A car pulled up beside me as I briskly walked down a street in East Asia. The driver said, “Get in.” I hesitated a moment. Who was this telling me to get in the car? What would happen if I did? I looked at my translator. She motioned for me to get in. She knew what was happening. Still a little unsure, I opened the car door and sat down.
I was in this country to explore the possibilities of gospel work among an ethnic minority. The government was hard at work to hinder the church’s spread in this region, and it was especially strict with minority groups.
Around the world, resistance to the gospel takes many forms. Governments, religious leaders, extremists, and even family members seek to hinder its advance. The repression can be subtle or intensely violent. But whatever the severity of the persecution, God’s Word isn’t bound. It continues unhindered.
Unhindered Gospel
The book of Acts concludes with Paul under house arrest in Rome, waiting for his trial. Luke, the author of Acts, wanted the reader to see through Paul’s imprisonment and chains. He ends the book with the word “unhindered” (28:31, NASB). Despite resistance and persecution, the gospel spread throughout the known world in the span of one generation.
Despite resistance and persecution, the gospel spread throughout the known world in the span of one generation.
This last word in Acts describes the progress of the gospel to the present day. No matter where the resistance or persecution comes from—government, society and family, or local religions—the gospel spreads unhindered.
1. Governmental Repression
When I got in the car that night in East Asia, I was relieved to find out the driver wasn’t an undercover policeman. He was a local pastor. As we drove, he explained the daily pressures his congregation faced from the government. He’d been interrogated and harassed by authorities many times.
You can imagine my surprise when the pastor explained to me through the translator, “Of all the Puritans, the most important to us were those who traveled together on the Mayflower.” The Pilgrims who braved the Atlantic for religious liberty were his heroes. He resonated with their desire to worship God in freedom.
We drove for about an hour to a forested area beyond the reach of surveillance. Worshiping in the woods allowed a measure of freedom. We waited there until church members began to join us. Once they gathered, they started singing psalms.
Humanly speaking, there shouldn’t have been a local church in that area of the world—and certainly not in that forest. But there I was, listening to a new generation of pilgrims praising God under the cover of trees.
2. Social and Family Persecution
The church grows where you least expect it. In a Mongolian village near the border of Siberia, I sat in a yurt with a group of local believers. These believers are viewed with suspicion by their neighbors and family because of their faith in Jesus. They’re considered less than authentically Mongolian.
While Mongolians enjoy official religious freedom, Christians face strong social resistance. Embracing Christ means turning your back on the shaman and Tibetan Buddhist traditions. This is intolerable for many Mongolians because it means you’re rejecting your homeland for something foreign. Similarly, in many places around the world, becoming a Christian means rejecting your family and community.
Sometimes suspicions turn violent. In Ulaanbaatar, a Mongolian pastor shared with me how a teen was beaten by his parents for attending a church service. Those parents also threatened the pastor. But the pastor continues to preach the Word and evangelize. Their Mongolian house church still gathers, sings, and prays that the gospel will continue to spread.
3. Religious Pressure
In the bush of West Africa, a local pastor was a couple days late for a workshop on expositional preaching I was leading. When I asked why he was late, he explained his nephew had been kidnapped and killed. In Liberia, this isn’t uncommon. People believe they can harvest organs for use in witchcraft to gain power over others.
In many places around the world, becoming a Christian means rejecting your family and community.
The churches of Liberia and Sierra Leone face supernatural oppression and pressure from traditional societies called the Porro and Sande. These secret societies are run by a local shaman called “the devil.” This shaman often threatens church members and pastors if they don’t join the society. Believers’ children are sometimes kidnapped, taken to the bush, and forced to undergo initiation rites. One day, I tried to comfort a mother whose daughter had been taken into “the devil bush” for initiation rites. A pastor told me, “If I talk about these things openly, the society will kill me in the street.”
These aren’t exaggerated fears but real dangers that believers in Liberia and Sierra Leone face. Yet the gospel goes forward. The pastor who lost his nephew is dedicated to proclaiming the true gospel no matter the cost. Churches are growing in West Africa, and the Word continues unhindered.
Spreading Everywhere
Luke’s final point in Acts remains true today. The gospel is spreading around the world, whatever the circumstances. God is at work saving and sustaining people in every nation. His gospel indeed has been “proclaimed in all creation under heaven” (Col. 1:23). His Word can cross every border and overcome all opposition. As Paul wrote, even as shackles bound his wrists, “the word of God is not bound” (2 Tim. 2:9).
Missions is the invitation to participate in the gospel’s advance around the world. It’s the privilege to see God’s Word at work. But you don’t have to leave your country to see and participate in its powerful effect.
We might be discouraged when we experience resistance to our witness from family, friends, and society. But the stories of the gospel’s spread in hard places should embolden us to continue sharing the gospel. Our confidence is ultimately in God and his Word. If the gospel can advance unhindered in the hardest places, it can also spread wherever we work and live.
The Gospel Coalition