teenagers are expelled for accepting Christ…

When mothers are disowned for their baptism…

When pastors choose prison over silence…

That kind of faith calls to us. It stirs us. It challenges the comfortable Christianity of the West. It lifts our eyes back to Jesus—the One who suffered first, and who never promised us a faith without cost.

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3. We stand with them because our voices in America matter more than we think.

We live in a nation where speech is free, advocacy is possible, and faith is still public. We may disagree on politics, but on this—we must be united.

In America, our prayers, our platforms, our influence, and our freedoms can open doors that persecuted believers cannot open for themselves. We can pressure governments to release prisoners. We can support ministries that smuggle Bibles and rescue families. We can tell stories that otherwise would never be heard. We can push back against silence and apathy.

If we don’t speak—who will?

If we don’t pray—who will?

If the most free Christians in the world remain quiet, what hope do the most persecuted Christians have?

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So what must we do—right now, in 2025?

First, we must pray—not as a last resort, but as a first response. Prayer reaches prison cells. Prayer strengthens wavering hearts. Prayer breaks spiritual strongholds that no government can.

Second, we must amplify their stories. Share them. Teach them. Preach them. Let our churches, our families, and our social platforms carry their voices.

Third, we must advocate. Support organizations doing the work on the ground. Write to legislators. Show up. Push for accountability. Use your influence—whether big or small—to defend those who cannot defend themselves.

And finally, we must live with the same boldness they have. If believers in hostile nations can follow Jesus with courage, surely we can follow Him without compromise right here at home.

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Friends—this is not the hour for comfort. This is the hour for conviction.

The persecuted church is not asking us for pity. They are asking us for partnership. They are not asking for our fear—they are asking for our faith. They are not asking us to feel guilty for our freedoms—they are asking us to use them.

So in 2025, may we be a people who stand with the persecuted.

Who pray with passion.

Who advocate with courage.

Who speak up, show up, and lift up those who cannot lift themselves.

Because the world may try to silence them—but we will not.

The darkness may try to crush them—but the light of Christ in them is unshakeable.

And as long as we have breath in our lungs and freedom in our nation, we will stand with the persecuted church—until every believer, in every nation, can worship Jesus freely.