All The Things

The last two days at my training, I’ve been sitting in on sessions about the persecuted church. I was looking forward to these sessions because I’ve always loved hearing about what believers endure in other parts of the world. And, that very last statement proves that my theology must be in some way thwarted. There is no reason why I should like to hear about how other Christians are persecuted around the world. Perhaps its because its not me, and they aren’t people I know directly. Perhaps its because it makes me feel good about being a part of something so great yet I don’t have to be directly involved or affected. A big part of me thinks its because through those stories I am able to see the Bible truly come to life. In the Bible Paul shares his faith boldly and is persecuted, just like all the other early disciples and followers. Yet, I have never experienced that. I have been exposed and bred into American Christianity. Where people are scared they will be verbally and emotionally persecuted.

If my thought process and theology seems to be off I must examine where I am getting it from and think about how I can change it. You see, I have a heart for the nations. And, while during this next phase in my life God has called me to go serve in Madrid, Spain; I want to be wiling to go anywhere even if I will face greater persecution. I want to be wise about each step that I make, and while I do not want to run toward persecution I also do not want to run from it. There are so many things I can share and have inside of my heart but I want to start by sharing some quotes by he gentleman that spoke to us.

“When you read the Bible in past tense you lose its power in your life.”

“In the U.S., we persecute ourselves so Satan doesn’t need to.”

“We are taking Joseph out of jail when God needs Him in jail! When we do that Egypt starves. How do you know when to leave him in jail?”

“You will never see overt persecution when covert persecution works.”

“Where are you in God’s story today? If you looked at yourself in relation to the stories in God’s word, where would you be? Who would you be?”

“We are to pray for our persecutors not punish them.”

“Persecution is not bad or good; it just is.”

“Why would Satan want to wake us up if he has already shut us up?” (in reference to the US church)

“When I keep Jesus to myself I identify with the persecutors.”

“If your identity is more in that you are a missionary than in Christ, you have a theological problem.”

And, “Don’t ever give up in freedom what others have not given up in persecution.”

He told a story of an interview he had with Chinese women who were planting churches. They explained that when people begin to grow as disciples the one thing they long to do is be an evangelist. They said, “If we are going to fight, we are going to fight over who gets to take the gospel to the lost people.” They don’t care about other leadership roles but consider spreading the word of the gospel to be the priority.

We have so much to learn from our brothers and sisters around the world. Most of all, listening to these stories over the past couple of days made me realize how much I have given away in freedom and how I’ve allowed fear to cripple me. So every day I must continue to ask myself, “is Jesus worth it.”

You must ask yourself, “Is Jesus worth it? Is He worth your life?”