The Courage of the Martyrs

The believers had been alerted that a member of the flock had been kidnapped and taken prisoner by evildoers who had already killed someone else they held in captivity. This had taken place because those captured called themselves Christians. The faithful gathered to pray earnestly for their loved one. While united in prayer, their petitions were interrupted by a persistent knock at the door. Someone finally opened it, and there stood their beloved brother in Christ, safely delivered. This is the story of Acts 12. 

Following Herod’s assassination of James, he had imprisoned Peter, shackled him, and had him guarded by more than a dozen dedicated soldiers, yet God sent an angel and miraculously liberated him. Once Peter was outside of the prison, he headed to the home of Mary, mother of John Mark, where Peter bore testimony of his remarkable experience before disappearing from Herod’s reach so that he could continue to spread the Gospel. 

Somewhere in that crowd of believers was young John Mark, also called Mark, who had close proximity to the critical developments of our earliest evangelists including not only Peter, but also Paul and Barnabas. Mark became compelled to join the missionary journeys and eventually, according to early Christian historians, planted the church in Alexandria, Egypt. Throughout Mark’s life of service, he knew what it was like to retreat, and he also knew what it was like to mature into courageous service. He knew what it was like to lose fellow servants to martyrdom and live in peril daily. He grew to have Peter referring to him as “son” and Paul saying of him, “he is very useful to me for service.” He also outlived both Paul’s beheading and Peter’s inverted crucifixion, and the stoning of his dear cousin, Barnabas. Mark was left behind to toil on, evangelizing and spreading the Good News in a hostile world. 

To this day, there are incredible stories of lives sacrificed in the name of Christ but also of what our prayers can do on behalf of those brothers and sisters on the front lines of evangelism. We pray for our missionaries around the world, and we pray for ministries in our own country. Concurrently, God has placed purpose before you and before me, meant for each of us to step into and be the difference. Just as prayers have mightily made a way for others, it can and will be done for you and me. The question is, are we embracing the work of spreading the Gospel? We know the Truth, after all, and there are people within our own reach who desperately need it. We shrink away from being Gospel torchbearers for all sorts of reasons but frequently because of fear: fear of not having the answers, fear of being wrong, fear of being rejected, fear of the message being unwelcome, fear of not being good enough, fear of not being important enough, fear of not fitting in, and fear of being stigmatized. So many fears. Instead, we start to tolerate God’s opposition, and lives are lost … eternally. 

In addressing the passive behavior of believers in this world, evangelist preacher and podcaster Josh Howerton said, “Tolerance is the satanic counterfeit of repentance. Repentance says I’m wrong and I need to change myself. Tolerance says you’re not wrong. You just need to accept yourself.” Christian social media influencer Ms Nyna says, “Repentance opens prison doors. Tolerance paints the cell walls and calls it freedom.” It is clear that repentance begins the journey in the right direction that leads to salvation. Why are we afraid to say so? 

Lifeway Research produced a study in 2023 saying that 69% of U.S. denominational and non-denominational ministers combined report their congregations had a growing sense of fear for our nation and the world, and 63% had a growing sense of fear for the future of Christianity.i 

Jesus Film Project did a multi-generational survey of 1,600 Christians, asking what their likelihood was to share their faith. When the conversations were with like-minded people, respondents spoke of their beliefs frequently. In fact, the percentages of never speaking about their faith were virtually non-existent. On the other hand, when those same people were asked how frequently they spoke of their faith with people who were not like-minded about Christianity, the percentages overwhelmingly came in as almost never engaging in discussion. The Jesus Film Project then asked what prevented them from sharing their faith. While answers like being too shy or not wanting to be pushy showed up in lower percentages, the number one reason for failing to share their faith was fear.ii 

We might be afraid of the world’s view of submission. There is no greater authority than Jesus and the Truth, and people don’t care for authority. Submission and humility are a hard sell in this postmodern world that responds to claims of certainty with skepticism and rebuttal. Sinful hearts absent of a spirit of repentance will react negatively to the mere suggestion that there is a better way. Objective truth exists but suggesting that all must conform to a single belief system or perish is the opposite of what our society insists is noble. We should expect nothing else. “The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so” (Romans 8:7, NIV). The thing is, no matter how ambiguously people try to qualify right and wrong, everyone eventually needs answers, and they are looking for them. Just because the world says the Gospel is controversial doesn’t make that true. Controversy is born out of resistance to the authority of Jesus. It takes courage to share valuable information in a culture that isn’t interested. It takes courage to explain fundamental truths about eternity and salvation and repentance. 

