Christians have no rights

Lately, I have seen a lot of controversial stuff in the news and on social media. People are pretty ticked off over who can use what bathroom, concerts being cancelled over bigotry, and all kinds of nonsense. I get it: we want our rights and for our beliefs to be respected. We have this "righteous" indignation over Christians being mistreated. We believe that we deserve to be treated better.

Look, I'm not trying to start a fight. But before we get all up in arms about these "rights" that we believe we should have, let's take a walk through the words of Jesus, shall we?

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against your falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." -Matthew 5:9-12 (ESV)

"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." -John 16:33

I think that Jesus makes it pretty clear here. When we receive opposition or persecution for our faith, we are not to fight back. We are not to make snarky and abrasive Facebook posts about it. We are to rejoice and be glad. If Jesus could willingly go to the cross, we can willingly go through anything on this Earth.

It is highly concerning to me when I hear Christians say that because they are Americans, they deserve their constitutional rights. Dear friend, what is more important to you: who the constitution says you are, or who the Bible says you are? If you have to deliberate on this answer, I worry that your heart is in grave danger.

Yes, we are probably going to deal with some ugly things as Christians in this broken world. But take heart: we know who wins in the end!

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