This is my gospel, for which
I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s
word is not chained. 2 Timothy 2: 9
Paul wrote these words to Timothy at the end of his life but they still
resonate today. You cannot chain, silence or stifle God’s Word, the Bible. The
most oppressive empires, regimes, governments and even societies down the
centuries have all tried and failed. The Bible, the Word of God, the life
giving and active word cannot be chained or silenced.
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| Persecuted Christians in Eritrea |
I love the story in God’s Smuggler
of Brother Andrew from the Netherlands taking Bibles into Communist Eastern
Europe in the fifties and sixties. He found himself with a Romania pastor who spoke
no German or Dutch and of course Brother Andrew spoke no Romanian. So they
conversed together using the Bible. They showed one another a verse and then they
looked it up in their own language. ItB started with Brother Andrew saying:
I Corinthians 16: 20 All the brethren greet you. Greet one another with
a holy kiss.
The Romanian pastor replied: Proverbs 25: 25 Like cold water to a weary
soul is good news from a distant land.
Brother Andrew: Philemon 4 – 7 I always thank my God as I remember you
in my prayers, because I hear about your love for all his holy people and your
faith in the Lord Jesus. I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may
be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for
the sake of Christ. Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because
you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.
And so on. God’s word cannot be chained. The Bible has all the answers
to life, the universe and everything.
That is why the Bible is still in print thousands of years after being
written and still in great demand in every country in the world especially
where Christians face great persecution. Believers are still risking their
lives to take and distribute the Word.
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| Countries facing the greatest religious persecution |
From North Korea, the country where Christians face the most extreme
persecution all across southern Asia (Chine and India), through the Middle East
and North Africa to even Colombia in South America believers suffer for their
faith. Islam not Communism is the great persecutor these days. What these Christians crave most of all is
Bibles.
There is a well-known Christian organization that sends aid, Bibles and
other Christian literature to countries in great need. In one situation they
use drug smugglers to take the Bibles into a country where it is banned. The
smugglers take drugs one way but on the return trip through the mountains the
mules have no cargo. The society has negotiated a deal whereby the mules are
loaded with Bibles and when the organization hears from local pastors that the
Bibles have safely arrived, they pay the smugglers. Ethically it sounds a bit
dubious but lets face it – smuggling Bibles into these countries is illegal so how
it is done isn’t really an issue.
The hunger for God’s word in these nations is immense and the demand far
outweighs the supply.
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| Bible study |
In the West we are spoilt – everyone of us has so many Bibles that
supply far outweighs demand. We have every available resource to accompany the
Word and teaching is easily accessed through the internet let alone through
book stores.
The organization Bibles Unbound says that believers in countries facing
great persecution ask for two things – our prayers and that we send
Bibles.
Next time we open our Bibles, pray for those who have no Bible but would
love one and let us value and treasure ours as the life giving Word of God –
active and powerful that just cannot be chained.
