It is spoken against everywhere

“But we desire to hear from you what you think; for concerning this sect, we know that it is spoken against everywhere." - Act 28v22

In this little church plant I have often wondered over the years what a little tiny church, in a county town in Ireland, could have so much opposition and so many problems. We have seen people come and go and then speak poorly of the work.

And the bad thing is that is only a tiny example of what it can be like. While most of the world has more or less agreed to put up with us, in many parts of the world the church faces massive opposition. I watched a series of videos not too long ago about the church in Vietnam. Everything they do is done in secret and every day they face arrest and persecution.. In China and the Muslim countries the church is driven underground because of the persecution.

Why is it? Why does this happen? These same questions had reached Rome and God used that to allow Paul to preach the gospel. The leaders were wondering what it was about this group that made others hate them so much.

We should be grateful about the freedoms God gives us in most of the world, but we need to take care that we don’t “fit in” too well. If we ever get to the point where we fit in, how is the world going to see the difference?