Sunday 20 September 2015

Supreme Testimony

The persecution of Christians today is no different from those following Christ’s crucifixion.

One after another, the apostles (with exception to St John) died as martyrs as did St Paul.  Through the centuries, so many believers were killed for their faith. In 2015, 21 Christians were beheaded by Muslim terrorists in Libya. Pope Tawadros II of the Coptic Orthodox Church on February 21 announced that the 21 murdered Copts would be commemorated as martyr saints. According to Pope Francis, “Martyrdom is the supreme testimony.”

Yet persecution can come in many forms. For instance, Christians who stand up for the rights of the unborn children and who oppose gay marriage have been subjected to attacks, as being insensitive, politically incorrect and biased.  When has righteousness become wrong; when has God’s commands become incorrect?

Should faithful believers bend to the whims and caprices of those who think they are supreme to God, of those who deny God?  No. Every day, we are to testify through our lives, our actions and our words of God’s truth. We must remain unafraid so like the martyrs who defended and died for their faith rather than renounce Christ.

For unlike unbelievers who are of this world, we look beyond this life. “I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. . . . This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection.” (Revelation 20:4-6)

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