On Burning

I am doing some studying of early church history. I found some MP3s on iTunes that are actual classroom lectures from a seminary class on early church history- neat. Simultaneously, I am reading Foxe's Book of Martyrs. I am so inspired as I learn of the dedication of these early Christians. They would not recant their faith even in the face of imprisonment, confiscation of property, the burning of their churches, torture, and the most cruel forms of death you could imagine. It is shocking to learn how people were tortured and killed for their faith in Jesus Christ through mob violence and eventually through the policy of the government. As sad as these events were they serve as an inspiration to many today. They inspire us to fully surrender to the Lord and sacrifice ourselves in his service.

In America, due to the grace of God, there is not persecution of Christians. And yet that same radical spirit of the early church lives on in many. Personally, I want to be the kind of follower of Jesus Christ who would lay his down life for the Gospel. Fortunately for me and my family that time will probably never come.

And yet, I am called to lay my life down in other ways. Jesus calls this "taking up your cross daily". Its a kind of gradual, and sometimes painful, death to our old way of living and thinking.

When someone close to me hurts me and my instinct is to tell someone about it to "vent" it may make me feel better but it is gossip and slander. For me to forgive and move on is a form of death and at times the temptation, born out of a legitimate human need to deal with pain someone has caused, can almost make me burn inside as I hold back from gossipping. I have, at times, had something uncomplementary to tell about someone and I even had legitimate reasons for sharing the information- but it was wrong. And yet, to hold back the information went so against my grain that it was killing me to not share it. It takes a lot of work to figure out how to deal with personal pain, deal with the information we come across in life, and deal with people conflict - without sinning.

The same thing holds true for lust. For years now I have tried to keep my eyes pure. As Job in the Bible said, "I have made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl." So, when a young woman is jogging toward my vehicle on my way to work it can be tempting to look. At times I have had to physically turn my head away instead of looking. Sometimes you get enough of a distance visual that to turn away can almost make your mind burn. This is a form of death too. But the Lord can, and desires to, help us with these challenges.

Sometimes at work when a situation with a new policy, a boss, or an employee is not ideal you want to react with impatience, worry, or anger. To choose to have a forgiving, patient, trusting, and helpful attitude in the middle of some trials requires setting aside our feelings and acting on our faith in the Lord. It can seem impossible at times to react in a kind and patient way but the Lord can help us if we have the willingness in our hearts and if we will ask for his grace and wisdom.

So, we don't have to be martyrs to sacrifice for the Lord. Anytime we choose to depend on the Lord, serve him, and not take the easy way out we are indeed becoming a "living sacrifice" as we turn away from the old ways of living and as we stop "conforming to the pattern of this world." (both quotes from Romans 12)

To choose to do the right thing may not satisfy the psychological need we have to: vent, get even, set that person straight, show that person they are wrong, get back at someone in a subtle way for what they did, or look at that attractive person. Its interesting that in our natural minds and our natural bodies we may almost feel a sense of burning internally as we resist doing the wrong thing and instead choose to trust in the Lord. However, there is no sweeter victory than taking each of these large and small concerns, needs, and temptations to the Lord in mini-prayers of faith throughout the day and seeing him rescue us. As we learn to understand that the burning of need and temptation is temporary and that we can trust the Lord in all circumstances we will gradually see ourselves changed and transformed by this burning. The painful sensation of burning alive that we feel as we resist sin and choose to conform our thoughts to the Holy Spirit is something the Lord can give us grace to handle and as we involve him at this level we will find that he changes us.

As we begin to take a stand we will face the resistance of the enemy. As we seek the Lord we will face resistance as well but these testings, attacks, and trials will not last long. For "a little while" is the wording the Bible uses and after a little while the Lord, "will himself restore us and make us strong, firm, and steadfast." Trials don't last very long, the Lord is compassionate.