Rejection for the Name of Christ

“James” is another real 11-year-old boy in Pakistan. He felt the sting of rejection for his faith first hand and persevered—even unto death.

As his father went to work one morning, he and his three siblings gathered to sing hymns before breakfast. Then his mother asked him to go buy some detergent for her. As he went to the store, he kept singing. The shopkeeper asked him if he was a Christian. When he responded that he was, the shopkeeper said, “I don’t sell to any non-Muslim. You are not welcome here. Don’t you dare ever come to my shop again.”

Upset, James went home and told his mother what had happened. In a short while, neighbors came to the house and accused James of blasphemy. They said, “Your son has committed blasphemy against Muhammad, our beloved prophet—we can’t allow him to live. He should be punished.” When his mother denied the charge, they accused her of insulting them by implying that they were liars. A person in the crowd hit her on the head, drawing blood. One of James’s sisters tried to call the police on the phone. The mob shouted, “This family has committed blasphemy. They should be killed.”

By the time the police and James’s father arrived, James, all his siblings, and his mother were dead. The police refused to file a complaint, since the mob leader was an influential Muslim religious leader and they are afraid of him.

Before the murders, area Muslims had told the religious leader, “We cannot allow these non-Muslims to live here. They will be a bad influence on our children.”

We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. – 1 John 3:12-13

These things I command you, so that you will love one another. If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: “A servant is no greater than his master.” If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will also keep yours. –John 15:17-20

Source: Compass Direct News