In St. Matthews Gospel, Jesus is reported to have said that those who suffer and are reviled for their faith are blessed. 1 Peter 4:14-16 reads, in the Revised English Bible, "If you are reviled for being Christians, count yourselves happy, because the Spirit of God in all his glory rests upon you. If you do suffer, it must not be for murder, theft, or any other crime, nor should it be for meddling in other people's business. But if anyone suffers as a Christian, he should feel it no disgrace, but confess that name to the honour of God." Romans 8:17b reads, "[B]ut we must share [Christ's] sufferings if we are also to share his glory." This is but a small sample of verses in the New Testament that describe how we Christians are to react to persecution for the faith. Rather than whine about how no one notices, we are to rejoice for the example so set, pray both for those who suffer and for those who inflict it, and remember that such suffering for the Gospel (Paul repeatedly invokes his own imprisonment for the sake of the Gospel as an example to follow) is our lot in life, a mark of true faith.
This is not to say that we should not protest these deaths, nor let them go unnoticed, nor point out how, in some countries, the mere claim of faith is enough for official approbation and unofficial harassment. Yet, if we are to be consistent and constant in our faith, we should also celebrate the witness of those who refuse to yield to threats and force, even to the point of death. Nor should we forget that this is our reality as Christians; two thousand years as both official and unofficial religion of Empire has rendered us forgetful that our existence as Christians qua Christians should antagonize, rather than ameliorate, the powers that be, wherever we live.
If Rick Warren were more concerned with faith and less concerned with keeping name in the papers, he might understand that.
