That's what I wanted to write about and reflect upon; to encourage and inspire my fellow believers with what I have seen in action, because it is more real than we comprehend when we only see it in the news. I lived in Egypt for a significant period of time. It was my privilege to sit in their churches, share in their communion, walk their streets, live their life, call it mine, and be called "Egyptian" by my brothers and sisters. For so many reasons, I want to brag on the reality of the faith of the Christians there. We could learn much from their example and have our perspective greatly improved by it. It is very different from anything you may have ever seen.
But it will have to wait. Right now, I am overcome with too many other thoughts. So here they are, just thinking out loud, raw and open.
I am full of heartache.
Twenty-one Egyptians went to Libya simply to make a living. Twenty-one seemingly common men. Kidnapped by Jihadists, slaughtered to send a message to the rest of the Egyptian Coptic Church ("the nation of the cross") and the world.
I am full of heartache because these were sons, husbands, fathers... their heads severed on video; the water and the shore turned red with their blood. They will never in this life see their families again. They left young wives, children, and parents who will have to do life now without them. It's heart-rending. Grief unspeakable.
I am overflowing with joy and with love.
I am overflowing because the testimony left by the parents and wives of these men is bullet-proof. The forgiveness they have shown toward the killers of their loved ones... the sheer joy they have exuded over the knowledge that Heaven is their new home... even the pride about the fact that all these men from their village were strong until the end and died for Jesus... It makes no sense because it is Christlike. It is other-worldly. It is Heavenly.
"And they overcame him [Satan] because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives even when faced with death." (Rev 12:11)"These [men] insisted to remain in unbelief," read the caption on the video. Every one of these men had the chance to convert rather than die, and every one of them chose to die rather than dishonor their Savior. Even with knives at their throats, they called out to the Lord Jesus who they knew they would be meeting soon.
I am overflowing. There is hardly anything so sweet as pure faith in Jesus. "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." (Psalm 115:16)
I am angry.
I am angry because while twenty-one precious believers were forced to the sand, their heads sawed off brutally with knives, all America could talk about was Fifty Shades of Grey. Fifty Shades. Of freaking. Grey. A movie that glorifies and celebrates violence, abuse, and rape. A movie whose leading actors admit to hating themselves for even acting it out. I want to tear my hair out by the roots. My heart is sick. So is my stomach. Because all the body of Christ can do is argue about how the the worst thing you could possibly do is to be "judgy" about the movie. All Christians can do is point the finger back at their brothers and sisters and say, "We have enough of our own problems! How dare you get angry about this movie." And that's just the Christians who aren't going to see the movie themselves.
Let me tell you something, American Christians. Egyptian Christians would be shocked out of their minds to know that this movie does not anger you. To know that too many of you would even consider seeing it. In my mind's eye I can vividly see the faces of my close friends there... the blood draining from their mortified faces. Confused. Unable to believe that anyone claiming to follow Jesus could in any way justify not being outraged over such things. They would be embarrassed even to talk about it.
I am angry because of the continual, unbelievable lies spewed and spread by our government. The statement issued by the White House did not acknowledge that the victims were Christians. The White House will not even use the term "radical Islam" because including Islam at all "would not be accurate." Apparently, we may call it "terrorism," but it is terrorism that the leader of the free world says is "randomly" perpetrated. People in that part of the world think he's a joke-- that he's either extremely ignorant, or a total liar.
Don't you dare tell us that this has nothing to do with religion when these Jihadists state, with every beheading, that they kill for the sake of Allah. And don't you dare try to cover up the fact that this is persecution in its most obvious form. The video was addressed to Egyptian Copts. It was titled, "A Message Signed With Blood To The Nation of The Cross." But, according to our government, it has nothing to do with targeting Christians.
This is absolutely nothing new. But it is still disgusting. The Church is called to endure persecution. The government is called to end injustice. God will hold every man accountable.
I am angry and concerned not only about the carnality and the easily-excused sin issues in our Western churches, but also about the sheer banality with which we seem to be so contented. We spend morbid amounts of time on entertainment, alarming amounts of money on stuff we don't truly need, and a mortifying amount of energy making ourselves more happy and comfortable. I'm angry about the status quo with which we are so comfortable. How very wrapped up we are in mind-numbingly pointless discussions... activities... movies... humor... pastimes... celebrities... gossip... things that in the end of all things and in eternity simply. don't. matter.
