Zach’s Theological Musings

  There is an idea out there in the modern evangelical church that goes like this, “If somebody comes and points a gun to my head and tells me to renounce Christ then I should affirm my faith in Him, but I’m not going to go out and do something stupid (or foolish) to get myself persecuted.”

  As it stands, I fully agree with that statement. Yes, you must confess Christ even if God’s enemies point a gun to your head. And no, you shouldn’t go out and do something stupid to get yourself persecuted.

  But my stern warning on this point is that we must be very careful what sort of acts we label as “stupid” or “foolish”. The reason is that Christian love, viewed through worldly eyes, often looks stupid and foolish. With reverence, I dare to say that in worldly language, Philippians 2:3-8 is the ultimate description of stupidity. The Son of God, emptying Himself, letting go of His RIGHTS as God, becoming a bond-servant!? Foolish! Allowing Himself, He who had all authority to command a legion of angels to save Him or to call down fire from heaven, surrendering Himself to death, even death on a cross!? Stupid! And He calls me to think of others’ interest as more important than my own? What kind of fool does He think I am?

  But the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. And what the world regards as foolishness (the cross of Christ) is wisdom to God (1 Cor 1).

  Pagan American culture still honors our soldiers for putting themselves in harm’s way for the common good. But Christian American culture often encourages our men to be pansies. We act as if it is commendable for service men, firefighters, and police men to take risks in fighting physical battles, but pastors and Christian leaders should “play it safe” in the face of even more intense spiritual battles! What? The spiritual leaders of the early church were men who had done jail time, received death threats, had their property plundered, or had already received the martyr’s crown for righteousness sake. Where are such leaders today?

  The problem with the idea quoted at the beginning of this post is that it can easily promote an attitude of the most extreme form of selfishness. That is, it acknowledges that renouncing Christ when a gun is pointed at my head risks me becoming an apostate. I don’t want to stand before God’s judgment as an apostate, so I know I should confess Christ. But if someone else is suffering, I dare not do something “foolish” to protect them. Sadly, such an attitude is already apostasy, because if we have no love for our brother we proven that we have no love for God (1 John 4:20-21).

  The enemy is already shooting his “flaming missles” (Eph 6:16, NASB). Make no mistake, when we “play it safe” to avoid trouble that doesn’t mean that no one gets hurt, it just means that someone else gets hurt. There is not a choice between a world full of bullets or a world without bullets. Like it or not, the bullets have already been shot and are headed straight at their intended targets. The only question is, will you step in front of other people’s bullets, or will you step aside and watch the bloodshed?