The true barbarians

More taken off of what I've been reading in the book, "The Barbarian Way".

I've only read the first two sections but as I was reading this book I was hit with how I served in a ministry that is focused on the true "barbarians" for their faith each day - the persecuted church. Their faith is basic, pure & simple - it's all about loving Jesus and following Him, no matter what the cost. It hasn't been domesticated, prettied up, made "comfortable", it is raw and true. When they choose to follow Jesus, they are truly CHOOSING to suffer and often times die.


Philippians 3:10-11 says this:

I want to know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may atain to the resurrection from the dead.

My good friend, and former boss,Todd Nettleton, authored the feature article in the April 2007 issue of The Voice of the Martyrs newsletter and said this in reference to the verse above:

"It is sometimes easy to focus only on experiencing Christ's power through the Holy Spirit as a kind of guarentee that we will never have to share in His suffering. But, the two are inseparable. We cannot truly know the power of the risen Savior without being willing to walk all the way with Him. Our persecuted family members are witnesses that without the suffering and pain of Good Friday, there could have been no resurrection power on Easter Sunday morning."

I have to be honest, I don't want to suffer. In church on Wednesday night we spent some time focused on worship and prayer. We looked at verses talking about God's glory, His holiness, Sin & Repentence. We were asked to take some time and pray and ask God to show us any unconfessed sin in our lives and then repent of it. Some sin is so easy to identify, it's obvious, but there are those sins that are deep and sometimes not so easy to put your finger on.

I can't say that I liked what I learned about myself that night. I'm being a bit transparent here by confessing that what I learned is that what was separating me from God (a.k.a. - SIN) was a lack of trust that what He has planned for me is the very best. It's hard to explain but I have several friends that are completely sold out Christians - 100% - Barbarian Way Christians and their lives have been hard. They have experienced some incredibly painful times and some horrible losses. Honestly, I am afraid that God might require that of me too and it scares me and it's in the midst of that fear that I start to distrust that what God has for me is the absolute best (regardless of what that may be - good or bad).

I think I find myself often thinking exactly what my friend stated above that by "focusing only on experiencing Christ's power through the Holy Spirit as a kind of guarentee that I will never have to share in His suffering."

That is so wrong.

Tom White, Executive Director of The Voice of the Martyrs (USA), in his April 2007 editorial wrote this about the persecuted believers around the world:

"The victorious testimonies we encounter in our work are from believers who know the meaning of "take up your cross." They are living reminders that the whole gospel must include the possibility of suffering for Christ or we ignore the foundation and experience of New Testament Christianity."

Lord, help me to fully trust that what you have planned for my life is the absolute best, no matter what it is. Help me walk fully committed to serving you in every way that you ask me to.