But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out privily? Nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out. Acts 16:37
The CNN television network – which has a blatant anti-Christian bias – has just received a black eye for its blatant interruption of a comment by a Christian football player. The football player was Benjamin Watson, who plays tight end for the New Orleans Saints. The interviewer, Brooke Baldwin, was speaking with Watson on air about the recent social upheaval in Ferguson, Missouri. During the satellite interview, Watson told Baldwin, ‘The only way to really cure what’s on the inside is understanding that Jesus Christ died for our sins’. Baldwin interrupted Watson to tell him she ‘got it’, and suddenly the NFL player’s side of the split screen went blank and turned into a green screen. Baldwin lamely explained that the satellite feed to New Orleans had been lost. But everyone knows the real truth is CNN’s antagonistic attitude toward Christianity. This is nothing new, and, as our text indicates, those who oppose the Gospel should be called to account for it.
The situation in Philippi arose when men upset that the preachers had released a woman from her slavery to a demon complained to the magistrates. The magistrates ordered Paul and Silas to be beaten and thrown into prison. Now, the next morning has come, and the magistrates, realizing there is no real case against the preachers, send the serjeants to tell the jailor to let the prisoners go. In response, Paul rejects the serjeants’ mission, telling them that the beating and imprisonment were illegal, and for the magistrates to come and face the victims of their illegal acts. That must have been humiliating for the magistrates, but they had no choice, because the law was on Paul’s side. They deserved to be publicly humiliated. So do those who seek to oppose the testimony of Christians in our day.
We read of the recent persecution of Christians whose businesses have been targeted by the homosexual community because they refuse to endorse such sins as same-sex marriages. Some of these folks have been heavily fined and been forced to close their businesses. Some of them cannot afford to make legal challenges to the illegal actions taken against them. These cases make headlines, at least in Christian circles. But there are many other actions around us that are equally disturbing in a smaller way. Christians are routinely mocked for refusing to join the strident push to promote homosexuality, and many Christians simply refuse to speak up because of the oppression. Our witness to God’s holiness and man’s sinfulness is being stifled. And yet, the wholesale discrimination against Christians is just as illegal as was the beating of uncondemned Roman citizens in Philippi. Somewhere, somehow, somebody has to stand up and call foul.
We used to talk about the persecuted Christians in other lands. The persecution is getting closer to home. -Jim MacIntosh