Width, or Depth?

It had not been my intention to send out another post for January. However, an e-mail from Jeff King,  President of International Christian Concern, that arrived a little earlier, caused me to change my mind!

In the letter he writes: "I met with a group of pastors in China who had been imprisoned for a decade or longer during the peak of the Cultural Revolution. We sat together in a private room at the back of a restaurant, and I spent the following hours absorbing their thoughts. 

I was struck and convicted by what they said. They told me that “the Church would be a mile wide and an inch deep” without persecution. Their main concern wasn’t that the Church would experience more persecution: it was that the church would lack depth without it. 

Today, there are millions of believers in China. There is a connection between faith and suffering, between pain and growth. There is a lesson in there for you and me: to hold on tight to God through the storms of this life." 

It was that comment that, without persecution, "the Church would be a mile wide and an inch deep" that caught my eye. It was not a new thought to me. Indeed, about 35 years ago, my wife and I hosted a Nigerian church leader for a week. Thomas was what might be described as "larger than life"! He was in Scotland to attend a Christian International Conference, for which I had been the organiser, and we had many interesting conversations. In one of them, I commented that the southern part of his home country was a Christian area. His comment was to the effect that it might be considered to be such, but that, having no problems, it had no depth! Certainly, the early church knew the effect of persecution. It is the early Church Father, Tertullian, who is usually regarded as having made the statement that: "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church." - meaning that as people saw disciples of Jesus die for their faith, they realised that this faith must be very important, and decided to follow it, and the Saviour Whom it proclaimed.

However, as I read those words in Jeff King's letter, I found myself thinking, not as much about the persecuted church (which, of course, is something in which I have had a deep interest for some fifty years. Indeed, all royalties from the sale of my books - see the head of the blog - go directly to Release International, the first organisation that I discovered that supports persecuted disciples of Jesus. Please consider purchasing one, or more - and telling others about them!) as about my own Christian walk!

It is so easy to become involved in many different aspects of Christian service. There is no shortage of opportunities and, it often seems, so few willing to take them! Yet is "busy-ness" the sign of great faith? Or is it just a means of ensuring that we don't have to delve too deeply into the written Word of God; or spend too much time in prayer? Is it the case, for some of us, that we have "width", but no "depth"?

It's interesting, is it not, that while the Lord Jesus was constantly helping others, and teaching His disciples, and all who would listen to His words, He also took time to be with the Father, and in prayer. If He, the very Son of God, needed that depth in His earthly life, how much more do I?

I am not one for "New year resolutions" (and the end of January is probably a bit late, in any case!), but may each of us endeavour, in the coming eleven months, to deepen our Christian lives. And, if you are not yet a disciple of the Lord Jesus, perhaps this is the time for you to give serious consideration to what God, in the Lord Jesus, has done for you - and to respond with the love, and obedience, of your own heart. It will be for your eternal good, and His eternal glory.

Growing through adversity!

A number of my friends on the social network, Facebook, post many beautiful pictures and video-clips of nature in all of its beauty. However, that same nature wonderfully testifies that adverse conditions are often valuable in the development of some types of trees and other plants.  While fire is one of the greatest enemies of a forest - ask people living in California, and certain parts of Australia, for example - it actually helps certain kinds of seeds to grow. I am reliably informed that the cones of some pine trees do not open until they are touched by the flames.

This can also be true for the disciple of Jesus, whose faith and character are often strengthened by life's trials. Some of the strongest believers of whom I know are in what we refer to as "the persecuted church"; and it was the early church father, Tertullian who, in his book "Apologetics", claimed that "The blood of the martyrs is the seedbed of the church".  Certainly, persecution quickly rids the church of nominality. No-one who does not have a true saving faith in the Lord Jesus is going to admit to being "a Christian" if his/her physical life is at stake. Alternatively, the true disciple looks "... forward to the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God." (Heb 11:10). 

The story is told of a distinguished botanist who was exiled from his native land, but who obtained work as a gardener. On one occasion, in the middle of winter, his employer received a valuable plant but was unfamiliar with its nature and needs. He placed it in the hothouse where, under the glare of the sun, it began to wilt. As it appeared to be dying, the new gardener was instructed to examine it. Quickly identifying its origin, he explained to his employer: "This is an arctic plant, which cannot possibly thrive in this tropical heat."  He then took the plant outside and exposed it to the frost, whilst heaping ice around the pot.  Before long, the plant regained its health, and flourished.

Christian character is developed in many ways. Some believers, when they are placed in the comfortable and sheltered atmosphere of earthly warmth, pleasure, and luxury, begin to lose their spiritual vitality. On the other hand, if they are faced with the icy winds of life, and chilling temptations, they soon revive and renew their strength.  Others find, in the heat of trials, the pressures need to awaken them to a true sense of values. Paul wrote: "... we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us." (Rom 5:3-5). 

It all depends on the root system.  Whether it be a plant, or a believer, it is the life that is in the roots that makes the difference.  So Paul prayed for his brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, in Ephesus: "... that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fulness of God." (Eph 3:17-19; emphasis added); while his exhortation to the Colossians was: "As therefore you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so live in him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving." (Col 2:6-7; emphasis added). 

So, if you are a disciple of Jesus reading this, don't shrink from the hardships and difficulties of life. By the grace of God, you may gain spiritual stature, even through adversity - and all to the glory of His Name. 

Nigerian Christians killed in Boko Haram attacks.

No fewer than fifty countries are on the World Watch List of places in which disciples of Jesus are subject to persecution.  These range from North Korea, which has the dubious distinction of having been at the No.1 spot every year since the List was first published, twelve years ago, to Niger which, this year, is at No.50.

In thirty-six of those top fifty countries, Islamic extremism is the main driving force behind the persecution.  The most violent region is probably Africa's Sahel belt, which runs from Senegal in the west to Sudan in the east.  In that region, some 20% of the world's Christians meet some 14% of the world's Muslims.

Of course, one of the reasons for this persecution is the growth of the Church, and persecution actually remains one of the greatest evangelistic opportunities!  The famous observation of Tertullian that, "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church," has a depth of insight which is all too often lost on Western believers today.

As an individual, I am unable to pray on a daily basis for each of those fifty nations.  However, I concentrate on a much smaller number (a tithe, for those who may be interested!), and pray for others when they are mentioned in the various prayer diaries of which I make use.  One of my 'regulars' is Nigeria where the main (but not only!) extremist group is popularly known as Boko Haram - which translates as "Western education is forbidden"

Both Voice of the Martyrs (VOM), and the BBC, report that at least 22 Christians were killed by members of Boko Haram on Sunday, Jan. 26th, when the Islamists attacked a church in Waga Chakawa village, located in Adamawa state. Another 25 from the village were killed while fleeing their homes, which the attackers had set on fire. The Islamic militants locked Christians inside the church, set off bombs and shot people or cut their throats as they tried to escape through windows. They held residents hostage and burned the church and houses throughout the village during the four-hour attack. Later that day, Boko Haram killed at least 52 more people who were shopping at a market in Kawuri village in Borno state. VOM contacts in Nigeria said as many as 200 Christians have been killed by Boko Haram since the Jan. 26th attacks.

If you are a praying person, please join with me in praying for peace for the bereaved; healing for the injured; and an end to such mindless, and wanton violence in Nigeria, and so many other countries.  You may wish to access some of the organisations that support the persecuted Church by using the links further down the page.