Extreme devotion 09/02/08

“Chant this song [a Muslim creed], or you will die,” cried the Northern Sudanese soldier. The captive Christian could see the hate in his eyes and wondered how many lives he had taken. The soldier pressed a large knife to the Christian’s throat.

Logic told him, “Sing! God knows you are under coercion. Why give up your life for not saying a few words you don’t believe anyway?”
On the other hand, he knew the Bible taught that a person’s words have power. He recalled that one’s confession of Christ is powerful. “Would a blasphemous confession be powerful, too?” he wondered. “Even if I didn’t mean it?” The questions seemed to battle against each other in his mind. His logic fought against his love for Christ.
Christians in Sudan often face such choices, and they have seen many of their friends and family members killed for believing in Christ. The martyrs chose not to chant a Muslim creed, not wanting to pollute their spirits with blasphemous songs and risk breaking God’s heart.
Their defense against the logical arguments is that the Christ living within them could not sing such a song: Therefore, they had to face the consequences. This same Christ living in them who would not chant along also did not fear a death threat. These believers considered themselves already dead in Christ—the Christ in them could not really be harmed.


Each day we tune in to the cross-talk between logic and faith. Logic tells us to go along. Faith tells us to go against the grain of popularity. When we listen to logic, we may put our own convictions aside in order to do another person’s bidding. How often do we sing another’s song to avoid confrontation? It may be a job that requires deceptive practices. Logic tells you to keep your mouth shut to keep your job. If you sense that you may have listened a bit too long to the voice of reason, ask God to help you tune in to him instead. Ask him for the faith you need to wisely speak the right thing at the wrong logical moment.