disclaimer: anthony's blog doesn't let me write comments. so i'm posting my long comment here. :) don't read it, unless you're anthony. well you could. it just won't benefit you much. & i don't know, maybe it'll offend you. ;)
don't spam comment me. actually i'm just going to disable it. haha.
haha you should just read my post. but ill summarize it slightly here. or address more what you wrote.
i said privilege because really we are in a way.
we're lucky to have our religious freedom. &we really don't appreciate it enough. we don't treasure it. & i don't think it's a "oh they should have religious freedom" thing either. because honestly, look at where that's gotten us. we've become spiritually weak & immature. while those who are suffering, i seriously hear way too many amazing stories of people seeing the glory of God in the midst of their sufferings. i would never dare to pray that God take away their sufferings. because i know that God works such glorious things through their sufferings. it'd be like asking God to reveal His glory less to &thru them.
but by knowing that we are privileged. you asked, what can we do? it's not so much a 'let's help them' thing. even though it can be done. but we don't help them in the way the rest of the world may think we should help them: rescue them, fight the north korean govt, etc. we help them through prayer. by doing our part in the body of Christ to grow &to raise awareness of the suffering of others & to encourage & give them hope. to remind us all that we are not of this world, &this world will &does hate us. but our eternal hope is in Jesus. after all, that's what paul does when he hears of the persecution of the thessalonians as can be seen in his letters to them.
&what does it mean to treasure our privileges? i really do think it means taking our relationship with God more seriously. reading the bible everyday. praying everyday. spending time with God everyday. these are the daily activities that hte north korean christians probably wish they could do openly & safely. we have the privilege of doing it openly. of being witnesses for God openly without persecution, yet. to live our faith out loud. to understand that the north koreans are continuing to be christian even though they are being persecuted reveals how great of a treasure we have &how blessed we are to be able to enjoy this relationship without the threat of being executed.
in a way, i really do admire them. envy that they can suffer &yet be so confident in their faith &that they could be such living witnesses of Christ. while we just sit in our comfortable homes, watching tv, playing video games, doing meaningless things with our time.
i think it often takes the suffering of others to make us realize how ungrateful we are towards God. how spiritually dead we are actually. &how they, in their sufferings, have so much more than we do. so in a way they are privileged spiritually.
for me, having privilege doesnt emphasize me at all. at least not in the case of this privilege. i feel that they are privileged spiritually. they have been chosen to suffer for God. how awesome is that. &it is an emphasis on them in that we will pray for them. the emphasis on us will be prayer that we may grow &have the same courage they have. that we may contribute to the body of Christ just as strongly as they have. & that when the times comes for us to be persecuted or suffer, we will have the same faith & courage as they do.
but right now, we're privileged in terms of environment. because we have a chance to work out our faith with greater strength and ease in a comfortable environment. we're privileged in that honestly, if many of the 'christians' in US were taken to
it's like learning with someone standing behind you with a beating rod. or learning equally as much without it. when we're learning without the beating rod, we're blessed in a different way. but let's make the most of this blessing &learn as much as we can &hopefully even more than if we were to be beat with a rod. (bad analogy, but i'm suppose to be working. ahhahahaha)
alright im done. it's a different privilege, the one im talking about. haha. maybe you'll get it, maybe you won't iuno. haha.
