originally published 8/18/19
“I consider my life worth nothing to me …” (Acts 20:24)
While driving today I was listening to NPR tell about the memorial service in El Paso for the shooting victims from the August 3rd mass shooting at a Wal-Mart there. 22 people lost their lives that day, and 27 people were injured. A few hours later the same thing happened in Dayton, Ohio. There has also been a shoot out in Philadelphia this week. These are more horrific events in a seemingly unending series of horrific events. I’m sick of these events as I’m sure you are, too.
We as Christians, (we followers of Jesus), have an opportunity in this season of our nation’s history to speak prophetically to a society that is in desperate times. But if we are going to fulfill that task, we must be sure we are speaking the actual values of Jesus rather than our own values. So let us consider some of His words and values as we think about how to process and discuss these horrific events. Paul’s words in Acts 20:24 come to mind. In this passage, Paul reflects Jesus’ own view of His earthly life. “..I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.”
Paul understood the danger that was facing him on his journey toward Jerusalem, but fear of that danger didn’t sway Paul. If we are going to testify to the good news of God’s grace in our land, then fear of losing our lives must stop being a controlling factor because it can inhibit us from faithfully following Jesus’ way. We must value the purposes of Jesus more than our own lives. If we are going to show this nation the better way of Jesus, then we must not be afraid of dying. It’s that simple. If we are afraid of dying, then we may very well pick up some unChrist-like schemes in order to save our lives.
Jesus is pretty blunt about this in Matthew 10:28. In talking to His disciples about going out on mission, He told them, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” There it is, plainly and clearly from the lips of Jesus, we are not to be afraid of what people can do to our bodies. This value, this faith-filled perspective, MUST be behind any and every response we as Christians come up with for these desperate times.
Jesus shows that the greatest love we humans can show is through sacrifice. In John 15:13 He says, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Jesus says that the greatest love we can show is to die for someone. This would seem to speak to an appropriate response in times of danger. Speaking of love, we can’t forget that Jesus called us to love our enemies.
Let me risk mentioning one more value of Jesus that I believe is applicable to these days. One time, Peter picked up a sword to defend his Lord, but after one use, Jesus told him to put it back in its place “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword” (Matthew 26:52). After a lifetime of reflecting on that moment, hear Peter’s words about how to respond to abuse.
“To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps, he committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:21-23). These truly are disturbing, desperate times we live in, but we are still called to follow Jesus faithfully. Whatever you come to think about these days our nation is facing, would you please prayerfully consider if these Jesus-given values find any application for this particular time in our nation’s history.