At the name of Christ
From Tortured for Christ, by Richard Wurmbrand,
Once I saw a Russian lady officer on the street. I approached her and apologized, “I know that it is impolite to accost an unknown lady on the street, but I am a pastor and my intentions are earnest. I wish to speak to you about Christ.”
She asked me, “Do you love Christ?” I said, “Yes! From all my heart.” She fell into my arms and kissed me again and again. It was a very embarrassing situation for a pastor, so I kissed her back, hoping people would think we were relatives. She exclaimed to me, “I love Christ, too!” I took her to our home. I discovered to my amazement that she nothing about Christ – absolutely nothing – except the name. And yet she loved Him. She did not know that He is the Saviour, nor what salvation means. She did not know where and how He lived and died. She did not know His teachings, His life or ministry. She was for me a psychological curiosity. How can you love somebody if you know only his name?
When I inquired, she explained, “As a child, I was taught to read by pictures. For an ‘a’ there was an apple, for a ‘b’ there was a bell, for a ‘c’ a cat and so on. When I went to high school, I was taught my holy duty to defend the communist fatherland. I was taught about communist morals. But I did not know what a ‘holy duty’ or a ‘moral’ looked like. I needed a picture for these. Now I knew that our forefathers had a picture for everything beautiful, praiseworthy and truthful in my life. My grandmother always bowed before this picture, saying that it was the picture of one called ‘Cristos’ (Christ). And I loved this name by itself. This name became so real to me! Just to say this name gave one such joy!”
Listening to her, I remembered what is written in Phillippians that at His name every knee should bow. Perhaps, the anti-Christ will be able for a time to erase from the world the knowledge of God. But there is power in the simple Name of Christ and this will lead to the light.
She joyously found Christ in my home and now the One whose name she loved lived in her heart in person (pp. 25-26).
Throughout Wurmbrand’s chronicle of the persecuted church in communist Romania, there are accounts of people whose first knowledge of Jesus is shrouded in mystery. They had no way to learn about Jesus, for the communists had all but quashed Christianity in Eastern Europe. Yet the Spirit of Christ permeated the land, and people believed.
The days of the Iron Curtain seem distant, yet only a short while ago Christians were suffering for merely believing in God. Churches were shut. Bibles destroyed. Pastors imprisoned. Yet Christ was known.
The story of the Russian officer, noted above, illustrates the power of the Holy Spirt and the testimony of Jesus. “For the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” It is a power that gives God’s people hope.
Wurmbrand’s Tortured for Christ remarkably does not discourage, despite repeated accounts of suffering. No one can read Tortured for Christ without being moved by the beauty of the stories. How pastors rejoiced in their beatings, for beatings could be endured. How pastors embraced suffering in order that Christ might be made known, for silence was unbearable. How Christians scrounged for communist texts, not for the sayings of Marx or Stalin, but for the sayings of Jesus, which were published alongside criticisms, which could be ignored.
Rather than discourage, Wurmbrand’s story inspires.
(Note: A free copy can be obtained at Persecution.com.)
But the suffering is not to be diminished by admiration. “Tortures were sometimes horrible,” writes Wurmbrand. “I prefer not to speak too much about those through which I have passed. When I do, I cannot sleep at night. It is too painful” (p. 35). Suffering is to be lamented, for it is the product of human hatred, hatred of God.
Not all of the stories are “heroic.” In one section, Wurmbrand recounts how a priest succumbs to torture and consecrates human feces for communion. When asked about it, the priest replied to his companions that he should not be judged, for he has suffered more than Christ — that is not overstatement (read the book). Wurmbrand delivers such stories compassionately, without judgment.
(I sometimes wonder how I would bear such things. Would I endure?)
The suffering of the persecuted church is not to be admired as one admires other things, a sports competition or a literary accomplishment; rather, the suffering of the church is to be admired soberly.
Recall the zeal of the ancient church father Tertullian, who in his youth hastily sought martyrdom. His family hid his clothes so that he would not stumble into the street and to an early death. Dying merely for the sake of dying is meaningless; it testifies not to the glory of God, but to man.
As he matured, Tertullian learned he had much to do for Christ, teaching the gospel and living for God. He had much to endure.
So, the suffering of the church is real; it is not a badge we wear. In the comfort of our homes in the Land of the Free, we might all too often lose sight of this great suffering, imagining it to be something it is not.
Throughout Tortured for Christ, Wurmbrand speaks of the world’s need to overcome communism so that Christ might be freely preached, that Christians might live free. The suffering of persecuted church is beautiful, not because they suffer, but because they suffer and believe. We cannot speak of their suffering without speaking of their believing – that is the beauty of their story: they believe in and love Jesus despite their tortures.
“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal which comes upon you to prove you, as thought something strange were happening to you. But rejoice in so far as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed” (1 Peter 4:12-13).
As a body, as Christians, we face two challenges: a life of purity and persecution, and these are intertwined. The life we lead and the sufferings we endure are the sum total of our faith. We bear his name. Our existence is his witness, and our word his testimony. In every place and in every situation, Jesus is known through us, through our faith, and he upholds his people. Glory to God.
Postscript: The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church is Nov. 9. Let us remember our brothers and sisters in prayer.
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- How much of Jesus is enough?
- I have seen beautiful things
- Two types of sin?
- Blessed are they who are persecuted
- Sunday is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church
© 2010, Mark Adams. All rights reserved. For inquiries press here.
Originally posted 2008-10-29 23:13:39.
