Soldiers

I helped assemble care packages for soldiers this evening. It was a wonderful experience and feeling. So often we forget, I forget, that there are men and women in Iraq, American men and women, fighting and dying for their country and their fellow citizens. They are at war. What are we? We have battles to fight. Do we fight them? Spiritual battles, social battles, political battles. Or do we try to sit on the fence, happy in our complacency. Content (horribly content) in our little bubbles, worrying about our little trifles. We must not forget the valiant, the suffering, the needy. They are everywhere, not just in Iraq. What about our brothers and sisters in Christ dying and suffering in other countries just because they are Christian and not Muslim or Hindu or...

We can be so ashamed of who we are and what we are. I am a Christian. Is that so hard to say? Maybe, but if you say other things: Abortion is murder. Homosexuality is wrong. There is absolute Truth. Jesus is the only way to eternal life. There is a Hell. Then you are branded radical. It's not socially acceptable. Be a Christian, but be a quiet one. Don't rock the boat. You'll step on toes. People won't like you. Since when was being a Christian about being liked? Yes, you can reach out to people, and you should, through kindness and love. But there are times to speak. There are times to ruffle feathers. There is a time when you no longer bow under the weight of cultural opinion and acceptance and step out in faith.

Why do you think the apostles were martyred?