Millionen von Christen leiden heute, weil sie ihren Glauben an Jesus Christus bekennen. Die Bandbreite des Leidens ist breit, wie Thomas K. Johnson in seiner Zusammenfassung des “Bad Urach Aufrufs” schreibt:
We count many millions of Christians experiencing persecution today. Their sufferings range from violent death and martyrdom, to physical or psychological torture, to invasive rules confining their worship activities to church buildings, to lower-level forms of discrimination in countless other countries, including many with strong rules protecting religious freedom.
Die leidenden Christen lehren uns Leiden besser zu verstehen:
Persecuted Christians have learned truths about God that Christians under less pressure need to hear in order to experience the fullness of God. The spiritual insights of the persecuted are vital to the transformation of the lives of the rest of the Body of Christ.
Obwohl sich niemand Leiden wünscht, haben sie einen Sinn. Reife Christen nehmen am Leiden anderer teil:
The mature Christian knows that all suffering can become meaningful. No one wishes to suffer, but many Christians who have suffered do not regret it. God also suffers because the people he created suffer, and he suffers for their redemption. He suffers because he loves us. The suffering of God in Christ can shape our thinking on the suffering of the Church. Christians should suffer in sympathy with others who suffer. Because Jesus commands us to love, we should voluntarily suffer to help others who are suffering, to reduce their suffering. We suffer as part of the general human condition and also because we must take up the cross as disciples of Jesus Christ. If we participate in the sufferings of Jesus, we will also share in his glory. Some of us must choose to make sacrifices and to suffer on behalf of fellow Christians who are being persecuted.
Den Bad Urach Aufruf findet du auf der Website des International Institute of Religious Freedom (IIRF).
