{"id":38257,"date":"2024-09-08T15:57:21","date_gmt":"2024-09-08T22:57:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=38257"},"modified":"2024-09-09T05:16:37","modified_gmt":"2024-09-09T12:16:37","slug":"martyred-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/martyred-leadership\/","title":{"rendered":"Martyred Leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever thought about your own death?\u00a0 The death rate is 100%. . . all of us are going to die.\u00a0 My mom died at an early age.\u00a0 On the night of her death, I slept on the floor by her bed which was strategically placed in the living room so that we could be with her in her last days. Awakened around 3:00 a.m. by an eerie stillness in the room, I went to her, her body lying cold, just the dust part was left, and the breath part (her spirit) was gone.\u00a0 She was with Jesus. Life is so short.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I have a daily choice to bring glory to the One who gives me every breath I breathe.\u00a0 As we reflect on our life’s final chapter, a question to meditate on might be: How did I live for Christ in my apprenticeship to him? How would my words, actions, and meditations, bring glory to the Father?<\/span><\/p>\n

Like Paul, in his letter to the Philippians did I see dying as gain?\u00a0 Or in Jesus\u2019 words,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThen Jesus went to work on his disciples. \u201cAnyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You\u2019re not in the driver\u2019s seat; <\/span>I<\/span><\/i> am. Don\u2019t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I\u2019ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?\u201d Matthew 16:24, MSG<\/span><\/p>\n

Thinking about death, as morbid as that may seem to some, has an impact on the choices I make today.\u00a0 Dr. Jana Dluehosh, former Spiritual Care Supervisor, in a recent blog post about spiritual pain and suffering, ponders, \u201c<\/span>When we all encounter the last months or years of our life we will be faced with meaning?\u201d [2]\u00a0 <\/span>In the earliest days of the Church; the Spirit of God was moving, empowering the apostles and the community of believers, gathering together followers of the risen Jesus.\u00a0 Authorities had intended an end to a problem instead, however, it exploded into a movement so large, so powerful, that followers of this Rabbi, Jesus, threatened to disrupt every part of society. Some scholars estimate that in A.D. 300, Christians comprised no more than 10 percent of the empire, if that; but by the year 360 Christians comprised over 50 percent of the empire. [3]\u00a0 Clashes were bound to happen, and with them came the persecution of Christians.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A Brief Summary<\/b><\/p>\n

Foxe\u2019s Book of Martyrs<\/span><\/i> serves as a vivid reminder of the courage of conviction and pondering the legacy we would like to leave, especially as a Christian pursues a life of holiness and surrender to the will of the Father. \u00a0 It was originally titled <\/span>Actes and Monuments<\/span><\/i>, and is a work by John Foxe, first published in 1563. The book is a history of Christian martyrs, particularly focusing on those who were persecuted for their faith during the early years of Christianity, as well as during the Protestant Reformation. [4]. <\/span>Foxe, an English historian and martyrologist, wrote the book to document the suffering and deaths of Protestants under Catholic rulers, particularly during the reign of Mary I of England, also known as “Bloody Mary,” who attempted to restore Roman Catholicism in England. The book emphasizes the bravery and steadfastness of these martyrs in the face of brutal persecution.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The work became highly influential in England, particularly among Protestants, and was used as a tool to promote Protestant beliefs and condemn Catholic practices. It was widely read and remained a key text in English Protestantism for centuries, contributing significantly to anti-Catholic sentiment in England.\u00a0 Though historically important, <\/span>Foxe’s Book of Martyrs<\/span><\/i> has been criticized for its bias and occasional historical inaccuracies, as it was written with a strong Protestant perspective. [5].\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Suffering for our Faith<\/b><\/p>\n

