Living without fear in the face of suffering.

A friend of mine told me a joke today. Two men are stranded on a remote Pacific island after their plane crashes. One of the men bemoans their fate and shouts "we are finished" to the sky. "We'll never make it out alive" he groans! The second man gently urges him not to worry.

"Why?"

"Because I make $1,000,000 a month," comes the response.

"OH NO!" the whiner says. "We're doomed!"

"No we're not" is the calm response of the first man. "I make $1,000,000 dollars a month!"

"How in the world does that help us when we're stranded?" comes the choked cry.

"Because I tithe 10% and there's no freaking way my pastor is losing all that money!"

I'm going to try to weave a thought with this illustration. It has nothing to do with tithing and everything to do with a seemingly unnatural lack of fear in the face of certain death. It is not about what we can expect for our actions but what we have been granted by the actions of another.

There are two types of people who don't fear death: The fool and those who are justified in Christ...and the fool is lying. Empirically, death is the mortal enemy of all and the implications of that enemy lead us only to a fearful expectation of judgment and raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. (Hebrews 10)

In a perfect creation, death could not exist simply because there could be no decay. The supreme existence could not by nature fall into ruin. In such a life, we would reap a consummate harvest from every ounce of labor we committed ourselves to. But in the circle of life of this world death is the rot that bides its time in the marrow of every bone. This rot of decay is thus our greatest fear because our mortality proves our brokenness and sin.

Enter glorification: It is the most generous promise offered by God, through Christ, to mankind for in it we have the covenant of a perfect renewal for all of creation. The hope of glory is our triumph over sin's curse of the flesh. So what is the proof of this hope? This is where the true circle of life makes its full turn. The mast upon which it rotates is greased by the Christian's suffering in this world. Thus we rejoice, for having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us. (Romans 5)

The truest sign of the world's judgment then is this: That the Christian who suffers for righteousness' sake finds hope in his promised glorification and proves the condemnation of the world. To rephrase Philippians 1, "You are not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God. For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake."