The statistics are as sobering as they are predictable.

According to Family Research Council, between 2018 and 2024, there have been 1,384 documented hostile acts against churches in America, including vandalism, arson, fire bombings, bomb threats, and shootings. This represents an eight-fold increase from just five years prior.

The dragon is making war against those who refuse to bow to the spirit of the age.

But for those with eyes to see, this surge was never a matter of if but when.

When a culture systematically abandons the God who gave it birth, when it tears down every sacred institution and mocks every holy thing, the inevitable result is not peaceful co-existence with God’s family but war. And that war has now come, quite literally, to our church doors.

The most recent and egregious example comes from Seattle, where 28-year-old Lebron Givaun — a newlywed who had recently surrendered his life to Christ — was gunned down in broad daylight as he arrived for a young adult service at Pursuit Church. Two masked assailants fired over 30 rounds from illegally modified automatic weapons into a crowd of families gathering for a church barbecue.

Let that sink in: Criminals with a “code of honor” that Pastor Russell Johnson rightly noted wouldn’t “shoot a man in broad daylight while he is at a house of worship, while he is with his wife and kid,” have been replaced by something far more sinister. This was not random gang violence spilling over into a sacred space — this was a targeted assault on the very concept of sanctuary itself.

The symbolism could not be clearer. After the shooting, the attackers abandoned and torched their vehicle at another church’s parking lot to destroy the evidence. The scene sent its own grim message: No church is beyond our reach.

The pattern emerges

This Seattle shooting did not occur in a vacuum. Pursuit Church had already been marked for hostility after hosting a prayer rally defending biblical sexuality and the family. When Christians gathered lawfully to proclaim God’s design for marriage and gender, Seattle’s political establishment and radical activists united in opposition, with Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell (D) characterizing the prayer gathering as “far-right” extremism.

Here, we see the progression with crystal clarity.

First, biblical Christianity is redefined as political extremism. Then, those who hold to historic Christian faith are demonized as threats to public safety. And finally, violence against such “threats” becomes not only acceptable but morally justified.

The pattern repeats itself across blue America. In Washington state, Natasha O’Dell traveled from Texas to burn down the Seattle Laestadian Lutheran Church, causing over $3.2 million in damage. She had openly expressed her rage against churches and specifically planned to “burn a nearby church.” The same spirit that drove her to destruction drives the masked gunmen who spray bullets into church gatherings.

RELATED: Our churches are sitting ducks. Here's how to fight back.

Blaze Media Illustration

This is not new but is part of a growing pattern. In the fall of 2022, a pro-abortion terrorist group, Jane’s Revenge, threatened to carry out a mass shooting at two churches in Nebraska, explicitly naming the use of “AR-14 rifles” if a local abortion ban passed.

These threats were a part of a wave of over 100 violent attacks on churches and pregnancy centers that have occurred since May 2022, when the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Dobbs case overturning Roe v. Wade was leaked.

And since May 2020, there have been at least 518 violent attacks on Catholic churches across 43 states, including arson, smashed statues, satanic graffiti, vandalism, and assault — often with explicitly anti-Catholic and pro-abortion messages.

The spiritual reality behind the statistics

Make no mistake: This is spiritual warfare manifesting in physical violence.

When the apostle Paul warned that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12), he was describing precisely what we witness today.

The enemy’s strategy is both ancient and obvious: If you cannot corrupt the church from within through compromise and false teaching, destroy it from without through intimidation and violence. John’s vision in Revelation 12:17 captures this perfectly: “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

This scenario is precisely what we see unfolding in Washington state and across America. The dragon is making war against those who refuse to bow to the spirit of the age, who insist on keeping God’s commandments regarding marriage, sexuality, and the sanctity of life and who maintain their testimony of Jesus Christ as the only way to salvation.

These attacks are not random acts of violence. They are manifestations of an ancient hatred directed specifically at those who bear the image of the One who crushed the serpent’s head.

A call to courage

This moment is not a time for the church to retreat into a defensive crouch, hoping that if we just keep our heads down and our convictions quiet, perhaps the storm will pass us by. That storm is not passing — it is intensifying. And our Lord Jesus never called His people to cower in the face of persecution; He called us to count it all joy (James 1:2).

To the pastors reading this: Your congregations need to hear the truth about what is happening, and they need to be prepared — spiritually, mentally, and yes, practically — for what may come. This is not fearmongering; this is biblical wisdom. “A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished” (Proverbs 22:3).

To the men in our churches: You have been called to be protectors and defenders, not just of your families but of your congregations. The times demand masculine courage rooted in biblical conviction. Study your scripture, strengthen your bodies, and prepare your minds. The sheep are under attack, and shepherds must be ready to confront the wolves.

These attacks confirm that the light of Christ still shines brightly enough to provoke the rage of those who love darkness rather than light.

To every believer: Understand that in a post-Christian culture, simply being Christian is increasingly viewed as an act of aggression. Your commitment to biblical truth — on marriage, sexuality, the sanctity of life, and the exclusivity of Christ — marks you as an enemy of the prevailing order.

This is not a cause for compromise; it is a call to clarity.

The government’s abdication

What makes this crisis particularly acute is the systematic abdication of civil government from its God-ordained role.

When Seattle’s mayor effectively takes sides with violent protesters against Christians exercising their First Amendment rights, when 75% of homicides in Seattle go unsolved, and when churches must hire private security because public officials will not protect houses of worship, the social contract has been shattered.

Scripture is clear that civil government exists “for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good” (1 Peter 2:14). When government instead punishes good and praises evil, it has forfeited its divine mandate and revealed itself as an instrument of the very chaos it was ordained to prevent.

This is why the principled Christian must simultaneously pray for governing authorities (1 Timothy 2:1-2) while refusing to grant them the ultimate allegiance that belongs to God alone. We submit to legitimate authority while recognizing that no earthly power can command us to deny our Lord or abandon His truth (Daniel 3:16-28).

Victory through faithfulness

The rise in anti-Christian violence is both a sign of our culture’s spiritual darkness and, paradoxically, evidence of the gospel’s power. The enemy does not waste ammunition on territory he already controls. These attacks confirm that the light of Christ still shines brightly enough to provoke the rage of those who love darkness rather than light.

Our response must be thoroughly biblical: We fear God and fear nothing else. We love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, even as we prepare to defend the innocent and vulnerable. We proclaim the truth in love, knowing that the same gospel, which is “the power of God unto salvation,” is also our only hope for cultural transformation.

As Jesus told us in John 16:33:

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.

The church has survived Roman persecution, Islamic conquest, and communist oppression. It will most certainly survive the tantrums of a dying secular culture that has mistaken temporary political power for ultimate authority.

Our King reigns, our victory is certain, and our duty is clear: to stand firm, speak truth, and trust the sovereignty of God, who works all things according to the counsel of His will.

The dragon may rage, but the Lamb has conquered. And in His strength, so shall we.

This article is adapted from an essay originally published at Liberty University's Standing for Freedom Center.