On Thursday night, I attended the Fearless. Cultivating Courage event in
Brisbane with Fiona and the children. We found it inspiring. It was
encouraging to rub shoulders with hundreds of Christians who want to
stand and be counted at this time.
Lyle
Shelton, managing director of the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL),
opened the evening by speaking about some of the challenges Christians are facing at this time, most notably the fight to preserve the
sanctity of marriage. His gentle warning, about the demonising of
Christians in the media and planned protests at upcoming ACL
events, brought to mind Martin Luther King Jr.’s warning to civil
rights marchers in 1968 of “difficult days ahead.”
The keynote
speaker, Eric Metaxas, came with hearty recommendations from the ACL
and his address did not disappoint. Metaxas was as articulate, as he was
impassioned. This is a man who cares about the oppressed and
understands the responsibility of the church to be a prophetic voice
to governments and culture. His wife, Susanne, directs a crisis pregnancy center in New York. A Yale University graduate and New York
Times bestselling author, Metaxas has a robust and succinct
intellectual approach to the big questions. And having experienced a
life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ in the summer of 1988, he
is also a deeply spiritual man. One of his recent books, Miracles,
offers compelling and inspiring evidence for the world of the
miraculous.
Metaxas'
address had me on the edge of my seat. With passion and clear logic,
Metaxas has the ability to renew Christians' confidence in their beliefs and worldview. Sound reason and scientific consistency are on
our side. Most importantly, the truth is on our side. And the truth
always wins. It just takes time, and a whole lot of courage.
Metaxas
spoke a lot about courage and standing up for truth. He also spoke a
lot about laying down one’s life. Faith without works is dead he
reminded us, quoting from the second chapter of James. For most
Western Christians, our struggle against sin has not really been unto
bloodshed, but the times are changing and there are difficult days
ahead. I felt faith rising as Metaxas reminded us that the sting of
death has been removed for the Christian. Christ has already overcome
death and we are therefore assured of victory as we follow in His
steps.
Metaxas has
written several profoundly relevant books for Christians living in 2016. They include: Seven Men: And the Secret of their Greatness
(2015); Seven Women: And the Secret of their
Greatness (2015); and a powerful biography, Bonhoeffer: Pastor,
Martyr, Prophet, Spy (2011).
Metaxas took the
opportunity to share insights from the momentous life of Dietrich
Bonhoeffer. This was a man who stood up against no less than the
might of the Nazi regime. As a Christian pastor, he walked a lonely
road of resistance against Hitler and his evil regime, while the church
in Germany slumbered. “The call of God is a burden,” observes
Metaxas. This has been his own experience and it is borne out time
and again in the Scriptures and throughout history. For Bonhoeffer,
the time came when even the Lutheran Church disowned him. Just weeks
before Hitler’s defeat and the end of World War II, Bonhoeffer
would pay the ultimate price. After spending two years in prison, the
39 year-old pastor was sent to the gallows where he departed his
earthly tent and stepped into glory to receive his crown.
“When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.”
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1937). The Cost of Discipleship.
In his 1968
'Mountaintop' speech, Martin Luther King, Jr.
spoke about “difficult days ahead” for the non-violent, civil
rights movement he was leading. He spoke about a promised land and the certainty he had that African Americans would eventually arrive there as a people. In the same speech, he shared that he did not fear
man and that he did not fear death – his only desire was “to do
God's will.” Like anyone, he wanted to live a long life but he was
prepared to lay that desire down. Luther King, Jr.'s words proved
prophetic and the Mountaintop speech would be his last public address. The following evening he was
gunned down and killed as he stepped onto the balcony of his Memphis motel. He too was 39 years old.
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| Click to watch a short portion of the 'Mountaintop' speech |
“When I took up the cross, I recognised its meaning... The cross is something that you bear, and ultimately that you die on.”- Martin Luther King, Jr. (22 May, 1967). Penn Community Center, Frogmore, South Carolina
“For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it.”- Jesus, the Christ. Matthew 16:25
Love for our
Lord Jesus Christ and for His kingdom and for the hurting and
oppressed of this world demands that we, as the church, do not remain
silent. We must speak and be counted among the remnant who will not
bow the knee to evil, God-dishonouring laws. Our reputations and
earthly gains – perhaps even our lives – will be required of us.
However, this should come as no surprise. What do we have that we
have not been given? Our influence and prosperity and privileged
position as Western Christians must be offered back to our Lord in
selfless sacrifice. The words of Mordecai to Esther, during their time of testing, are a prophetic message to the church today:
Do not imagine that you in the king's palace can escape any more than all the Jews. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father's house will perish. And who knows but that you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this. Est 4:13-14
To visit
Eric Metaxas' website and to listen to his radio program, go to:
To listen to
my recent 3-part message on holy resistance, click on the following links:
