While this is certainly true, it seems that many western Christians have enjoyed so much comfort in the field the martyrs gave us that we’ve forgotten both what it means to be persecuted for Christ’s name and what it means to belong to him. Because our church-influenced governments kept us safe from those who wanted to kill us, we started viewing persecution the way we view leprosy—as an outdated, nearly extinct affliction from a bygone era.

Because we also lived in a world where no one was trying to pry the shining gospel from our cold, dead fingers, we stopped looking at its luster and became convinced that moralism, prosperity promises, or social justice teachings must have been of equal value. Enter Pastor Dweeb, Pastor Hip, and Pastor Justice, all of whom left us equally unequipped to understand why ISIS would target such a seemingly insignificant man in Father Hamel.

But just as the Israelites shouldn’t have forgotten what God said about his covenant after he delivered them into the Promised Land, so we shouldn’t forget what God has said about persecution even when he blesses us to experience so little of it. So while Father Hamel’s murder is certainly tragic, for Christians it shouldn’t be surprising.

Christ sent him to preach the gospel, and the world responded by doing exactly what Jesus said it would do to preachers of the gospel. Christ sent Father Hamel to tell sinners that the Son had set them free from the power of the devil, and the devil responded by doing what Jesus promised Satan would do, by screaming the opposite amidst violence and bloodshed. Christ sent him to give God’s love, his mercy, his kingdom and power and glory to all who believe, and the devil responded by spilling that priest’s blood to frighten people away from the faith.