Andrew Walker & Daniel Darling: Holding the Ropes: How Religious Freedom Helps Advance the Gospel

Before embarking on his missionary journey to India, William Carey famously told Andrew Fuller, “I will go down into the pit, if you will hold the ropes.” Most people remember Carey as one of the fathers of the modern missionary movement. But fewer remember Fuller as the man who organized, raised funds, and built a lasting enterprise to ensure the success of gospel endeavors.

Today missions movements are still enabled by rope-holders—committed believers who pray, send money, and staff organizations that equip and send missionaries to foreign lands. But there’s another aspect of gospel advance that also goes unnoticed: the fight for religious liberty, that first freedom which many consider under threat.

What does an issue tied to the First Amendment have to do with a bloody cross? After all, asserting “rights” seems contrary to the witness of Christ, who set aside his rights for the sake of others, what we’re told to mimic. Even worse, for some opponents, religious liberty is nowadays cast as a bludgeon to somehow discriminate against homosexuals.

Today, some Christians even seem to lust after persecution, viewing it as a mark of true Christian identity. It is, that’s true. We serve a Savior who, by his own life and death, calls us to similarly come and die. And the church is built on the blood of martyrs. But for some in this camp, the persecuted and underground churches of Asia are trotted out as moral exemplars, teaching Christians that “rights” are extraneous to embracing the sufferings of the cross.

We’re sympathetic, up to a point, but fear there’s a well-intentioned, but naive romanticism that the American church has adopted toward persecution. There’s nobility in solidarity, of course. But imagine you’re a 36 year-old pastor of an underground church with 12 members. You can’t publicly identify as a Christian. There are no seminaries, so you can’t receive further education in the Scriptures. You can’t safely have a Bible tucked beneath your arm. You’re viewed with suspicion, even contempt by the governing authorities. Your best friend, another pastor, “disappeared” when his church failed to evade authorities.

Ask yourself: Would you rather persist in this state of hardship? Or, instead, would you rather have the freedom to exercise your religion openly? Would you rather subject your church to the margins? Or, would you rather conduct your affairs without a hint of government meddling? Keep reading

Photo: Utah Treasure