As I survey the state of Christianity, particularly in the Western context, I can’t help but ask, “What are we doing?” I read accounts of believers like Pastor Abhaya in Bhutan who may have to move to another country because the government won’t recognize his marriage to his wife because he is a Christian. This means his children are denied citizenship, which will prevent them from attending school or ever having a meaningful job.
Because Abhaya follows Jesus, the authorities deny him not only his rights but also the rights of his entire family. Then I peruse social media in America and see the ridiculous squabbles Christians are having over the most trivial of things and again must ask, “What are we doing?” As we feign offense and lash out at those who disagree with minor doctrinal differences, we don’t have a clue what it means to take up our cross and follow Jesus.
Do you think Akua Kwame in Chad, who lived through Fulani tribesman firing guns and shooting arrows through the windows of his church, cares whether John Calvin or Jacobus Arminius has the more correct theology? As he was identifying the bodies of twelve brothers and sisters in Christ, including a 2-year-old child, do you suppose the most important thing on his mind was whether they had held a pre- or post-tribulation view about the end times? I guarantee you he wasn’t thinking about which political party’s platform was more consistent with the Word of God. No, because in the aftermath, Akua says God is using the experience to help him let go of the vengeance in his heart. Akua understands following Jesus is serious business with serious consequences.
While we boast about the size of the church we attend or all the wonderful programs they have for our children, there is a pastor serving in the Arabian Peninsula who is concerned about the safety of his small flock after a radical Muslim spy infiltrated their house church. What will the ramifications be for these secret believers and their families? They may be beaten, tortured, and even killed because they refuse to deny their faith in Christ. And what are we doing? Debating whether it’s worth upholding the Word of God when it might make us unpopular with the world. God helps us.
Brother and sister in Christ, if you are engaging in these worthless battles online or in your social groups, I urge you to repent and stop immediately. Jesus prayed for our unity, that we may be as close to each other as He is with the Father (John 17:20-23). The Lord did not sacrifice His life so you could win an argument or have the most respected opinion. We have become like the Pharisees, straining out gnats and avoiding the weightier matters of the Gospel (Matthew 23:23-24).
Living in a free society, we have been lulled to sleep and become fat and lazy in our faith. To take up your cross involves more than wading into the morass of social media and doing battle. To take up your cross means you are willing to die for the sake of the Gospel, to lay down your life so that one person might hear about the salvation available through Jesus alone. If we aren’t willing to surrender all, including our intellectual and theological superiority, no matter the cost, then what are we doing? We’re fooling ourselves by pretending we have a clue what it means to follow Jesus. More tragic than that, we’re fooling ourselves thinking Jesus will welcome us into His Kingdom (Matthew 7:22-23; Matthew 25:31-46). Lay down your arguments and pride, pick up your cross, and follow Him (Matthew 16:24-25).