What Would You Die For?

When I was young, I used to cringe when my mother and grandmother (Gigi)  would insist that I clear my plate because there were starving children in China who could eat off my leftovers for weeks (eye roll).  As far as I was concerned, I would have used my .25 cent dusting money from Aunt Mil to ship the Chinese kids my liver and broccoli.   Then they would remind me that we knew and supported missionaries who lived in China and other, in my young mind, awful countries, (uh, hello, they wanted to eat my leftover liver....), and that we should be grateful to live in America.  I grew up with an appreciation of American freedoms because we went to church every Sunday, and any other day we pleased, without fear that men with rifles would storm in to kill us.  As I grew up, the world did too and so many other countries had vamped up in their thinking.  Only what we would call the third world countries suffered and I imagined everyone else was hanging out, drinking coffee and wearing Levis.  

Not too long ago, I heard, what I later found out, was an older song by the Newsboys called "He Reigns".  The first time I heard the song, I became so choked up that I couldn't speak.  I still get that way every time it circles around on my playlist.  The words are:

"It's the song of the redeemed, rising from the African plain.  It's the song of the forgiven, drowning out the Amazon rain.  The song of Asian believers, filled with God's holy fire.  It's every tribe, every tongue, every nation, a love song born of a grateful choir. 

It's all God's children singing Glory, glory, hallelujah, He reigns, He reigns!  It's all God's children singing Glory, glory, hallelujah, He reigns, He reigns!

Let it rise about the four winds, caught up in the heavenly sound.  Let praises echo from the towers of cathedrals, to the faithful gathered underground.  Of all the songs sung from the dawn of creation, some were meant to persist.  Of all the bells rung from a thousand steeples, none rings truer than this. 

And all the powers of darkness, tremble at what they've just heard.  'Cause all the powers of darkness Can't drown out a single word....When all God's children sing out, Glory, glory, hallelujah, He reigns, He reigns! All God's people singing, Glory, glory, hallelujah, He reigns, He reigns!"

Wow!  "The faithful gathered underground"?  My head flooded with visions of all these terrified Asian, African, Indian and Arab faces, hiding in tiny rooms, quietly trying to worship our Lord and keep from being murdered for their beliefs, but knowing in full faith that the Lord will watch and keep them.  Here in America, we say we support religious freedom, but one mention of God and we are considered a 'fanatic'; one Jesus fish on your car and BAM you're a religious nut. How is that being free?  It's more normal these days to see a monkey sticker on someones car that says "I fling poo" (ok, don't get me wrong, they are just plain funny) than to see a Jesus fish. 

What I'm saying is that, there are still people in this world who die for what they believe.  While we, as Americans, are heading out on Sunday morning, sighing because it's a nice day and we don't want to go to church, picking up a Starbucks so we can "stay awake" during another boring sermon, carrying our Coach covered Bible and matching purse, there are truly people dying out there for, what many, consider a weekly inconvenience.  Then there are those who have chosen to just not go to worship because they've not been in so long, that the guilt doesn't sting anymore.  What exactly are you willing to die for?  Something you believe in or something you have chosen to ignore and assume will just be there one day? The Pledge of Allegiance?  The Star Spangled Banner?  Christmas?  President's Day?  Sunday church service (insert denomination here)? Americans have let, not their choices, but their choice to choose dominate our lives and we are so worried about having the freedoms we aren't getting that we forget about the freedoms we have.  For now.  So, what are you willing to die for?