It angers me that we throw around the term, "persecuted," and don't really understand it; that we all pay attention to the "big" incidents like this-- "wake-up calls," we call them-- but in between times, we forget all about the fact that our brothers and sisters are suffering around the world on a daily basis. This is not some grand wake-up call, Christians. Things like this, and far worse, have been happening ever since Lucifer pitted himself against God. All throughout human history. We may not be living through them in this particular country at this particular time, but we are utterly surrounded by such things.
Here's a question for us to ponder: "What if it was me?" What if it was my husband who was slaughtered on the southern shore of the Mediterranean? What if my little boy's life was threatened before my eyes in an attempt to get me to deny my Savior? I feel like we always read these stories about persecution and react with, "That's so sad!" And we follow it up with, "I could never..." or, "I know I'd never have the courage..." Why do we react like that? Here's another question, if you find yourself thinking that way: "What in my life needs to change?" Why am I not at that place where I love Jesus so much and know Him so well that I would be certain of Heaven with a knife at my throat? Why is my heart not so full of His forgiveness that I could extend that forgiveness to another?
It angers and saddens me that if the the time we spent with our fellow believers was truly "fellowship," few would actually enjoy it. That if, when having other Christians over for dinner, we spent most of the evening in prayer, singing, worship, or actual edification, it would come off as weird. Awkward. Definitely unconventional. Not a time of great joy and happiness and praising God-- the one thing that we would claim brings us together. I promise you that the reason Jesus was on the lips of these twenty-one saints as their throats were slit is because they knew Him. They loved Him; they lived for Him. He was and is their Life. He was real to them both in their quiet times and when gathered with their friends. I miss that about the church in Egypt; miss living with my Christian friends and Jesus being so central. I miss it with every beat of my heart.
I am full to the brim with hope.
I am hopeful, not in the way we commonly think of "hoping" as if it were a wish... not as when we say that "hopefully" something will happen. I'm hopeful in the way that the epistles describe "our hope"-- certainty. Complete and utter certainty about what is to come.
I am hopeful when I read the Book of Revelation. I absolutely love that book. I could read it every day and derive endless bounds of joy and hope and purpose because it gives us the big-picture perspective of the eternal. We KNOW, people. Unlike anyone who does not have our hope, we know what happens in the end! Nothing should be a surprise to us in the meantime. Things gets confusing and shocking when we start looking through our tiny, everyday-perspective lens too much. There is nothing that is not going according to the overall, eternal plan. God is not confused or shocked.
I am hopeful because torture and physical death cannot kill the soul. It cannot kill love. It cannot kill faith. It cannot kill the resolve of Jesus followers-- it never has, and it never will. Death, and all of Satan's armies, cannot kill the absolute certainty of God's cosmic plan for the ages and the fact that it will be accomplished. It is irrevocably written into the story of the ages that Satan will be destroyed in the most majestic and epic war story of all time. For now there is suffering, but never forget this: Satan and all the enemies of God are going down in an event that will be so much more than apocalyptic.
I am hopeful because even as Christians are killed, even as the Gospel is perverted, even as false teachers rise up and deceive millions, even though many who think they are Christians are not and successfully lead others astray... even as Satan is given reign over this world for a time, God is not mocked. The Gospel is still going out, and people are still being saved. His people are still His and He knows who they are.
Amid the tears, agony, injustice, and grief, there is joy, redemption, beauty, and a whole lot of hope. There is still much to be done before Jesus' return, and it is only God's mercy and patience that allow more time for anyone who will believe to believe in Him and become a child of His.
Christians, we are all given different gifts and roles in life, but we all share the same purpose. Let us stay connected closely to our Life source, fight the good fight, finish the race, and keep the faith. Let us live every day to hear the sweetest words we could ever hear from our Father: "Well done, good and faithful servant."
"The fields are white unto harvest."
"Even so, come, Lord Jesus!"
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