I spent almost two decades as an editor with a denominational church magazine. I spent a few more years working with Christian newspapers. In all of those years, we were committed to telling the truth, the whole truth. We insisted that the truth had to be told. Even when some pastors were quite happy to send us information about their pastoral appointments and pastoral credentials to be publicized but did not want to have their sexual sins and financial misdeeds revealed. Even when some denominational leaders did not want flaws in their programs discussed. Even when some readers objected to the publication of articles presenting some of the hard truths of the Bible—people do not like to confront the reality that they might be sinful.

But the fact is that we did not publish the whole truth. There were certain stories we did not tell. Those stories concerned missionaries in “unfriendly” countries, most often communist and Muslim countries. We did not publish details about the underground church in China or the burgeoning underground church in then communist Ethiopia or the church planting efforts one of our churches had undertaken in a former Soviet republic that was both communist and Muslim. Our publications were printed but also posted online. If we posted stories about those missionaries, those missionaries and their converts would be in danger of being tracked down, arrested, and/or killed. Generally, Communist and Muslim countries do not practice the human freedoms that have developed in Western countries.

Strangely, if we had publicized these issues, we were convinced that we would not gain sympathy in our Western democracies either. The secular elites who dominate our society would say that it serves our missionaries right. We should know better than to try to impose our Christian religion on other cultures. Of course, these same elites would not say that Muslim missionaries who try to import their religion to Western countries should be murdered or silenced. Nor would they refrain from trying to promote their own secular values among Christians and adherents of other religions. It seemed that it was only Christians who should not be allowed to share their beliefs with others.

Christianity is a missionary religion. Jesus died for the whole world. It is our duty to share that good news with other people, whether they accept it or not. Throughout history, because of persecution, the Christian church has often been forced underground. But Christians have continued to quietly share the good news, even at the risk of being tortured and killed.