Trading Orange Jumpsuits for Robes of White

By: American Decency Staff

 

By now most of us have heard the news report of 21 Egyptian Christians recently beheaded by ISIS in Libya.  The picture of these 21 men dressed in orange jumpsuits forced to kneel on the beach of the Mediterranean Sea has been all over the news and is now emblazoned on my mind.   This is just one of countless atrocities being perpetuated against our Christian brothers and sisters. 

And now today there is a new report of an additional 35 Egyptians who have been abducted by ISIS. 

Just weeks before this attack President Obama took the opportunity at the National Prayer Breakfast to chastise Christians for deeds done nearly one thousand years ago.  Comparing Christian crusaders of yesteryear to Islamic terrorists of today, he stated:  “And lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ." 

After all, as our president has previously stated before the United Nations:  “The future must not belong to those who would slander the prophet of Islam.” 

Yet while the President has no problem in defending and sympathizing with Islam, the official White House statement following this latest barbaric attack upon Christians only referred to the victims as Egyptian “citizens” – completely ignoring the fact that these men were targeted because of their faith in Christ.   

However, the Islamic terrorists made it clear why these men were killed.  The video recorded by ISIS of this massacre was entitled:  “A Message Signed With Blood to the Nation of the Cross” and included a message, stating in part:  “Safety for you crusaders is something you can only wish for … The sea you have hidden Sheikh Usama Bin Laden's body in, we swear to Allah we will mix it with your blood."

However, while the blood of these Christian brothers washed into the sea, they did not need to “wish” for safety – they were already safe in the arms of Jesus Christ.  They trusted in their Savior whose Own blood had been shed and now covered them.  They had traded orange jumpsuits for robes of white. 

“When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne.  They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.”  (Revelation 6:9-11)

Yet what about we American Christians?  For the most part, we haven’t needed to wish for safety.  We are relatively safe and secure and removed from having to choose between our faith and our life.  No one is threatening to cut off our heads for following Christ.   We hear such accounts and are momentarily horrified – then we go back to our comfortable lives. 

As R.C. Sproul, Jr. reminds us:

“… We have lost sight of the reality of what the Christian faith is all about. It is a good thing, do not misunderstand me, it is a blessed thing when a given culture has become so influenced by the Christian faith that men are protected from these kinds of assaults, that we have the opportunity to practice freedom of religion. But it is not a normal thing.

We live in a world that Jesus described as one in which we should expect persecution from those outside the church.  … Now again, as privileged Americans, our experience of persecution has been, until more recently, as mild and not particularly challenging as perhaps having to commit social faux pas when we make certain affirmations about the Lordship of Christ in certain social circles. People sometimes look at us like we are a little bit weird, like we are a little bit funny. But we are not experiencing, in this country, what other believers are experiencing in other countries. And we make the mistake of thinking that our circumstance is normal.  …

When Jesus says to take up your cross, how dishonoring it is to Him that we turn this into a metaphor for the petty little hardships we go through for His name’s sake. Jesus didn’t say “I want you to be willing to be socially snubbed because of me.  I want you to be willing to be thought of as odd because of me.” When Jesus says, “pick up your cross and follow me,” do you know what He is saying? He is saying you need to be ready, you need to be prepared to be crucified.  Now I am not arguing, again, that it is just or right or proper – of course. Or that it is anything less than vile or wicked when Christians are put to death by the opponents of Jesus Christ.  All I am saying is not only is it not surprising, but in the end, it is a deep and a profound honor.

We think that the way to do great things for the Kingdom is to be great and powerful people. But the power of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ is found in our laying down our lives.  In being willing to be scorned, in being willing to be scoffed at, in being willing to be crucified with Him.  Friends, we need to look at these news items in light of our calling as Christians.  Are we willing, are we ready, are we able to lay down our lives because of our commitment to the Lordship of Jesus Christ?  …

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