The stories of these early martyrs, the accounts of their courage and faith in the face of death, are woven tightly into the fabric of our faith. Name after name of Christian after Christian suffered persecution in various forms of torture including beheadings, floggings, scourgings, being dissected to pieces, stretched with pulleys until the bones of their body broken, boiled with oil, frosted with tar and pitch on their naked flesh and then lit on fire like torches, drowned with stones around necks, pierced, executed, and more.<\/span><\/p>\n

In those early days of the Church, many followers of Jesus Christ took their witness to Him, and the power of his resurrection, to the point of sacrificing their own lives.\u00a0 <\/span>It is crucial to recognize that for many Christians around the world today, persecution is a daily occurrence, and faith can be a matter of life and death. When I read <\/span>The Voice of the Martyrs,<\/span><\/i> I read story after story of Christians who are persecuted for their faith. For example. . .\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. A 19-year-old woman, who as a young bride saw her husband shot to death by militant Fulani Muslims. \u00a0 <\/span>The attackers then shot her in the hand. Pregnant at the time, she collapsed and was taken to a hospital, where her baby was delivered by cesarean session. [3]<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. An Egyptian Christian convert from Islam who faced intense family pressure since becoming a follower of Christ. The woman\u2019s father, an imam, made it difficult for her to be in public without scrutiny. Christian converts from Islam often experience harsh opposition from their families. Christian converts are sometimes killed in \u201chonor killings\u201d by their close relatives. A front-line worker reported that this Christian woman had now gone missing, and he requested prayer for her. [4]<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      More Christians are being martyred for their beliefs now than ever before.\u00a0 Missionologist David B. Barrett estimates that 160,000 Christians were martyred in the year 2000 alone. [5] They were martyred in that year for the same fundamental reason that led to the deaths of Polycarp in 155 and Perpetua in 202. The early martyrs believed that if Jesus is Lord and the sole Savior, He tolerates no rivals\u2014whether a person, religion, ideology, or empire. They believed that being a Christian means fully and joyfully committing to the belief that Jesus, who came as God in human form, is the only way to God. While most of us won’t have to die for our faith, we will all face times when we must choose between following Christ or something else that demands our ultimate loyalty.\u00a0 In other words, how do I live for Christ with the life and breath that He gave to me? Faith in Christ has been a great empowering presence in my life, helping me walk strong when so often I feel weak.<\/span><\/p>\n

      [1] Philippians 1:21, English Standard Version; \u201c<\/span>For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

      [2] <\/span>https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/meaning-of-suffering-meaning-of-life\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

      [3] Rodney Stark, <\/span>The Rise of Christianity<\/span><\/i> (Princeton, NJ:\u00a0 Princeton University Press, 1996), chap. 1.<\/span><\/p>\n

      [4] \u201cFoxe’s Book of Martyrs\u201d, <\/span>Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia<\/span><\/i>. Last modified August 15, 2024.<\/span> https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Foxe%27s_Book_of_Martyrs<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

      [5] Foxe, J. <\/span>\u00a0Foxe\u2019s Book of Martyrs [Rev. ed.]. <\/span><\/i>(Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2000).<\/span><\/p>\n

      [6] <\/span>The Voice of the Martyrs<\/span><\/i>, September 5, 2024; <\/span>https:\/\/www.icommittopray.com\/request\/2717\/gift\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

      [7] Ibid.<\/span><\/p>\n

      [8] Gerald Sittser, <\/span>Water from a Deep Well<\/span><\/i>:\u00a0 <\/span>Christian Spirituality from Early Martyrs to Modern Missionaries<\/span><\/i>, (Downers Grove, IL:\u00a0 InterVarsity Press, 2007).<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Have you ever thought about your own death?\u00a0 The death rate is 100%. . . all of us are going to die.\u00a0 My mom died at an early age.\u00a0 On the night of her death, I slept on the floor by her bed which was strategically placed in the living room so that we could […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":168,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2310],"tags":[2489,3260],"class_list":["post-38257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-of-leadership-3","tag-dlgp02","tag-foxe","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/168"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38257"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38257\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38284,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38257\/revisions\/38284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}