ABSTRACT: At the end of Paul’s letter to the Colossians, he writes, “Remember my chains.” Thousands of Christians around the world today could write the same words. Some are locked behind bars; others are threatened with intimidation, discrimination, and violence. Yet as persecution grows in many parts of the world, so too does the gospel. From North Africa to North Korea, from Central Asia to Central Africa, Christ is building his church — and very often, he is doing so not despite persecution, but precisely by means of it.
Tim Keesee wrote an article at Desiring God:
Paul’s powerful postscript, “Remember my chains” (Colossians 4:18), is an appeal that could be made by persecuted Christians around the world today. Some are actually in prison. Others have the scars of their cross-bearing upon them. Others are in prison of another kind, where walls of intimidation, discrimination, and violent threats surround their families, churches, and livelihoods. Each would say to the brothers and sisters of their forever family, “Remember my chains.” But they would also remind us to look beyond the pain and chains and prison wall of fear to see unsurpassed joy and unending life.
This truth is beautifully summarized in a song I was taught many years ago by Christians in a borderland region in Southeast Asia where gospel opposition was hard on the heels of gospel advance. The lines drawn from Philippians 3 still thrill me and drive me to add my voice to this great cloud of witnesses worldwide:
I want to know Christ and the power of his rising,
Share in his sacrifice, conform to his death.
As I pour out my life to be filled with his Spirit,
Joy follows suffering, and life follows death.
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