Carlos at Jesus Politics had a post about what American Christians define as “persecution” these days. This was prompted by the a missionary in the Amazon , Dorothy Stang, who was shot to death this week.

It reminds me of something Clarence Jordan used to say about “making a public profession of faith”. He said, “It isn’t when the organ is playing softly and you go up front and tell the preacher “I take Jesus as Lord”. That isn’t when you take him as Lord. It’s when the crowd is shouting ‘Kill him! Kill that damn Nig–r!’, and you place your body between him and them and say “He’s a man for whom Christ died!” that’s when you’re making a public profession of faith.”