On Martyrdom

"Even though there may be no occasion for persecution, peace has its own martyrdom. For even if we do not actually place our necks beneath the steel, we inwardly slay our carnal desires with the sword of the Spirit."

-Gregory the Great

Martyrdom is both a daily act of all believers, and a final act that many of us will commit as a witness to the power of the Gospel for the glory of God. Martyrdom, which comes from the Greek word for "witness," requires that we daily pick up our cross in order to follow Christ (Luke 9:23, Mark 8:34, Matthew 10:38-39). It requires daily laying our life down before the Lord, choosing to love and serve Him more than we love and serve our own interests. 

Martyrdom is an act of witness. In the book of Acts, Stephen, the first disciple killed for the Gospel, is called a witness to Jesus. Martyrdom is a witness to the world that the love of Christ is greater than the love of one's own life. Maybe many of us will not get the chance to be a witness in death, but how can we be a witness to God's love through our daily lives? If, for you, the love of Christ is greater than the love of your own life, than this will be reflected in how you spend your time, how you interact with other people, and how you put the priorities of Jesus above your own. We are actually laying our own lives down for the sake of Him who is our life (Colossians 3:4). 

Martyrdom is an act of warfare. In Revelation 12:11, it is said that the martyrs have conquered Satan "by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death." And it was Jesus who was the initial conquer, winning the victory by the shedding of His blood. Martyrdom in our daily lives includes the resisting of temptation, putting aside sinful or distracting pleasures, and facing our fears. This is why 1 Peter 4:1 says, "Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin." In this daily fight against sin and Satan, the laying down of our lives before the Lord is our main weapon to fight the powers of evil. It can be pretty counterintuitive, but in this great war against our enemy the Devil, we find victory by surrendering ourselves to the One who has already claimed victory. 

Martyrdom is an act of love. John 15:13 says "Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." Not much more needs to be said than that. 

In Luke's account of the teaching, Jesus says that we must daily pick up our cross and follow after Him. Daily we must be willing to lay down our lives, allowing the Spirit to crucify the sinful nature within us, in order that we may be daily raised to new life in Christ. But please don't attempt to rely fully on the Spirit to do all this for you. It's going to require work on your part. And it's not going to be easy, or pleasant, much like physical martyrdom. But this is the life that Jesus has called us to--daily. What areas of your life do you need to lay down and bring to the cross to be crucified? 

Magnanimity and Pride

Yesterday’s meditation at the Servants of the Word Christmas retreat was on magnanimity. While that’s an interesting word to say, it’s even more of an interesting concept to ponder. The idea is summed up in the phrase “Expecting great things from God; Attempting great things for God.” Magnanimity is defined in the meditation as such: “The virtue that aspires to do great things that bring great glory. It is the virtue that aims at things that are great in and of themselves.”

Magnanimity is not about vain glory seeking, but about seeking glory for the Lord and for His people. “Magnanimity makes a man deem himself worthy of great things in consideration of the gifts he holds from God.” It involves recognition of our high calling, which is a gift from God (1 Cor. 2:12). Inherent in a spirit of magnanimity is an eschewing of mediocrity, as well as an opposition to presumption, ambition, vainglory, and faint-heartedness.

It is the tension between magnanimity for God’s glory and for my own glory that I struggle with. Oftentimes I find myself wrestling with my motives prior to an action, whether I’m doing it for the sake of the glory of the Lord, or if I’m doing it for my own glory, my own recognition and honor and respect from other people. And oftentimes my struggles and back-and-forth in my mind only leads me to inaction—I’ll end up doing nothing.

If I am to truly attempt great things for the Lord, I cannot let these struggles keep me from action. There are things that I want to do, that I’m pretty sure will bring glory to God and benefit His people, but there is a sneaking suspicion that I’m only doing it for my own selfish glory, so I don’t end up doing it. It’s as if a fear of my own pride is paralyzing me. Although I think my intention in guarding against my pride is good, there comes a point where I need to just do something, and let the Lord sort out my motives in my heart later. After all, the glory of the Lord lasts forever, while my pride is passing away as the grass of the field, and my heart is being redeemed day by day, and one Day will be completely made new and holy, praise be to God.

“The glory of God is a human fully alive,” said Iranaeus, the 2^nd century Church father. Truly living, living magnanimously, doing great things for the Lord, requires getting up off our behinds and moving forward without fear. For if Jesus Christ has truly redeemed us, and is redeeming us day by day, then sin, and the fear of sin, is far outweighed by the great things we can do for the Lord.

Are you expecting great things from the Lord? Are you attempting great things for the Lord? What is keeping you from this? 

Living Incarnationally

As we take this season to reflect on this holy day of Christmas, the Incarnation, the inbreaking of deity into reality, I am continually astounded at this miracle. Just the fact that the Lord of the universe, holy and exalted as He is, would choose to limit Himself so much and come into this world, born into humble circumstances, living a life of homelessness, and finally subjected to a shameful, torturous death--it blows my mind. 


