Boycotts - A Petty Spectacle

BOYCOTTS - A PETTY SPECTACLE

This is where boycotts lead.

It is late in the afternoon and the lifeless body of the man Jesus is pried from two Roman planks. His blood is everywhere, and the stench of blood and sweat and death is almost overwhelming. They perfumed the body, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a borrowed tomb. The greatest life that had ever graced the earth was now dead, but the most powerful sacrifice was now complete. The strength of sin had been broken, and death had been vanquished.

Until the Holy Spirit would come, no one could fully comprehend what or why this had happened. Almost no one fully knew who this man was. Many thousands of men had died upon the planks of crucifixion, but no one had died like this man. He had given everything even though He had owed nothing. His followers were filled with a mixture of fear and despair. They had followed Him with hopes of deliverance, but now He was gone.

Many centuries later His followers know that His death would be greeted in three days with a glorious resurrection. And aided by the written revelations of Scripture, along with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we can at least view His sufferings and death with more understanding and with the eyes of redemption. But we will never completely understand the depth and scope of His sufferings. Yes we understand them in doctrinal terms, and yes we can even understand the word “suffering”, but while we are on this side of eternity we can never fathom the length and breadth and height and depth of the love of God that flowed through those sufferings.

But on the day of Pentecost the precious Holy Spirit descended and inhabited the first New Testament believers. They were filled with boldness and power and not 90 days after the death of their Master they flooded into the streets and preached Jesus fearlessly. Some on that day would later meet their death in His name. Throughout the ages believers from all over would be scourged and tortured and hung and crucified and put to death simply because they gave witness to the Lord Jesus. Only God knows those who trembled but boldly spoke His name as they were burned at the stake.

The Foxes Book of Martyrs contains many first hand accounts of those whose death brought glory to the Savior. One man had told his fellow believers that as he was burned at the stake that he would raise his hand toward heaven even while being engulfed in the flames. He was brought and fastened to the stake, and the wood was lit. It is said that it was a windy day and the flames grew unusually fast. In fact, the fellow believers were sure that the flames had already immobilized their brother if not in fact caused his quick death.

But as they watched they gasped! That believer, shrouded in flames, lifted up his right hand toward heaven and it quickly fell to his side once again. No one could believe it, and God used that as a witness to many unbelievers watching that day. To even imagine such a thing is breathtaking. And then there is the story of Blandina which I have posted about here. And I have seen missionaries whose family had been attacked in a church in Pakistan almost lose their little boy and whose mother will always walk with a limp. But two years later and many, many months in a German hospital, they rose to praise the grace of God in our church and asked for prayers as they prepared to leave once again and be used of God to reach the same people with the gospel.

People like Joni Erickson Tada has suffered infirmities with grace and an open witness to God’s strength. All over the world, even today, believers have their lives in jeopardy because of their witness for Jesus Christ. And thousands upon thousands of bodies are now nothing more than ashes in the ground having given their lives for Christ but no one even knew. There is a long red line of blood shed by the witnesses of Christ that remains today. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.

But in America, buying chicken sandwiches because some entrepreneur said he believed in traditional marriage is pawned off as taking a stand for Jesus. Petty, pitiful, embarrassing, and a blatant lie indeed. The western church has completely lost its way and without a mighty move of God’s Spirit it will never find its way back to Jesus. The cross-less game of moral badminton has energized the flesh and led us into a colossal departure from all that is sacred and holy.

But in the meantime, we can enjoy chicken sandwiches and talk ourselves into believing we are following in His steps. Perhaps we can chew on those sandwiches while we gaze at the cross. May God forgive us for the monstrosity we have made and called it “following Jesus”.