Post by Daniel on Oct 15, 2015 7:49:49 GMT -5
‘Are You A Christian?’ A Meditation On Martyrdom
By Brian Lee
October 12, 2015
Are you a Christian?
What would you say if a man holding a gun to your head asked this question?
Are you a Christian?
According to reports (and here), the recent mass shooter in Oregon—nameless, for our purposes—asked many of his victims about their faith before he pulled the trigger. Professing Christianity earned one a mocking retort, and a bullet to the head:
“[He started] asking people one by one what their religion was. ‘Are you a Christian?’ he would ask them, and if you’re a Christian, stand up. And they would stand up and he said, ‘Good, because you’re a Christian, you are going to see God in just about one second.’ And then he shot and killed them.”
Those who didn’t acknowledge faith in Christ, according to another witness, would receive a non-lethal shot in the leg, or elsewhere.
Forget about the killer for now. Let’s think about the victims. Let’s try to remember them, and honor them, by getting inside their heads for a moment.
After witnessing a few of your colleagues getting gunned down for their faith, what would you say? People are screaming, blood is flowing. Your ears are ringing and the scent of gunpowder is in the air.
Are you a Christian?
I don’t honestly know what I’d do. We all like to think of ourselves as courageous, probably more courageous than we really are. But I do know that I’d think of my wife, my daughter. My mom and dad. I would think, in that moment of confusion, of them hearing the news of my death. Of their pain.
The pragmatic calculation is to deny Christ. To take a shot in the kneecap, a ride to the hospital, and return home to the embrace of your family. To live to provide and care for them all the remaining days of your earthly life.
But Christianity isn’t pragmatic. It is a word of folly. The Lord of glory, the creator of the universe, offered himself on a cross so others may live. Not live the American dream, but live as God intended us to, forever, in his presence, in glory.
continue reading
thefederalist.com/2015/10/12/are-you-a-christian-a-meditation-on-martyrdom/
By Brian Lee
October 12, 2015
Are you a Christian?
What would you say if a man holding a gun to your head asked this question?
Are you a Christian?
According to reports (and here), the recent mass shooter in Oregon—nameless, for our purposes—asked many of his victims about their faith before he pulled the trigger. Professing Christianity earned one a mocking retort, and a bullet to the head:
“[He started] asking people one by one what their religion was. ‘Are you a Christian?’ he would ask them, and if you’re a Christian, stand up. And they would stand up and he said, ‘Good, because you’re a Christian, you are going to see God in just about one second.’ And then he shot and killed them.”
Those who didn’t acknowledge faith in Christ, according to another witness, would receive a non-lethal shot in the leg, or elsewhere.
Forget about the killer for now. Let’s think about the victims. Let’s try to remember them, and honor them, by getting inside their heads for a moment.
After witnessing a few of your colleagues getting gunned down for their faith, what would you say? People are screaming, blood is flowing. Your ears are ringing and the scent of gunpowder is in the air.
Are you a Christian?
I don’t honestly know what I’d do. We all like to think of ourselves as courageous, probably more courageous than we really are. But I do know that I’d think of my wife, my daughter. My mom and dad. I would think, in that moment of confusion, of them hearing the news of my death. Of their pain.
The pragmatic calculation is to deny Christ. To take a shot in the kneecap, a ride to the hospital, and return home to the embrace of your family. To live to provide and care for them all the remaining days of your earthly life.
But Christianity isn’t pragmatic. It is a word of folly. The Lord of glory, the creator of the universe, offered himself on a cross so others may live. Not live the American dream, but live as God intended us to, forever, in his presence, in glory.
continue reading
thefederalist.com/2015/10/12/are-you-a-christian-a-meditation-on-martyrdom/
!!
