Sacrifice and Eternal Gain

Ali Page wrote an incredible blog yesterday about martyrdom,
about sacrifice, about how much we’re willing to give for the faith of Christ
that we have.  She posed some amazing
questions, questions which we would typically read and think that they’re
merely rhetorical.  I decided to go a
different route though: I’m going to actually answer them.  How often in life do we ask ourselves the
tough questions?  Unfortunately – I don’t
think we do so often enough.

So I’m taking a risk at vulnerability and I’m going to
answer these questions with truth and sincerity.  My responses will be uncensored and I’m going
to write the first thing that comes to my mind, so don’t label me a phony or
something.  (p.s. it might help to read her post, first).

What if you had been
born into a country where it was illegal to believe [in God, Christianity,
etc.]?

I guess I wouldn’t really know the difference growing up,
right?  I mean, I suppose that the whole
idea of God and Jesus – if ever shared with me at all – would be more like a
myth or a legend than anything else.  And
even if I did know the gospel I’m not even sure I’d have the guts to believe it
out of fear of persecution.  I guess it
just depends where I would be in life. 
If I was in that place where I was restless and searching for a deeper
Truth, I’d probably do anything… including getting myself persecuted.

What if you were
found out?

Well… if I knew the Scriptures well enough, I would know
that it’s a good thing.  The persecuted
Church grows rapidly, which we’ve not only seen within the book of Acts, but
also throughout China and the other parts of the world.  I’m not sure what I would do if I was ‘found
out’ though.  The flesh-side of me knows
that I would run and fear that they would take my life, but my Spirit-side knows
that God would fill me with unwavering boldness and I would end up standing my
ground… and sharing my faith with my captors.

Would you shrink back
or rise up?

Um… yes.

Would you deny your
Jesus?

If I had was sold out like I am now – HELL NO! 

What if they tortured
you?  Threatened to kill you?  Threw you in prison?  Killed your family?

I would cry. 
Inevitably, the fact that I’m a sissy when it comes to physical pain
would definitely surface.  I probably
wouldn’t deny it from up front in the first place.  However, if they tortured me – I would
endure.  If they threatened to kill me –
I would fear Him who can kill my body AND my soul.  If they threw me in prison – I would be
thankful I was still alive.  If they
killed my family – it would only fuel my rebellion against darkness and cement
my feet to the Rock.

How far are we
willing to go for God?

I can only speak for myself, but it’s like I’ve prayed many
times: I would truly go to the death… because I know it’s a catalyst to Jesus
anyway!  I think of the time that we were
in Johannesburg and we were held at gunpoint. 
I was willing to go then.  I was
willing to stand in place of anyone in that room, especially my brothers and
sisters.  Yet I suppose this question can
be taken many ways.

How far are we willing to go for God?  Not just as individual believers, but as the
Church body?  Are we willing to rise up
in the face of resistance, in the heat of battle, and stand in the gap for one
another?  Are we willing to fight the
enemy to take back our inheritance?  

Ali said, “sacrifice the temporal to gain the eternal.”