Dying for Jesus

“Jesus replied, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.  Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.  Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.’” (John 8:23-26 NIV)

Werner and Hannelie Groenewald knew the dangers of going to Afghanistan as Christians working with relief agencies.  The Taliban had long made it clear that Christians were their enemies regardless of what they were doing to help the people of the country.  The Groenwalds went anyway, leaving their comfortable lives in South Africa and taking their two school-aged children with them, because they felt the call of God on their lives.

Late in November, the Taliban targeted the compound where the Groenwalds were living, shot Werner and the two children, and then a suicide bomber blew up the house, destroying all of its contents. Hannelie, who was several miles away at the medical clinic where she served as a physician, was literally left with the clothes she was wearing.  Everything else was gone.  A Taliban commander posted, in reference to the murders, that an operation had been successfully conducted “against enemies who hated us.”

While visiting in South Africa last month, we had coffee with a friend who knew and had worked with the Groenewalds in Afghanistan.  She and her husband in fact were planning to see them during the Christmas holidays.  She told us of meeting up with them at a missions conference in early November and hearing Werner speak.  She said his concluding remark was this: You are only going to die once; you may as well die for Jesus.  

At the funeral for her family, Hannelie said she had no regrets because they were called by God to go.  She said they knew their family was a target, but that they had to be obedient to the Lord’s call and felt much peace doing what they were doing, loving the Afghan people in the name of Jesus.  She recalled what her husband had said so prophetically at the missions conference, and said it gave her much comfort knowing that he, her son, and her daughter had died for Jesus.

We live in a dangerous world.  Our instinct is to seek safety and comfort.  We protect our lives out of fear of losing them, and we teach our children to do the same. Very few Christians anymore seriously consider putting themselves in harm’s way for the sake of the Gospel because we have made protecting our lives the highest priority. Hannelie Groenewald cautioned attendees at the funeral not to go into a dangerous place unless the Lord was calling, but, if He did call as He did she and her husband, then the choice was obvious.  

Today, consider these questions: Is the possibility of putting your life in danger for the sake of the Gospel even remotely something you would consider if God called?  Would you be willing to follow Him wherever He might lead you?  As the Lord says, if we seek to hold onto our lives at all costs, we will ultimately lose them.  Since we are all going to die, shouldn’t we be willing to die for Jesus?  

© Jim Musser 2015