Locked from the inside

Get ready, America, for a tidal wave of church closings | Joel Belz

For those of us who were children of the '40s or '50s, it wasn't uncommon to worry a little at the thought that a fierce cadre of Russian communist soldiers might suddenly burst through the doors of our church, arrest the pastor, and lock the place up. Especially because our pastor was also my father, I remember that we kids from time to time discussed what our options might be in the case that religious persecution might come to our very doorstep.

Nor do I mean through such recollection to trivialize what is in fact happening right now in many places of the world. Church doors are indeed being locked in more places than we like to think, as Christians are being told forcefully that they may not openly practice their faith.