Recently, my husband, new to the pastorate, shared his testimony with our congregation. It’s hard to sum up a life-long testimony in a couple of sessions, but he covered key seasons and life-changing lessons from his experiences. (I’m so proud of him and honored to be his wife–such an undeserved blessing, and is part of the redemption story of my testimony. But that’s a story for another day.)
I won’t try to sum up his testimony (if you’re interested you can see for yourself: Part 1/ Part 2), but the part I’ve been thinking about and want to examine here, is the day he had to answer this question:
Would I die for what I believe?
At the time, he was in a country where this might be a more pressing question than in other places, but it wasn’t on his heart because death was imminent, yet he felt it was a question he needed to answer. By the end of the day, he was able to say that yes, he was willing to die for what he believed. “It’s that kind of important.”
In many countries around the world, people must make this decision as dying for what they believe is a real possibility. In the Western world, we seem to give mental assent to the value of asking ourselves this question, and many professing Christians would probably say that they too, are willing to die for what they believe. But the question I’ve been pondering is: Are we too quick to answer the question in the affirmative because we are truly willing to die for our faith? Or rather because we know it is the ‘correct’ answer, and deep down, the possibility of that ever coming to pass seems an improbability?
Life as we know it here has been relatively easy for Christians. Persecution has been mild if we can even call it that. However, there are signs that perhaps this is changing. It does seem like it may be time to more deeply consider this question and all its implications.
In answering this question for myself, I had to look at it from a little different angle.
I don’t know about you, but when I hear this question, I envision great persecution and being willing to “die by the sword” for not denying Jesus, or being willing to sit in prison and suffer until death either naturally occurs after much suffering, or is exacted upon me–perhaps after enduring torture. Extreme, fear-inducing situations, right? And although it is a reality for many of our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world, and might be one we face ourselves at some point, I wonder if, for many of us, we need to consider “dying” in a different light.
I recently read a thought-provoking book (Letter to the American Church by Eric Metaxas) which gave me perspective and questions to help in this consideration. One of the things he pointed out, is that we often think that dying, in the physical sense is the ultimate sacrifice. But the reality is that there are other kinds of death besides and before physical death. And these types of death might actually be more painful.
Jesus tells us that if we want to follow him, we need to deny ourselves.
And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
Luke 9:23
Another way to frame this is that if we call ourselves followers of Jesus, we need to die to self.
(Related: How to live a selfless life in a selfie world)
This concept is something we should all be familiar with if we claim to know Christ. However, sometimes familiarity with certain scriptures can cause us to breeze past them, only giving our mental assent rather than deeply considering and applying them to our lives.
For me to truly stop and consider if I am willing to die for what I believe means to consider more than if I would die by execution in persecution.
Questions such as:
- Would I be willing to die of a terminal illness if my (hopefully) unwavering belief in God’s faithfulness and goodness despite disease was the testimony that brought someone else to him? Or would I demand healing as my right as a child of God and become bitter if he didn’t grant my expectations?
- Am I willing to let my work toward being an author and in formal ministry die if laying down my life for additional foster and/or adoptive kids (taking away my time to write/minister) brought him more glory?
- Would I be willing to let my reputation die in order to speak up against things that are obviously wrong despite being politically correct?
- Is my desire to be thought of as loving and accepting greater than being loving by not staying silent about the blatant wrongs the world says we must?
- Am I willing to lose friends or readers if I speak about uncomfortable topics from a biblical perspective?
- Am I willing to look or feel foolish by sharing words I believe the Lord wants me to even if I’m not a skilled public speaker?
Or even…
- Can I set aside my insecurities about my appearance and use the time I spend trying to find flattering outfits and hairstyles in a less self-serving more God-honoring way?
- Would I exchange our monetary safety net, beyond what we already do, for caring for those in need–even perfect strangers?
These are some uncomfortable questions that lead to an even bigger one:
If I’m not willing to accept these things, how can I say that I would choose ultimate, physical death?
I’m not saying that God is necessarily going to ask me to do all of the above, or that it’s sinful to look nice or have a savings account, etc., but if I’m examining my willingness, then all of these are fair game. In one sense, these are all questions I have already considered, just not in this exact context. Framed this way, it holds a greater weight.
What the question ultimately comes down to for me is this: If I say I believe my faith is worth dying for, the next question I need to ask is if my daily actions reflect my beliefs (credit to Eric Metaxas for clarity on this).
What am I doing that proves what I believe? How am I spending my time and money? What am I thinking about? What am I talking about? Does my life reflect self-focused ambitions, or a willingness to let those die for the sake of ultimate truth and love? If it ever comes time for me to submit to physical death because of my faith, if I have made these daily decisions of dying to myself, hopefully, I will have become strong enough to stand firm in my faith no matter the outcome.
One thing I know is that this is a daily choice. Questions like these are something we should keep at the forefront of our minds as distractions make it easy to lose focus and perspective.
Unfortunately, and I’m including myself in this assessment, we have been a society of relatively weak faith. Giving lip service to our beliefs, but not necessarily following that up with daily actions that reflect what we say we believe.
Lest you think I’m saying we all need to sign up for a life of austerity, drudgery, and suffering, I’m not. However, I do believe that at least for many of us in the United States, we are quite soft, seeing our comfortable lives as a right, and quick to label something as suffering or persecution that might not really be. In no way am I diminishing anyone’s pain; the world and our lives are full of it and in need of healing. All I’m getting at is that as a collective group, the American Church, to again use Metaxas’ title, needs some honest soul searching through the lens of accurate biblical truth.
I recognize it for myself despite all the things I do that feel sacrificial. I have not arrived.
It’s time to have these conversations. We are in a spiritual battle that is becoming more obvious and our daily decisions will play a huge role in how we stand–or fall– as the intensity increases.
Being willing to be canceled, shamed, misunderstood, or simply thought to be weird for taking the unpopular road is a form of death we may need to be willing to endure if we let our actions line up with what we say we believe. Sacrificing our American Dreams to pursue God’s plan might not be easy, but it will be worth it. “It’s that kind of important.”
There is a whole lot more to this conversation. I can’t examine every nuance, and I certainly don’t want you to hear what I’m not saying. For one example, I’m not saying we need to be rudely outspoken, spouting truth without love…
The underlying reason we would die for our faith in any way is love.
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
John 15:13
We die for the sake of others and out of love for God–because of God’s great love for us.
37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 22:37-40
Truth without love is pointless. Love without truth is powerless.
As I said, it’s a big conversation and could be taken in many directions, but I won’t go down any more sidestreets now. I simply wanted to share what’s been on my heart, and invite you to pause and think about this question and its daily implications for yourself:
Would you die for what you believe?
If you’re interested in going deeper, I encourage you to read Letter to the American Church.
Related:
A Review of Letter to the American Church. By Eric Metaxas. – CultureWatch (billmuehlenberg.com)