Will You Live For Christ?
April 3, 2005
Dear Friends:
Would you die for Christ?
Once in a while someone will ask that hypothetical question. It is an interesting question and one which most of us will never know the final answer to as, by God’s grace and mercy, we will never be put into that position.
For the first few centuries after Christ, this was not a hypothetical question at all. One only needs to read a historical account like Eusebius’ History of the Church or Foxe’s Book of Martyrs to understand that in those early days, you put your life on the line to take on the saving name of Jesus Christ. In fact, in the early third century, the church had a raging debate on what to do with those people who, under the persecution of Emperor Septimius Severus, failed to be faithful to the point of persecution, torture or death. If a brother or sister bought their way out of persecution or actually sacrificed to the emperor, what do you do with them? Do you forgive them considering the severity of the trial or do you accept them back?
Questions such as these seem very foreign to those of us in the west who presume upon the freedom of religion we have grown up with. Even today, however, this freedom is not felt universally. Some still have to put their lives on the line to take on the saving name of Jesus Christ.
Recently, it was my privilege to participate in the baptism of several Iranians in Turkey. While I could return home to the relative safety of the US, they had to return home to Iran where they had just committed a capital offense by converting from Islam to Christianity. The question “would you die for Christ” was anything but hypothetical for them. They can be executed on the spot if they are found out. Being in the presence of such faith brings clarity to many things in life. Things which we argue over and worry about seem petty and insignificant. It made me realize that for them the question is “would you die for Christ,” but for us, the question is “will we live for Christ?”
It was also my privilege to meet a brother recently who fled from Iran at a moment’s notice as it was feared that his name had been given to the police. He shared with me how he had left a house, his job, his car, his family, his girlfriend and his friends to become a refugee. He now lives in a strange country with a strange language and strange customs. Once a well-paid plant manager, he now finds himself doing shift work on a factory floor. He misses his old life, but for the sake of Christ, he has given up everything in this life for the hope of the life to come.
It is really a silly question to ask ourselves if we will die for Christ if, in fact, we are not already living for him. If we put trivial things like our creature comforts, pursuit of wealth, leisure and pride above Christ now, it is highly unlikely we would put our very being on the line in the future. If we can’t sacrifice our life now, what makes us think we will do it in the future?
There are some people today that are willing to die for Christ as evidenced by our new brothers and sisters in Christ in Iran. These brethren stand as a wonderful example to all of us of living for Christ today. Will you live for him?
Have a great week!
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