The Boys Of Enon Road

Jesus says “…whoever loses his life for my sake, will find it.” (Matthew 10:39, NIV.) German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it this way. “When Christ calls a man He bids him come and die.” I say, “We all have to find our own Golgotha.” As Paul says in Romans 6:6-8 (KJV): “For we know that our old self was crucified with him, so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.” Sometimes, though not very often these days, it may actually require our physical death. Do we hold life so precious that we are not willing to give it up for Him? Hebrews tells us about those faithful ones who “were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword.” (Hebrews 11:37, NIV). I think of missionaries around the globe, since the time of Christ, who died for the gospel. Some faced terrible deaths. Bonhoeffer himself was hung in a German concentration camp near the end of World War II. He didn’t have to be there. Earlier he had fled Germany, but on reaching New York felt like Jonah fleeing Ninevah. He returned to Germany where he was eventually arrested and executed. Polycarp, a disciple of John and bishop of the church at Smyrna, chose death in the flame rather than renounce Jesus by saying “Caesar is Lord”. He said "Eighty-six years I have served Christ, and He never did me any wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?" I question myself. Would I have enough faith and courage to face the lions, or the executioner?

The day may come, especially with the rapid spread of Islam that we may have to die in defense of the gospel. It may be that we are called to some not so foreign field, where in service of the King, our lives have to be given up for him. Are we willing to go that far? Are we willing to go to places of danger close to home when we know the extreme consequences to further His kingdom? Are we willing to give up hearth and home, wife, daughter, son, mother, father, and yes even beloved dog to die for him? Jesus said that if we love any of these more than him that we are not worthy of him. If we love our own life more than him, then we are not worthy of him.

There are many dangerous places in this world, right here in our nation, where people need Jesus. Gang members that would shoot first and ask questions later need Jesus. Young black men who are so rapidly filling our prisons need to hear about Jesus before they get into trouble. The illegal aliens that are flooding our nation need the truth about Jesus. The homeless need to hear about Jesus. Dark people on the dark streets need Jesus. The “Poor white trash” need Jesus. God’s cry to Isaiah is the same cry to us. “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” (Isaiah 6:8, NIV). There will be fear. Pain and suffering are promised. Death is likely. I pray that when and if the call comes, that somehow I will be able to say “Here am I. Send me!” Do any of us dare pray that God call us to that?