The Highest Stakes
Posted
by
arsindelve, Executive Director, Delve Christian Ministries
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This week, something happened that we had all been anticipating and discussing ever since the sextuplets were born in BC a few weeks ago. The surviving babies were taken from their parents and were given blood transfusions against their parent's will. Let me begin by saying I think the parents are theologically wrong. Their beliefs about blood transfusions (among many other things) are based on bad exegesis and from reading passages that are taken out of context and misunderstood. I don't want to get into a debate about the parents, but rather, I want to take a look at some of the reaction that ensued and show how this kind of viewpoint undermines the very core of faith itself.
Predictably, radio call-in shows and websites starting asking people what they thought. It's no surprise that the vast majority of respondents agreed with the government's decision. Frankly, I was surprised that anyone supported the parents, but there were a handful. It was the nonsense logic behind some of the government's supporters that really surprised me. One woman wrote, "If someone is going to die then their religious beliefs don't matter. " When, then, does it matter? If faith only matters when nothing is at stake, what good is it? How can a faith such as this ever save anyone?
Recall when John the Baptist, imprisoned and sentenced to die, asked his followers to go and ask Jesus if He was really the Messiah. Why now? John had seen much of what Jesus had done. He had heard the voice of God proclaim that Jesus was His son. Why does John doubt now? Because he is going to die - because now his faith really matters. No one wants to die for a lie. We get scared. We have to know that it was really worth something.
Remember the apocryphal story of the girl at Columbine who was asked if she believed in God and was shot when she replied that she did? I have not been able to verify that this ever happened, but put yourself in that position. Could you say the words to save your life as you imperil your soul? Many of would like the think we would stay true to the Lord and not falter, as John and Peter did.
What if instead of shooting you, the killer will shoot your child. Will you renounce God to save your child? Let that choice sink in for a moment. Can any of us, having not lived through it, imagine the suffering that comes from standing by while our children die, knowing that with a single word we could save them? What kind of faith does it take to say the words; to sentence your children to death because of what you believe?
Pray that your faith will never be tested this way, but if it does, then you will really know once and for all what you are made of. Do you believe only when it's safe, or will you pay the ultimate price for your faith? The tricky part is that our faith always matters because our eternal life hangs in the balance. What stakes could be higher than that?
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