Should I die for my faith?
Is there ever a circumstance under which a person should have to die for what they believe?
Had a couple of conversations recently where the matter of putting it all on the line came up.
First one was with a friend at work, who is curious about Christianity. I was telling him about the times of persecution where Christians chose death before giving public worship to the Roman emperor Decius. My friend asked, "But couldn't you just say you worshipped the emperor, knowing all the time that you really worshipped God?" Good question... not one I haven't wondered myself. But let me ask this (and I did ask him), if you can say something completely contrary to what you believe, then what does it mean to believe something? I'm not saying it would be easy to put your life on the line - and many didn't - but, I don't think you can say you believe something if you're willing to claim the exact opposite in order to (literally) save skin. It begs the question "what does it really mean to believe in something?"
The other conversation was in a small group setting where we were talking about Epaphroditus. This man "risked his life" in service of the gospel. This led us to talk of the Christians of plague-ridden Carthage who in 252 A.D., when the corpses were piling high in the streets and no one would touch them, buried the bodies, and cared for the sick and the dying. The question was asked, "We've got children and others who depend on us... should we really put them at risk by exposing ourselves to such fatal dangers?" Of course we shouldn't do this unnecessarily. There are many ways of protecting ourselves from communicable diseases. However, Christians throughout history have put themselves in harm's way countless times, all in the name of Jesus Christ. These people followed Christ's example, who "humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death." He practiced what He preached, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." His beloved John testified to this reality and its implications when he wrote, "We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." (1 John 3:16)
So putting it on the line for our faith is part and parcel of the Christian faith. Jesus taught that there are worse things than death. "Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matthew 10:28)
(I've done a poor job of representing some major historical events. For more info on Church history, see Eusebius, or Bruce Shelley's readable Church History in Plain Langauge. For some examples of Christians paying the ultimate price, see the Bible, especially the book of Acts (all but one of Jesus' disciples died as martyrs), and Foxe's Book of Martyrs. Christians are dying daily: see here and here and here.)
Had a couple of conversations recently where the matter of putting it all on the line came up.
First one was with a friend at work, who is curious about Christianity. I was telling him about the times of persecution where Christians chose death before giving public worship to the Roman emperor Decius. My friend asked, "But couldn't you just say you worshipped the emperor, knowing all the time that you really worshipped God?" Good question... not one I haven't wondered myself. But let me ask this (and I did ask him), if you can say something completely contrary to what you believe, then what does it mean to believe something? I'm not saying it would be easy to put your life on the line - and many didn't - but, I don't think you can say you believe something if you're willing to claim the exact opposite in order to (literally) save skin. It begs the question "what does it really mean to believe in something?"
The other conversation was in a small group setting where we were talking about Epaphroditus. This man "risked his life" in service of the gospel. This led us to talk of the Christians of plague-ridden Carthage who in 252 A.D., when the corpses were piling high in the streets and no one would touch them, buried the bodies, and cared for the sick and the dying. The question was asked, "We've got children and others who depend on us... should we really put them at risk by exposing ourselves to such fatal dangers?" Of course we shouldn't do this unnecessarily. There are many ways of protecting ourselves from communicable diseases. However, Christians throughout history have put themselves in harm's way countless times, all in the name of Jesus Christ. These people followed Christ's example, who "humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death." He practiced what He preached, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." His beloved John testified to this reality and its implications when he wrote, "We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." (1 John 3:16)
So putting it on the line for our faith is part and parcel of the Christian faith. Jesus taught that there are worse things than death. "Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matthew 10:28)
(I've done a poor job of representing some major historical events. For more info on Church history, see Eusebius, or Bruce Shelley's readable Church History in Plain Langauge. For some examples of Christians paying the ultimate price, see the Bible, especially the book of Acts (all but one of Jesus' disciples died as martyrs), and Foxe's Book of Martyrs. Christians are dying daily: see here and here and here.)
Comments
These thoughts often go through my mind, especially in regard to my family and what they might face some day.
It is hard to imagine exactly what we would do, but as you and I discussed, we may know that decision more quickly than any of us wants.