We are N

That’s no happy face there – it’s the current yellow badge, or Judenstern, of Iraq.  The N’, or ن in Arabic, is the symbol used by the Islamic State (ISIS) to identify who is a Nazarene – a Christian. It has been drawn on doorways and painted on house-fronts in captured Iraqi cities, allowing ISIS militia to sort through identities and loyalties.

A number of months ago I met and listened to the Bishop of Baghdad, Canon Andrew White.  He spoke compellingly of the persecution of the church he loved in Iraq.  Recently he wrote that the end may be near for Christians in Iraq.  Please pray for the persecuted Christians of Iraq.

This, or any, persecution is important for us in the West to pay close attention to, for a number of reasons.  First, the persecution of Christians across the world is probably one of the biggest human rights issues that largely happens without  protest.  A Nov. 27, 2013 National Post article outlined how there have been more Christian martyrs in the 20th century than in the 1,900 years that came before.  And in 2010, the Toronto Star called Christianity the most persecuted religion in the world.  On a large scale aimed at a specifically designated population, basic human rights are trampled but so little protest is raised.  My stubborn agnostic friend, Richard Handler, writes a chastening piece here for all Christians, wondering why aren’t we raising our voices in solidarity.

Secondly, for the most part, Western Christians aren’t persecuted, and in order to maintain our identity as people of the cross it is good for us to keep in touch with persecution.  Persecution sharpens your identity as a Christian.  That’s how Jesus shapes his beatitude on persecution – it’s about Jesus and our identification with him.  “Blessed are you when you are persecuted because of me.”  Persecution is all about how closely we identify with Jesus.

Both reasons send me to my knees – the first in solidarity with brothers and sisters who are suffering horribly for the sake of Jesus.  The second for myself, scared  I don’t have a faith that’s even worth persecuting.