We might be afraid of being stereotyped as an extremist. This false narrative leads to assigned attributes such as hater and phobic. It can quickly put you on the defensive when you’re meant to be on the offensive. Once we share the Gospel as the absolute Truth where comprehensive obedience is essential, we are no different in some people’s minds than the Taliban. The extremists’ operating covenant to rule by theocracy, by will, or by force, gets assigned to us while we cling to the Truth of John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (NIV). Once our message, even delivered in love, is associated with the thug culture of such extremism, the unbeliever becomes nonreceptive and we become noninfluential. Now what? 

In Luke 6:27-28, Jesus says, “But to you who are listening, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” (NIV). I once heard a missionary to a people group under Sharia law say that such citizens do recognize the difference between the love of power and the power of love. Our message must be born out of abundant love for others and devotion to the Truth. We must remain on that solid footing even as our motives are judged falsely. We have to share the Truth, lovingly. God speaks for Himself. We must trust that His message is sufficient. Our motives should not be to win but to save. To feel passionate about it should pierce our hearts but not fuel our aggression. John 18:36 records Jesus’s words to Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight” (NIV). It takes courage to, with a gentle spirit, present the truth where reactions inspire us to become defensive. Just as it was explained to Pilate, Jesus is before us. We are His servants. We do not fight. 

We might be afraid of the blaring tone of atheism and how it attempts to control the narrative based on intellect. Jesus again speaks: “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed or hidden that will not be made known” (Matthew 10:26). Instead, if we are acting on the commission of Jesus and not reacting to the pushback from the world, and we are doing so out of an abundance of love, we have no need to fear. Jesus said, “What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul” (Matthew 10:27-28a). Love breeds courage. You would race into moving traffic to rescue your child. Growing in love deepens our well of courage. 

Among the very most important things we should not fear is being right about the way to salvation. We cannot fear the Truth. It is our eternal hope, and it is the only hope for the world. In fact, what is really behind the world’s resistance? In a word, fear. They are afraid. They fear surrendering their own desires in exchange for goodness and selflessness. They fear power, control, and authority being rendered to someone else. How useless it is to have a battle of fears. We have no need for it and need to replace it with the courage of the martyrs. 

As a graduate of Cincinnati Christian University, I was ever aware that a dorm I lived in, Rine Hall, was named after the school’s own Phyllis Rine who died a martyr in the Congo at age 25, along with dozens of other missionaries who had been singled out and targeted in a massacre. Everyone who knew Phyllis spoke of her humility and graciousness. These gentle qualities, along with a grand amount of courage, had her leave everything familiar with little more packed in her suitcase than the Word of God. From the world’s view, the courage to share the Truth cost her everything. From God’s view, it cost her nothing. In fact, she received her crown, the Congolese received the Gospel, and we have received inspiration. Courage comes with profound dividends. 

On February 15, 2015, ISIS broadcasted the beheading of 21 Christian migrant workers on a beach in Libya. These 21 men weren’t missionaries. They were construction workers being ordered by Islamic terrorists to denounce Jesus. In the propaganda video the terrorists shared with the world of the massacre, the 20 workers from Egypt could be heard in their final moments saying, “Ya Rabbi Yasu,” translated from Arabic, “Oh, Lord Jesus!” These 20 Coptic Christians were specifically from Alexandria, the church established by Mark nearly 2,000 years prior. The one migrant worker from Ghana who died along with the Coptic Christians was reported to have been saying, while on his knees with the sword of death looming behind him, “Their God is my God, too.” 

In the first century, Mark was eventually martyred in Alexandria when he was dragged through the city’s streets, then stoned, then burned, according to early historians. Mark found his way with the Gospel and his voice. The Alexandrian Church was planted. Centuries later, Jesus was still worth it all for children of that very congregation when their work took them to the foreign shores of Libya. “Oh, Lord Jesus” was their response to the command to reject Jesus Christ. What lasting courage! Pray that we find our voice to share the Gospel news to those around us in love and steadfastness. The Truth needs to be presented to all people no matter what matters of this world promote our silence. Oh, Lord Jesus! If we can find our voice, it is the beginning of knowing the courage of martyrs.