It has been said that in the early years of the church, Christians conquered the world of their day by out-living, out-loving, out-thinking, and out-dying everyone else.
What do you think of that description?
When we mine the depths and essential teachings of the Christian faith it makes sense that its adherents would be described this way. Jesus promised His followers an internal quality of life that could only be described as super-abundant, like an artesian well flowing on the inside of them. He called His followers to levels of love that were truly sublime and then led the way in that calling by literally giving His life away for the world.
Christian thinkers and philosophers have always immersed themselves in the deepest questions of life and emerged with compelling, coherent answers. And throughout all of Christian history, the most truly Christian lives have been marked by glorious deaths, either via martyrdom or natural deaths that followed lives of great struggle, sacrifice, and honor.
How do you think we in our generation compare to all of this? Are our lives marked by supreme levels of love? Are we thinkers, pondering any of the weighty matters of life? Are we living and dying in ways that bless our loved ones and call our world to something more lasting and strong?
“In everything set them an example by doing what is good…so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about you.” (Titus 2:7-8)