In our doctoral seminar we were discussing theories of mission. Our professor, who had grown up in the mission field in China, had personal experience with the ideas we were playing with. He closed the heated discussion with a question that has haunted me ever since: “The real question is not why or whom or how we are to share the gospel. The real question is this: Are we willing to die for the gospel?”
Christians look with horror at the martyrdoms of Christians in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. But we are not horrified enough. We cannot bear to ask what these martyrs might demand of us personally. Our faith and witness often demand so little of us in comparison to theirs. Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s “costly discipleship” may appeal to us on the surface, but ultimately it is frightening, even repellent.
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