Christianity in Iran is growing as the country becomes increasingly disillusioned by the "authoritarian and economically incompetent" Islamic government, says a Christian author who urges the international community to allow this hope to develop before considering any attack on the country.
“Any attack on Iran over her nuclear program would be a cruel disaster for all Iranians,” states Mark Bradley in his new book, ”Iran: Open Hearts In A Closed Land.”
“As well as causing untold misery for hundreds of thousands of innocent Iranians, it could also end the church growth Iran has been experiencing,” explains Bradley, whose real name is not being used in order to protect his real identity.
The author suggests the current presence of a deep dissatisfaction with the Islamic regime in Iran that has paved the way for a growing interest in Jesus Christ and Christianity in the country.
“At the moment, there is deep disillusionment among Iranians with their Islamic government, which is seen as offensively authoritarian and economically incompetent. This has created an unprecedented interest in Jesus Christ," he claims.
“Today, Iranians will pay what is for them a lot of money on the black market to get a New Testament, thousands are watching Christian programs on satellite TV, and some are joining the growing underground church.”
The author warns against any foreign policy that may hinder this growth, saying, “This could all end if the bombs began to fall.
“America is seen by Iranians as being a Christian power, so any attack on Iran would inevitably turn people against the Christian faith,” he explains.
“It would also strengthen the extreme hard liners who might accuse Christians of following the faith of Iran’s enemies, and they would step up their efforts to eliminate the church.
“If there is no attack, the Iranian church looks set to grow,” he adds.
Bradley’s book details the disillusionment that has built up in Iran since 1979, and shows why Iranians, with their strong non-Islamic identity, find Jesus Christ the natural person to turn to.
“Christ reminds them of their Shia heroes: Ali who campaigned for the poor; Hussein who died for a righteous cause; and Mehdi who is to return to restore justice,” he says. “Iran is also soaked in Sufism, mysticism, so when told to expect Jesus to touch them in a supernatural way, this is not unfamiliar for Iranians.”
According to July 2007 estimates by the CIA World Factbook, less than 2 percent of Iran’s 65 million population follow a faith other than Islam.
Comments
Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall inherit the Kingdom of God.
exatheist says: "I can't see Jesus ordering a strike against anybody anywhere for any reason."
Check out the book of Revelation. Check out Romans 11:22: "Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off."
The graciousness of Jesus is not the only side of Him - there is also a severe side which is every bit as righteous as His gracious side, as the angels and the saints in heaven testify:
"After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, "Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God! For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her." (Rev 19:1 & 2)
His patience is not to be presumed upon as if there is no alternative to His patience - there is.
Nevertheless He does not desire to judge - He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked and He is not willing that any should perish but all should come to repentance.
But apart from the difficulty of figuring out what Jesus would do at a national level (remembering not to anthropomorphise nations - Jesus deals differently with nations than He does with individuals and may judge a nation harshly while at the same time lovinig and caring for individuals within the nation) - the bottom line issue is that the US government is not Jesus.
The US government will no doubt do what those in power deem to be in the best long-term interests of security and may or may not take into account "What Would Jesus Do?".Pray for our leaders because the US is also subject to judgment according to God's standards for national behavior and accountability.
Isn't it awesome that God is saving a people for Himself out of Iran? Every tongue, every tribe, every people. Praise the Lord!
I might add, the default choice is the wrong one, from what I can see of the Lord's way of doing things, but I see it being made, anyway. You know, prophecy won't wait and I see all kinds of things coming down the pike. And I don't see the U.S. as being a big factor from what Revelation has to say about things.
I suspect Jesus would have the Christian community reach out to the disillusioned and hugely disattisfied Muslim youth who feed fanatical Islam's Jihadist efforts. Perhaps Islam would then die on the vine due to starvation?
I can't see Jesus ordering a strike against anybody anywhere for any reason. He provides us with the solutions if we would only see them. I have to admit, bombing Iran's nuke sites has an appealing ring to it, but I just can't see our Lord doing anything but the highly unexpected. You might say that is kind of a trademark of his. At this point in mankind's history, we have one responsiblity and that is to get the Word out to wherever it is needed - everywhere. He will then see to the little details of the existing Muslim threats.
The Christian community will not reach out in anywhere near a sufficient effort, though. That will leave us to the default choice which will mean either us'ns or the Israelis attacking Iran's nuke sites.
Timing is getting very crucial, though. The U.S. is quickly becoming a non-viable military force and may soon become a non-viable anything. The Muslims learned from the inadequate results of the WTC bombing and I suspect they have been busily doing their usual patient best at cooking up something much more deadly and catastrophic for the U.S. Just a hunch.
The Church in Iran is going to have reason to be offended at someone (probably the west) sooner or later. It's no secret that the Church will go through trial, and that if possible even the elect will be decieved. If Holy Spirit is at work in Iran, the Church will withstand a PR disaster.
Praise Jesus!!!!
In the process of evangelization, the hardest religion to reach with the gospel of Christ was
Islam religion, but their response to the gospel of Jesus Christ is amazing. There are over
1000 Muslim converts in India as evangelists. There are thousands of secret believers in
Kashmir of which most of them are young people. Also in Calcutta area, there are hundreds of
people who came to Christian faith. A Muslim by his strong religious creed will never convert
to any other religion, but the only alternative is to Christian faith. Those people who are coming
to Christ are doing so due to their visions of Jesus Christ, and other miracles. This is the
high and right for the Church of Jesus Christ to put the whole armour of God and spread the
gospel far and wide because the harvest is great.
God will grow the church without respect to worldly political differences.
The Iranian church is not going to stop growing because the world stops a madman, this is ridiculous and insulting. If the world does nothing to stop Iran from obtaining nukes then the church may not have anything to worry about anyway since it would most likely cease to exist.
To do nothing is to give victory to the enemy. To do nothing is akin to going to into the forest (putting ones head in the sand) and being devoured (For the battle there was spread over the whole countryside, and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword devoured. 2 Sam 18:8 (NASB95)) -- to do nothing is suicide not only for the church in Iran, but for the world as a whole.
The last thing this world needs is to give Israel a reason to detonate a nuclear device on Iran.