By Bill Muehlenberg — Originally published in My Christian Daily
With lots of global upheaval occurring right now, be it in Venezuela, Iran or other parts of the world, talk about ‘regime change’ and the like is being heard more frequently of late. While all of us should take a least some interest in what is happening around the world, in political matters and international relations, the Christian even more should do so.
We are to be a global people, given that we have a global Gospel to share about a global Saviour. So knowing a bit about what is happening in other parts of the world is crucial, even if it simply means we can pray more intelligently about the fate of the nations and the fate of the Gospel.
In Iran, for example, we are hearing many reports about how so many people are converting to Christianity. There have also been reports about numerous mosques closing down there. Exact numbers might be hard to come by, but it seems that God is certainly at work in the country. As one report states:
“Iran is regularly cited as the place with the fastest growing Church in the world — albeit an underground one. Some people say it’s because Iranians have something within them that seems to make Christianity attractive. For one thing, many come from a Shia Muslim background, within which the concept of a coming saviour — in their case, Imam Mahdi — and even the person of Jesus (albeit only as a prophet) are already accepted theologies.
“Another reason people cite is that many Iranians have grown tired of the ruling theocracy, in place for the past 47 years. Therefore they are looking for alternatives including, but not limited to, Christianity.
“A 2020 study by GAMAAN, a secular Netherlands-based research institute, discovered that only a third of Iranians identified as Shia Muslims, despite Iran’s regime claiming that they make up 95% of its population. Many respondents claimed to have no faith at all. Others said they were Zoroastrian. Some 1.5% of respondents identified as Christian.
“Given that there are now believed to be fewer than 100 000 members of the recognised Christian communities, largely of Armenian and Assyrian origin, still in the country — largely due to mass migration — researchers concluded that there may be 650 000-850 000 converts in Iran. Many evangelical Christian groups had previously estimated that the figure may even be in excess of one million. While it’s not possible to verify this, it certainly adds credence to the idea that Iran may indeed be the place where Christianity is growing the fastest.
“For context, there were only a few hundred Christian converts in Iran when the Islamic Republic was founded in 1979. So whatever the precise figure today, the increase has been staggering — and has come despite decades of repression.”
At the very least, Christians in the West need to be praying for their brothers and sisters there. We do not yet know how things will turn out in Iran. The two-week-long mass protests show no signs of letting up. But reports of hundreds, if not thousands already now killed by the Islamist rulers are very worrying indeed.
Biblical considerations
We know that Scripture teaches us that God raises up leaders and nations and also takes them down. We also know that we humans can have a role to play in all this. God can use human agency to bring change to nations. Just yesterday I spoke about the biblical notion of “double agency” wherein God accomplishes his purposes while human actors can also be fully involved.
And sometimes people can be involved in evil actions while God somehow still works out his good purposes through them. I am again reading the book of Genesis, and the Joseph story (Gen. 37-50) is a classic case in point. Joseph ended up helping keep the Israelites alive, and through Israel the Messiah of course came.
Yet, note that the way this came about was by means of the evil intentions and actions of his brothers. They wanted to kill him! And eventually they sold him into slavery. Yet the rest is history, as Joseph went on to save his people while holding a key position in Egypt.
Two key passages speak to the truth of how evil people doing evil things can still even be used by God as he works out his good plans. The first one is Genesis 45:4-9:
So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not tarry.
And the second one is Genesis 50:15-21:
When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died: ‘Say to Joseph, “Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.”’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
So when we think about current situations such as what is now happening in Iran, we can see God at work, but also human agents. Brave freedom fighters are risking all to get this diabolical Islamist theocracy off their backs. And other players such as the US under Trump, and Israel as well, might also have roles to play here.
Political considerations
Plenty can be said about the current situation in Iran from political and social angles. But here I just want to focus on the glaring contrasts and hypocrisy of those in the West — especially leftists and feminists. All the leftist protesters with all their usual lefty causes seem dead silent about what is happening in Iran. It seems if they cannot attack Israel and the Jews, or attack Trump, then they really do not care about what is happening.
All their talk about human rights simply rings hollow. As J. K. Rowling rightly said: “If you claim to support human rights yet can’t bring yourself to show solidarity with those fighting for their liberty in Iran, you’ve revealed yourself. You don’t give a damn about people being oppressed and brutalised so long as it’s being done by the enemies of your enemies.”
Or as Michael Dickson put it: “The cowardice of the entitled Western slacktivist students who chant ‘Free Palestine’ from a tent on campus is in sharp contrast to the bravery of Iranian students and others standing up to the guns of the vicious Islamic Republic regime.”
It is the same with all those Western feminists who are usually so very vocal. Now we get nothing but silence from them, while brave women in Iran risk everything to be set free from genuine oppressive patriarchal rule. As Dr. Maalouf has stated: “We are witnessing one of the biggest feminist revolutions in history, and for some reason, Western feminists are completely silent.”
And Elizabeth Barcohana said this about the matter:
“Persians are not Arabs, and Iran was not a Muslim country.
They were conquered by Islam.
The world is watching them liberate themselves from it.
With no guns, limited internet, and some hot chicks smoking cigarettes.
What a time to be alive.”
Speaking of the brave Iranian woman pictured above, Eve Barlow said this: “Nobody will do anything this cool at the Golden Globes.” Gad Saad agreed, saying: “This beautiful Iranian woman has more guts, more resilience, more courage, more dignity than all Western feminists combined.”
Please pray
God cares greatly about what is happening in Iran. We Christians should care greatly as well. At a bare minimum, we should be praying daily for what is transpiring in Iran. Pray for the Christians and others bravely resisting this evil regime. And please help spread the word about what is happening there.
As has been said by many observers, what we are witnessing there right now may well be as significant and important as when the Berlin Wall came crashing down back in 1989. Pray for the brave Persians that they can get their country back from the diabolical Islamists and pray that the spread of Christianity continues to grow and strengthen in the land.
Bill Muehlenberg, an American-born and Australian-based commentator, is the author of a number of books and thousands of articles. You can follow him on his website CultureWatch, on YouTube and on X.
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