HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, August 24, 2025 – Today, we’re going to have a little lesson in geography, followed by a lesson in survival. Geography is important for us to know, because some geographical areas are dangerous for Christians to be in. Let’s call those areas “no-go zones”. Survival is important for us because if we don’t survive, Christianity will die.

GEOGRAPHY LESSON

Pretty much the entire Middle East is a no-go zone for Christians, as is much of Asia. The northern half of Africa’s not looking so great, either. If you took a globe and put your thumb on Jerusalem and then traced a circle with your pinky—hand outstretched and keeping your thumb on Jerusalem—most of the countries that would fall within the circle are either by law or by culture hostile to Christians. Not coincidentally, most of those countries are Muslim.

Countries that are by law hostile to Christians have outlawed anything to do with Christianity. That means no church buildings, no church services, no Christian bling (like crosses), and no Bibles are allowed. The penalties for breaking those laws range from imprisonment to beatings to execution. Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Somalia are some of the worst places you could be caught reading a Bible while wearing a cross. In nearly every instance, you would be killed.

Countries that are by culture hostile to Christians are places like India, Lebanon, Egypt, and Nigeria. Christianity is not illegal in these countries, but it might as well be. Christians in culturally hostile places suffer varying degrees of persecution, while their places of worship and faith-based health or educational institutions are habitual targets of vandalism, arson, and even bombings. It’s not as dangerous for Christians to be in areas that are culturally hostile compared to areas where Christianity is outlawed, but it’s still not advisable to be there. No Christian should be living or traveling in these countries. They are no-go zones.

SURVIVAL LESSON

And here comes the whole point of this brief geography lesson – the survival of Christianity. The stupidest thing a Christian can do is to choose to live or travel in an area that is either by law or by culture hostile to Christians. This is hands-down the stupidest thing that a Christian can do. It’s right up there with calling the head of the Catholic church “pope” (which means “papa”, as in “father”) when Jesus explicitly said to call no-one on Earth “father” because we have one Father, who is in Heaven.

Christians who choose to live in or to visit areas that are hostile to them are not adhering to Jesus’ directives. At no time does Jesus tell his followers to put themselves in danger by going to or remaining in areas that are hostile to them. He himself modeled what we’re to do when we encounter persecution or open hostility – we’re to leave that area and go where we’re not being persecuted. This is a directive straight from Jesus. It’s also basic common sense.

God doesn’t want his children purposely choosing persecution. To purposely choose persecution is to tempt God, even when it involves evangelizing. Living in or visiting places that are no-go zones also shows extreme hubris, not courage; hubris, not wisdom, unless you’ve been explicitly directed by God to go to those places, like Jesus was directed to go to Jerusalem when it was his time.

By “explicitly directed”, I mean just that. I don’t mean adhering to the so-called Great Commission of going into all the world and preaching the Good News. That is not an explicit directive. That is a general directive that needs to be applied wisely and in accordance with Jesus’ example of how to evangelize. Using the Great Commission as an excuse to to fly to Iran with a suitcase full of Bibles is just plain stupid, and Jesus didn’t teach his followers to be stupid. He taught us to be wise as serpents, so let us be wise as serpents.

But if we don’t go to no-go zones that are hostile to Christians, how will people there hear the Good News?

Good question, and the answer is:

Internet.

Radio.

God.

I’m living proof that you don’t need someone evangelizing you to be born-again. God himself exorcised me on a lonely beach in Australia and then put his Spirit in me, adopting me as his child. No-one preached to me (no-one dared preach to me, I was so rabidly anti-Christ as an atheist). No-one pressed a smuggled Bible into my hands. God simply and patiently waited for me to break and then immediately rushed in to save me when I cried out for help. No person could have done for me what God did that day. To believe otherwise is extreme hubris.

It’s worth mentioning that most of the areas that are now no-go zones for Christians were previously evangelized, meaning that most of the people there are deprived of the Word not by circumstance but by free-will choice. Jesus was once preached and lauded in those streets, but he’s since been rejected in favor of other beliefs. It’s also worth mentioning that most of the populations in the no-go zones can travel to areas that are not no-go zones and so can hear the Word there if they choose to hear it. But if even after hearing the Word they reject it, we need to respect their free-will choice and let them be.

COMING PERSECUTIONS

Along with showing places that are hostile to Christians, today’s geography lesson highlights that the no-go zones are expanding. Places that used to be Christian strongholds, like Turkey and Lebanon, are now openly hostile to the Word. These places are lost and will not return. Christians living there need to leave.

At the same time, those of us living in the West know only too well that Christianity’s days are numbered here, too. For example, Christians are now a minority in my home country of Canada, where Christian ministers serving in the military are forbidden to say “God” or “Jesus” in their public sermons (or even to call their sermons “sermons”). It’s not illegal to be Christian here, but Canada is becoming increasingly hostile to followers of Jesus by lumping Christianity in with all other religions and instituting laws and normalizing cultural practices that favor “diversity, equity, and inclusion” over religion.

So, while we’re not yet openly persecuted in the West, we experience what can be called soft persecution. With the sole exception of the United States, all Western nations are promoting and permitting soft persecution. The “othering” of Christians and silencing of the Word will continue until it shifts into open cultural hostility, followed by the outlawing of Christianity altogether. This shift will happen very quickly and, I believe, very soon.

If we want to see what most of the West or even the entire world will look like some day, we need only to look at the Christian no-go zones of today

And when that “some day” comes, where will we go?