As I tirelessly scrolling through Instagram one night in order to make myself sleepy, I came across the story of 21 Christians that were beheaded in Libya by Isis in 2015. I remembered hearing something about it, yet I don't remember much about it because I was 14 at the time. Tonight, fast forward 9 years later, it was different. I watched the video of the men being marched one by one on the beach, each one held by a Jihadist in black, kneeling with backs toward the ocean. Being held by their collars, the ocean waves holding an eerie sense of impending doom, yet a Christly peace was present on all of their faces. As they were threatened with death through beheading, they were continually told that their lives would be spared if they denied Christ and converted in Islam. Like dominos, they were laid on their stomachs one by one and asked to deny Christ. The time had come for a decision to be made: How much does Christ mean to me?
One by one, as each denied Islam and embraced Christ, the blades no larger than a hunting knife was pressed against their throats. With each "no" to Islam and "yes" to Christ, the blade moved upward to the sky, fully decapitating each man. As their limp bodies lay there, their severed heads stuck in the sand, an ocean once full of beauty began to turn red with the blood of each martyr. I was unable to watch the full video and could not comprehend watching it if I could. As I watch the PG clips, I saw some mouthing prayers, while other "set their face as flint," strong in their resolve to maintain and "keep the faith." Just seeing their dedication caused me to reflect on my own. To be honest with you, I was ashamed of my shortcomings.
In this video, ISIS had deliberately set up the executions in such a way that each man could witness the others being executed in sequence. Silently, yet boldly written in the sand with the blood of each man was this message to the others, "Is Christ worth this to you?" Slowly, one man died. Then another. Another. On and on it went. Then came the 21st man...
As I’ve grown up, I’ve realized the beauty of a relationship with God in ways I never imagined possible. It’s been hard and there’s been many times I’ve wanted to give up on God and quit church altogether, but quietly God always kept drawing me closer and keeping me close. He is the sole reason I’m still in church today. Some of the worst hurt I’ve ever experienced has been within the walls of a church, and by people who claim to know and love God. I’m not as “talkative and open” as I used to be. I can seem very standoffish and wary of people I don’t know. I can find myself finding reasons to make life temporarily “easier” by slacking off and letting Christianity drift into the background of my life. These thoughts have been a continuous battle for years now. I’ve let that eat away at my love for God more than I’d like to admit and even dreamed of a day where I could leave it all in my past and let that “church girl” go. Yet, like a quiet calm in the middle of the tornado that it feels like my life has been for 2 yrs now, I’ve been confronted by the inability of myself to get and keep a handle on my life. I’ve had the pride knocked out of me from the roots of my hair to the soles of my feet. I’ve learned serving God from a heart that’s solely dependent upon Him. From learning that prayer is more than repetitive mouthed words, but daily conversations and listening. I’ve learned what “cry out to God” means as I have laid on bathroom floors at work, shaking from panic attacks, begging God to get me out of a mess I thought would make me feel valued. I was also confronted with the fact of I had been loving the idea of serving God, more than God Himself. I’ve been beat to the ground due to my own ego and running ahead of God and yet blame God when my ego gets scraped from the fall (as if He didn’t try to keep me from it all along). I’ve learned that being a Christian is sacrifice, faith and love lived out in everyday life. It seemed as if I had been doing that, yet when confronted with the videos and stories of these 21 martyrs, I am reminded of my shortcomings in faith. When faced with execution on film, they refused to denounce Christ, yet we'll find any and every excuse to see if we can miss church (I'm talking to myself right along with y'all).
The pews too hard
The pews are too soft
The preachings too long
The preachings too short
They hurt my feelings
I could hurt their feelings
I don’t trust people
There are not enough people in my church to trust
We don’t do too much
We do too much.
On and on it can go. On and on the bodies fell as choices were made. As the blood of their brothers stained their bright orange jumpsuits, the only thing that mattered in those final moments was Christ. Yet didn't it all come down to choices? On and on it can go as easily as the bodies of each man was mutilated. It comes down to choices. The decision to choose Christ regardless of what our flesh says. We are a blessed people to be able to freely go to church, and yet we find any excuse to not do it. Yet our brothers and sisters are dying because of their choice to remain and sustain their faith through their decision to follow Christ. May we feel the shame of our lack of effort and love for the freedom of worship, yet the grace to start again today with a renewed appreciation for the privilege and protection we do have. I’m proud to have brothers and sisters in Christ who loved our God even to death and left behind a legacy to show me that our God is worth it all, even our lives.
In the USA it’s not 
that killing us: it’s complacency. The ideas that we can post and say anything that has a scent of biblical principles, and we can make everyone think we’re Christian’s, yet our actions don’t back it up has become a deadly cancer amongst Christianity and the cause of Christ. It used by Satan to appease our conscience, but it is complacency, not Christianity. At the end of complacency is laziness. Christ said in (Luke 9:23 ) to “take up your cross and follow me,” and we all know the road He walked led to self-denial and sacrifice. It’s not easy to be a Christian. It is not easy to go to church. It is much easier to sleep in. Have fun. Go to the lake, sports games, or see friends (let me be clear though: it is understandable when you have to work as long as you don't purposely schedule in order to miss church). Yet, please realize that this is showing how much Christ means to you. It’s easy to make a post, raise a hand of praise in church, or say you love the Lord, but when push comes to shove, or to your neck, do you really? When the church music fades out, everyone goes home, and you’re left with no one but you, do you really believe like you wish you did? What you sing about? Preach about? Post about? Talk about? Do you really believe what you believe you do?
For those of us to say we love Christ and set an example on social media, but our lives show complacency over Christ, we are being stumbling blocks to others and to Christ. When Jesus is last on your priority list but the first words out of your mouth, what message are you sending? When you speak, post, or live two different things, it taunts the message others are giving their life for. We’re a blessed people, yet how is it that someone’s faith in Libya is worth dying for, but ours isn’t even worth waking up early, getting dressed, and going to church for an hour for? We will never convince a world that our faith means so much that it’s worth dying for if it isn’t even worth the sacrifice of our comfort and free time now. Is Christ worth it to you?
Remember the 21st man? His name was Matthew Ayarifa and was from Ghana. He had been thrown in prison with the other men, all from Egypt because they had converted to Christianity. They were kidnapped separately while doing construction over the border in order to provide meager rations to feed their families. Kidnapped separately but for all the same charge: being Christians and actively showing it. As their deaths were being filmed, Matthew was the last man to be asked to renounce Christ. As the leader of the jhadists (signified by the camo outfit versus the fully black garb the others wore) shoved his face into the cool, wet sand, and no doubt the blood from his brother in Christ. Knife against his neck, the lens of the camera fixed on him and family and friends watching on the other side of that lens, he humbly yet boldly sent a message to the world and those terrorists regarding the faith of all 21 men. Written in the blood on the sand was the message to his family, friends, fellow Christians, and the world of, “Hey everyone, this matters. This faith is worth dying for. It is worth this.” When given the final choice of the group of "the people of the cross, the followers of the hostile Egyptian church," Matthew looked at the bodies of his brothers and said, "Their God is my God." With that, the knife separated his head from his body, and his soul ascended to the one Who made the ultimate sacrifice for Him to enter into glory. With that he left all us Christians a message of the beauty of Christianity in the midst of evil and posed us a question. We don't have a knife pressed against our neck, but the same eyes on him are on us too. What is Christ worth to you?
LIVE FOOTAGE OF THE 21 MARTYRS (PG):
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