|
Not Long Ago
by
Captain Amy Reardon
Not long ago,
I was teaching a junior soldier preparation class. I feel
strongly that children who are believers need to see
themselves as active combatants in the war against sin and
oppression, so I consider it a special honor to try to guide
young hearts and minds. I took the opportunity to open up
discussion about the urgency to share our faith.
In this small class was an extremely bright ten-year-old. She
had thorough answers and thoughtful questions. But when the
topic of evangelism came up, she threw me for a loop. “Of
course,” she said casually, “we only talk about Jesus with
other people who believe in him. We wouldn’t want to offend
people who have different beliefs - like Muslims, or
something.”
At that moment I realized how thoroughly anti-Christian dogma
had penetrated our society. It broke my heart to see such an
astute and sincere little girl operating under the idea that
she didn’t have the right to share the gospel. In truth, she
has more than a right – she has a responsibility.
If one looks around, one will quickly see that this girl’s
misconception is prevalent amongst Christian adults. I can
hardly blame a little girl for it, but I would wish to call to
task mature adult Christians who buckle to politically correct
pressure. There are Army programs that shy away from
proclaiming Christ because they may lose public funding. There
are Army officers who won’t give the gospel to influential
members of the community because they don’t want to lose their
support. What have we become?
I think of Stephen, the first to give his life for the gospel.
I think of Peter and John who, though their safety was at
risk, declared: “for we cannot keep from speaking about what
we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:20) There’s something ironic
in the modern attitude: we all believe that we would give our
lives for Christ if faced with the prospect of martyrdom, yet
we won’t put our corps budget on the line. We won’t put our
programs on the line. We’re like the proverbial frog in the
water. The frog would leap from a pot of boiling water, but if
you put him in tepid water and just gradually turn up the
heat, he’ll sit there until he’s boiled. Sharing the gospel
hasn’t been outlawed. If it were, we’d know what to do. We’d
thumb our noses at the law and obey the higher command (that
of Christ). But here we sit, in the water, as the temperature
is gradually increased. It is less and less acceptable to
share the gospel. We tell ourselves that we don’t want to turn
anyone off by our aggressiveness, so we say nothing. I wonder
how quickly the day will come when Christian worship actually
becomes illegal in North America. If that day arrives, to what
extent will we have been responsible?
In the meantime, I can name at least two neighbors of mine who
would go to hell if they were to die today. I want to deliver
the gospel sensitively. I want to be timely about it. But I
will not be silent. One of these neighbors is Jewish. I will
not stop talking to her about Jesus simply because she doesn’t
already believe he is the Messiah.
I refuse to be afraid. Not just about losing my life - but
about losing money, losing face, losing favor with people.
Offering my body as a living sacrifice is my reasonable
service. And I think that means more than being prepared to
die. It means being prepared to live in the face of adversity.
Let’s live as long as the Lord allows. But let’s live
faithfully. He has left us here to be his spokespersons. Will
we then be silent?
|
