CHARLO, New Brunswick, February 26, 2024 – As we all know, YouTube’s recommended videos can be either a treasure trove or a junk pile. One buried treasure of a video that popped up in my YouTube feed today played into an issue that is slowly creeping into the lives of Canadian believers – namely, the repeal (removal) of a law protecting the free expression of religious beliefs in Canada. If this law is repealed (it’s currently working its way through Parliament), it will effectively outlaw Christianity here in Canada, or at the very least muzzle Christians from openly stating their beliefs.

Jesus warned us that we, as his followers, would some day become outlaws, so we shouldn’t be shocked or surprised that repeals of religious protection laws are gaining traction and moving quickly from the proposal stage to implementation, even in historically Christian nations. The persecution, jailing, torture, and slaughter of Christians has happened all throughout Christian history and is happening even today, though not yet openly in the West.

That, I believe, is about to change.

The video recommended to me by YouTube was a skit featuring dozens of young people responding individually to questions about their Christian witness and their fitness for Heaven. The responses (likely scripted, but still on point) were sufficiently thought-provoking for me to hit pause and ask myself the same questions. Would there in fact be enough evidence in my day-to-day dealings with people and in my life overall to accuse me of being a Christian? 

I certainly hope so. If being a Christian – that is, openly expressing and living my beliefs as a follower of Jesus – were outlawed in Canada, that is the one law that I would unhesitatingly, enthusiastically, and repeatedly break. But what evidence would be used against me? What would the snitches say to get me arrested?

Well, I’ve already been permanently banned from a number of mainstream online forums (Facebook won’t even let me sign up! lol) for reasons I have yet to ferret out. I’ve also been shadow banned on the few other forums (some allegedly Christian) that will still let me comment, which means my comments show up when I view the website but not when others view it. Again, I have no idea what I said or did to cause the banning and shadow banning, but my comments almost always touch on God and Jesus. Maybe it’s what I’ve said openly about the alphabet rainbow agenda or the unholy “Holy Land” or the mask mandates as they apply to Christians that got me censored, though whether my being banned from commenting on these websites would be enough to get me arrested, I don’t know.

Snitches might also point to my refusal to flirt or date, or to use curse words in my conversations. I might be condemned as well for my modest clothing or the cross I wear when I’m in public (to let others know that I’m a Christian). Some people might accuse me of bringing up God and Jesus in my conversations or even quoting the Bible when a Bible quote is warranted. Speaking of Bibles, I was hauled aside for questioning at an airport a few years ago because I had a Bible in my carry-on luggage. I was red-flagged solely for carrying God’s Word. But would this be enough to get me arrested?

I found out last summer that I’ve been banned from staying on the campus of my alma mater, again for reasons that were ill-defined. The administrator who informed me of my banning would only reveal that I had a “bad attitude”, though I’ve always been unfailingly polite to anyone I’ve dealt with at the campus level, even and especially to the guy working at the front desk who pretended he was a woman. I feel sorry for men like that and there’s no point in making them even more miserable than they already are, so politeness and kindness rule the day (“love your enemies”, and all that). Jesus warned us we’d be blamed and hated without cause, and so we are.

Yet when all is said and done, I’m actually glad to be banned, as it lets me know where I stand and where I’m not welcome; and where I’m not welcome, I don’t go. Jesus didn’t go where he wasn’t welcome and advised us to shake the dust of such places from the bottom of our feet and move on, letting God deal with them. I don’t fight the bans any more than I’d fight being arrested. I consider them part and parcel of doing my job as a believer and I have no intention of compromising my beliefs, if by compromising them I’d be “safe” from bans and arrests.

I’m guessing that the most “damning” evidence that I’m a Christian would be this blog, which I’ve kept now for nearly 10 years. Abornagainbeliever.com would likely be the “gotcha!” that got me arrested. At the very least, my blog would no longer be accessible in Canada if the law protecting my right to write freely were repealed, which may happen sooner than I expect. But as long as I can still legally teach and preach God’s Word in Canada, I’ll keep on posting articles. If the time comes when I can no longer do that, I’ll deal with it as God gives me guidance.

I don’t say this often, but I’m actually grateful to YouTube for the algorithm that brought me this buried treasure of a video. If you’re feeling so inclined, maybe you could take a moment to ask yourself whether there’s enough evidence in your life to have you arrested for the “crime” of being a Christian. I found that mulling this question over was a good exercise that convicted me (still lots of work to be done on this soul!) and yet was also strangely comforting.

As my grandmother used to say, “mistakes keep us humble”, and a humble and contrite heart the Lord will not despise.