And how this miracle impacts our daily living is something that I'm still working on trying to grasp. Because an incarnational worldview is what sets Christianity apart from other religions. For while most religions seek to escape the reality of this world, Christianity is all about a God who dives headlong into the world in order to redeem it. And so do we. We who are redeemed do not seek to escape this world, but rather to invest in it, to live incarnationally, confident that Jesus is bringing about redemption for all of the fallenness of the world. We get to play a role in that. 


For Jesus tells us: "As the Father sent me, so now I send you" (John 20:21). As Jesus was sent into this world to redeem it, so are we. We are to live in such a way that reveals the incarnated Lord to this world. Not escaping reality, but embracing it as our mission field. 


The way you look at life changes dramatically when you start to see everything not as fallen beyond all hope, but fallen and in the process of being redeemed. And there is nothing that is beyond Christ's redemption. The pedophiles, the murderers, the rapists, the tax collectors, the Buckeye fans, no one is too far fallen that Christ cannot redeem him. "There is no pit so deep that God's love is not deeper still" (Corrie Ten Boom). 


So let us live incarnationally, diving into the (often terrible and messy and fallen) realities of this world, knowing that there is a reality greater still that is working to redeem all of this around us. Let us love with hearts of faith that know the truth of God's love working through us. And let us celebrate this Christmas in knowing the power of redemption through Christ's coming into this world. 


A light has burst into the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. And we who are called the light of the world are called to seek out the darkness in order to bring God's illumination. 

Colbert on Christmas Charity

"If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we've got to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that he commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition. And then admit that we just don't wanna do it." 

- Stephen Colbert

Watch the very interesting (and entertaining) video clip here.

Exulting in Monotony

In reading Ephesians chapter 1, I was struck this time by the style of Paul, the author, who writes with such passion and excitement that he often goes off on tangents while proving his points. In the midst of making a point to the people of Ephesus, he starts trailing off, exulting in what the Lord has done through Jesus Christ who has risen from the dead and is now exalted above all. A friend of mine once called this kind of rambling "praise vomit."

In reading this and trying to get a feel for Paul's heart (which is not too difficult, given his writings), I am struck by how excited he gets every single time he begins to talk about the Gospel and our salvation. It doesn't matter how many times he mentions the same thing over and over again. Usually, when we hear or talk about something again and again, it leads to the invention of phrases like ad nauseum. But the Gospel, it doesn't get old to Paul. It doesn't get boring. Because this salvation we have received is the greatest thing that has ever happened in the history of the universe! And blessed are we among all creation, for the Lord has seen us in our helpless state and called us to life, to redemption, to be His own forever and ever! And the love and the grace which He lavishes upon us is beyond our comprehension, but we who have experienced this salvation and have been sealed with the Holy Spirit can do nothing but praise and exult in it, because there is nothing greater that has ever happened to us, or to all the world.

When we are filled with this life and joy, we are free to exult in this beautiful monotony of the Gospel. In his book Orthodoxy, G.K. Chesterton (whom I've been quoting a lot recently, but never enough) says:

"A child kicks its legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, "Do it again"; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough... It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again," to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again," to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike: it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we."

This may be what it means to have a child-like faith. To be filled with such life that the gift we have been given in Jesus Christ never gets old. We continually are amazed and excited about the power of the Gospel, so that once we are done hearing of it, we eagerly shout "Tell me again!"

Be awakened to and rejoice in the salvation you have received in Christ. Exult in the greatness of the story in which you are a main participant. Praise the God who has redeemed us and is making all things new. Refuse the temptation to get tired of hearing about the Gospel and its power in your life and in the life of those around you. Share it with others. Rejoice! I say it again, rejoice! For God has been merciful to you.

Transformed eyes

"...the whole philosophy of St. Francis revolved 'round the idea of a new supernatural light on natural things, which meant the ultimate recovery not the ultimate refusal of natural things."

- G.K. Chesterton, in St. Francis of Assisi

This is the grace of the Holy Spirit, that transforms the very way we perceive the world around us. To live with eyes that are transformed by grace--that will really be something incredible. To see all things as sacred, simply because they are God's creation, will transform the very meaning of pleasure and joy in how we experience them. It would let us see the good creation of God that is waiting to be redeemed.

Having now finished Chesterton's biography of St. Francis, I am inspired by the life of this great saint. Chesterton described him as a Jongleur de Dieu, a Tumbler of God, a court jester of the King who sees life upside down while he's standing on his head. Francis saw the world differently than most people, and that allowed him to have a love and joy for the natural things in life that most people don't. He truly lived his life in the light of Jesus, looking first to God, and then seeing all else around him from that perspective, and then acting out of that love and joy that naturally (supernaturally) came as a result.

If I, if we, lived our lives like this...how different things could be. How much more like Christ we could be. How much more of a powerful witness to the world of radical transformation by the  Holy Spirit we could be.

Lord, transform and sanctify my eyes, so that I might see all around me in light of Your love and grace, to be filled with joy and the pleasure that only comes from You, and in doing so, find greater joy and pleasure in Your creation, taking part in the redemption of the whole world that You are working. Amen.