In the Face Of ...

In class on Sunday morning we had an interesting discussion about Michael Sattler. He was an Anabaptist leader who was eventually martyred for his beliefs. He believed certain truths and practices to be so core to the Christian faith that he would not abandon them in the face of death.

Of course, the question was raised: what practices would you refuse to give up, even when faced with persecution and death. A multitude of answers were given: communing with the church, evangelism, service to the poor, baptism, the Lord's Supper, prayer, and the list goes on, slightly different for different people.

In the face of death, I will not recant.

And yet.

What will we give up, so easily, in the face of busyness and stress?

In the face of schoolwork, I have witnessed a multitude of people give up church. In the face of essays I give up meditation. In the face of so many of these sorts of things, we give up Christ. And we say we would rather die than turn our backs on our faith?

We must follow Jesus regardless of the circumstances. For many of us in North America, this does not mean in the face of death and torturous persecution. Rather, we must practice the way of the Kingdom in the face of busyness, schoolwork, friends and stress. It is interesting, and perhaps telling, how difficult that seems to be.