Is martyrdom part of God’s will for us?

I suspect for some people the answer to this question is simply yes, and for others the answer is absolutely and unequivocally no. Recently I came across a couple of verses that strongly influenced my position on this.

Rev 7:9-11 says the souls of all martyrs are under God’s altar in heaven. The martyrs are begging the Lord, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long will it be before you judge the people who belong to this world for what they have done to us? When will you avenge our blood against these people?”

The response to them is very interesting: “Rest a little longer until the full number of your brothers and sisters, your fellow servants of Jesus, have been martyred.”

It doesn’t just say that more will unfortunately die, but it says “the full number”. This means God has a predetermined number of martyrs that will die, and furthermore, that he will allow these deaths to occur as part of his plan for the fulfillment of his revelation to the world.

Rev 13:7 says the Beast of the Sea was “allowed to wage war against God’s holy people and to overcome them.” Verse 10 says “The people who are destined for prison will be arrested and taken away. Those who are destined for death will be killed.” Allowed to wage war? Destined for prison? Destined for death? Wow, this is intense. It’s both good news and bad news. The good news is God is in complete control, even the bad stuff is “allowed”, nothing is out of God’s control. The bad news is, some of us are destined for the bad stuff…

Romans 8:36 says “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.” (see Psalm 44 for more pick me up verses). Paul wanted us to know, that just like the Israelites of the Old Testament, we will be faced with persecution including death, but not even this can separate us from the love of Christ. And furthermore, our death is for His sake! Paul was trying to be encouraging, but why did he feel the need to be encouraging? Because he knew what would be coming, particularly for Roman Christians.

So what does this mean? How should this affect the way we live our lives? What attitude of the heart should we have when we face persecution? For me there are two major conclusions.

First, living in this contention of being chosen but possibly being destined for persecution, highlights the need to see things from a spiritual and eternal perspective. When you look at the short term and personal aspect of persecution, sure, things look pretty grim. But when you look at eternity, and the realities of the spiritual realm, the persecution of the immediate is diminished. I know, I know, easier said than done, but what else can I do? The only way I can prepare myself for persecution so that I can live out what I just preached is to pray that God would continue to reveal to me the realities of the spiritual realm. Eph 6:12 says “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” I’m talking about the Spiritual Gift of discerning spirits. If I can see past the flesh of the persecutor and recognize the evil spirits behind the persecution, then I am better able to speak authority into the situation in the name of Jesus. Or if I am to be martyred, I can have some peace, knowing that it is the greatest form of witness for Jesus’ sake.

Second, I must answer the question, “what am I willing to die for?” Or even worse, “what am I willing to let my family die for?” Dying as a martyr is one thing, but dying at the hands of some punk is quite another. Recently I’ve taken an interest in self defense and survival skills. As time and money allow I’m making the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and goods a priority for the preservation of my family. This might sound like I’m contradicting my previous paragraph, but I don’t think I am. If someone says “renounce Jesus or I’ll kill your daughter”, I won’t renounce Jesus, but does that mean I have to let my daughter die? Certainly I can try to talk the attacker down and tell them about the love of Jesus, but if that doesn’t disarm the situation, why not use force? In Luke 22:36, Jesus tells his disciples: “take your money and a traveler’s bag. And if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one!” Clearly Jesus didn’t have a problem with the disciples taking precaution to defend themselves against the persecution they would face after Jesus was arrested.

Granted, it’s unlikely that a hoodlum is going to ask you to renounce Jesus, so that leads me to my next point. We live in a fallen world, where due to the influence of free will and sin, random acts of evil greatly outnumber random acts of love. Hopefully with the gift of spiritual discernment, I’ll be able to know when a dangerous encounter has spiritual significance, and when it is simply the result of living in a fallen world. If it’s the latter, I have absolutely no hesitation defending my family.

Tough questions, hard decisions. We serve a God who has decided that some of his children must die to fulfill his plan for this world. Are you ready to die for your Lord? Are you prepared to love God even in the face of death?

-Nate