From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. (Matthew 11:12) (NIV)
Seven thousand curious Indians sat before the stage in Ranipet to hear the Americans. A local pastor grabbed my head and rattled my brain as he shouted prayers in Tamil. For what—the demons out? the Spirit in?—I don’t know. When I stepped onto the stage, the interpreter and I got into a holy groove until I went inflammatory.
“None of the Hindu gods have died for your sins.”
He shook his head in refusal to interpret those words. My statement may have incited a riot and prevented the gospel from going out. Because of his wisdom, more than two hundred souls responded when we later gave the invitation.
The gospel is like dynamite. It must be strategically placed to do the most good. Deployed at the right time and place, it blows apart every unholy attachment. Jesus put it this way, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace but a sword.”
My faith is inspired by those who suffer the temporal devastation of gospel dynamite, and still, they light fuses. The family of a colleague in Nigeria was abducted for being Christians, yet he continues to preach the good news. I was adopted by a Christian village in Pakistan that was burned down by neighboring Muslims, yet they press on telling their hostile countrymen about Jesus. On a subsequent night at the Ranipet festival, my interpreter was struck on the head by a rock. With a palm over his cut, he carried on speaking to the one thousand children gathered around us. Persecution bounces to the feet of these disciples where it fertilizes a ruthless conviction.
Following Christ is not a sappy, weak willed affair. The gospel is perilous to our earthy holdings. Only courageous people lay hold of it and dynamite their hearts free of every entanglement except Jesus.
Prayer: Lion of Judah, blast away everything that weakens my faith.