Why Is Christianity Growing Where Following Jesus Can Cost Everything?

Something remarkable appears to be happening in Iran.

In a nation where leaving Islam and openly following Jesus can bring enormous social and legal consequences, reports for years have described a growing movement of Christians meeting quietly in homes, sharing the Gospel with friends and family, and following Jesus despite the cost.

The exact number is difficult to know. That is the nature of an underground church.

But perhaps the number isn't the most important part of the story.

Maybe the question we should be asking is: Why?

Why would Christianity grow in a place where becoming a Christian can make your life harder?

And maybe an even more uncomfortable question for those of us living with religious freedom is this:

Why can Christianity become comfortable and stagnant in places where following Jesus costs us almost nothing?

A Church Without Buildings

When we think of church, we often think of buildings, worship teams, children's programs, conferences, lights, microphones and Sunday services.

But take those things away.

What is left?

Jesus.

For many Iranian believers, church may simply mean gathering quietly with a handful of other believers in someone's home.

There may not be a stage.

There may not be a worship band.

There may not even be the freedom to tell everyone where you are going.

Yet the Gospel continues to spread.

Iranian Christian converts and house-church members have faced surveillance, arrests and prosecution. Because these communities operate privately, nobody can say with certainty exactly how many believers there are.

But anonymous research has given us a glimpse.

A large 2020 survey by GAMAAN found that about 1.5% of respondents in Iran identified as Christian—a result suggesting a Christian population far larger than official statistics would indicate.

Other Christian organizations have estimated even larger numbers, although those estimates should be treated cautiously because an underground church is extraordinarily difficult to count.

Whatever the precise number, something is happening.

People are following Jesus even when doing so can cost them.

Maybe We've Been Measuring the Wrong Things

This should challenge the church in places like America.

We can sometimes measure the health of Christianity by attendance, buildings, budgets, social-media followers or the size of a ministry.

God may be looking at something entirely different.

Jesus told the church in Smyrna:

"I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich)"— Revelation 2:9, KJV

Think about that.

They looked poor.

Jesus called them rich.

Then Jesus spoke to Laodicea, a church that believed it was doing very well:

"Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing..."— Revelation 3:17, KJV

They looked rich.

Jesus told them they were spiritually poor.

That should make us uncomfortable.

Because perhaps one of the greatest dangers facing the church isn't persecution.

Maybe it's believing we don't desperately need God.

When Jesus Costs Something

Imagine knowing that telling someone about Jesus could cost you relationships, employment, freedom or worse.

Would you still tell them?

Imagine gathering with other believers while knowing that doing so carries genuine risk.

Would you still gather?

Imagine possessing a Bible and treating it like treasure instead of something collecting dust on a shelf.

Would we read it differently?

This isn't about glorifying persecution. We should pray for religious freedom and for the protection of persecuted believers.

But their faith should cause us to examine ours.

Jesus never advertised discipleship as the easiest path through life.

He said:

"If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."— Matthew 16:24, KJV

Christianity was never supposed to be merely something we add to an already comfortable life.

Jesus becomes our life.

What If Comfort Is Making Us Sleep?

We have access to Bibles.

We have churches on seemingly every corner.

We have Christian television, podcasts, worship music, books, conferences and Bible apps containing more teaching than previous generations could have imagined.

And yet it is possible to have access to everything Christian while becoming desperate for nothing.

That is what concerns me.

Because desperation changes prayer.

When Jesus is all you have, you discover that Jesus is enough.

When gathering with believers costs something, fellowship becomes precious.

When possessing Scripture is dangerous, the Word becomes treasure.

When sharing the Gospel requires courage, evangelism stops being a church program and becomes obedience.

Maybe that helps explain why the Gospel can spread in places where circumstances seem designed to destroy it.

The Underground Church Should Make Us Ask a Question

I don't believe the lesson from Iran is that persecution is good.

The lesson is that Jesus is worth following even when following Him costs something.

And those of us who currently have the freedom to worship should not wait until that freedom disappears before we become serious about using it.

Open your Bible while you can do so openly.

Pray while nobody is stopping you.

Gather with believers while you can walk through the church doors without fear.

Tell your neighbor about Jesus while you can speak His name publicly.

Teach your children the Gospel.

Live what you say you believe.

We don't need to envy persecution.

We need to stop wasting freedom.

Because somewhere tonight, a believer may quietly enter a home, close the door behind them and worship Jesus knowing there could be consequences.

Meanwhile, many of us can proclaim His name from the rooftops.

The question isn't whether we have the freedom.

The question is what we're doing with it.

Maybe revival doesn't begin when circumstances become harder.

Maybe revival begins when the church realizes how desperately we need Jesus before they do.

Pastor Scott