I spoke with a good friend recently, and as we are both Christians, our conversation will invariably include thoughts about our faith. In fact, with everything happening in the country and globally today, bringing God into every conversation is a sure bet. On this occasion, my friend brought up a reel posted on social media spotlighting religious freedoms being systematically taken away in countries around the world, which led to the subject of Christian persecution and, finally, the ultimate question… “Would you ever have a reason to denounce your faith in Jesus Christ?”
Growing up, I would have never thought conversations like this would ever be a reality, but the sad truth is that the world has turned upside down. Whereas faith in Christ was once a privilege to share, the world has now decided you should not share your faith openly. It has all become so private and worrisome because sharing faith means you have to deal with the word “sin,” and that seems to be a trigger point for too many people. Let’s not even broach the subject of responsibility and accountability! The burden imposed today is that you must only think about your faith but don’t even think about sharing it!
Closing off public discussion of Christ is the surest way to demoralize people and, in my opinion, is equivalent to requiring a person to actually choose between life and death. In this country, unlike others, we just haven’t started putting people on the firing line yet.
Life was the gift God gave Adam when He created him and gave him lordship over all the earth. Within that life, eating the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was God’s only counsel with a warning, revealing that doing so would bring death. Lucifer’s perverted enticement was to plant the idea that man didn’t need God, insinuating that all would be better if we could see our rightful place in the grand scheme of things. The temptation was nothing more than Adam giving in to the terrible suggestion of assuming God’s place. From there, it was all too easy to bend the human race from its intended original glory. Since then, evil has lived deep in the hearts of men who would now forcibly require you to make the same choice of life or death in just plain daily living without God.
Silencing our voices removes the ability to edify one another. It squelches the knowledge that we have been given the gift of our lives to fathom what it means to be made in God’s image. Though we long to know we are loved, suppressing our faith in Christ ultimately pushes truth into the shadows. That purports a barren life begging for something to fill the empty expanse within us.
Even worse, our trust in God takes a back seat to the dreaded fear of what we cannot control in life. Have you ever noticed the panic that ensues the moment we feel a loss of control? The ability to think and make good decisions seems predicated on whether we can control life or whether life controls us. Or, another way to put it, fear is mental surrendering to death.
Only when we understand that we have never been in control do we finally see the consequence of the choice made in the Garden of Eden. Lucifer manipulated man’s viewpoint when he speculated that human beings might have the same level of control as God or even above that level if they simply made the logical choice. Our choice should always be life, which can seem contradictory when the threat of physical death may be the consequence. But what life are we referring to, flesh or spirit? We have a physical body that can be destroyed, but that is not the sum of all we are. Considering the fall, it appears even Adam and Eve may not have truly understood that, or if they did, they ignored that important fact. But what if that was God’s point from the start? What if we trusted it was never just a roll of the heavenly dice?
Is it so hard to imagine God knew that with the gift of free will, humanity would choose against Him? God’s greater purpose is revealed in the simple giving of choice, yet we continually misunderstand His intention. Why? Perhaps because He knew it sometimes requires the loss of a great thing before we can truly understand and cherish its value.
In His infinite and loving wisdom, God conceived a plan to reveal what true life is and, within that life, the relationship He always had in store for us. To that end, while we are here on this earth, God leaves no stone unturned to reveal that life in Him IS ultimate life eternal. Eyes and ears open to this truth allow us to live a life that, in turn, helps reveal that amazing truth to others. God is not hidden from us when we are free to choose our spoken word and physical deeds.
So, let’s return to our original premise of whether any reason could convince you to denounce Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us in Romans 14:8 (NKJV), “For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.” It is critical to understand that the choice is not made by any accuser standing over you that can rob you of true life. Death has no place in our walk with God when we put our trust in the gift of life provided freely and receive it. Let’s put the emphasis back on living and let death find its proper place in our understanding, for IN Him; there is no death.
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