“Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.  Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another–and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Hebrews 10:24-25 (NIV)

Within the circles I travel, it is not uncommon to hear a reference to the “Baptist ‘No!’”.  We jokingly recall the countless times we have received the response, “I’ll pray about it,” when seeking the assistance of another Christ-follower for specific tasks related to ministry or mission.  The response is “lovingly” referred to as the “Baptist ‘No!’”.

If you caught the sarcasm in the last sentence above, you understand the sad and serious problem within the community of faith today.  United by our common desire to consume the “goods and services” of the contemporary Christian corporations referred to as “churches”, we pay our dues (give a little money if we are committed), attend a few meetings (spiritualized by calling it “worship”), and do a few good deeds (if we can fit it into the kids’ soccer schedule).  You are thinking that I sound a little bitter, right?  Actually, it’s not bitterness, it is deep-seated, passionate anger!

The author of the letter to the Hebrews begins this section in chapter 10 by invoking his audience, genuine Christ-followers, to consider their community of faith and commit themselves to living out of the reality of the atonement!  He is not encouraging a little better church attendance so they can look good on next year’s denominational reports.  He is calling them to live passionately, missionaly, and cooperatively for the cause of Christ out of the forgiveness they have received at the cost of His perfect, sinless life.  In the mind of our author, how could Christ-followers do anything else in view of the Lamb’s sacrifice!

While we squabble over the inconveniences of sharing a facility, coffee stains on the carpet, the volume of the worship band, and right day for worship, I wonder if Jesus is saying, “Is this all I got for the price of My life?”  Our brothers are being beheaded for following Jesus in Iran.  Our sisters are starving to death in the cold, damp prisons of China for hosting Bible studies in their own homes.  In the story, “Standing for Jesus in Orissa,” the Voice of the Martyrs reports the following on their website:

On Sept. 20, 2008, Pastor Digal left his family in the makeshift shelter they had carved out for themselves. Over their objections he went to their home village to check on their house and livestock.

Pastor Digal was traveling on a local bus to his destroyed home when it was stopped by 18 Hindu radicals. What happened next was a horror unimaginable.

The radicals dragged Pastor Digal off the crowded, dusty bus. They ignored the sickening crunch of bone as both his legs broke. They proceeded to torture him, demanding that he return to Hinduism.

“I am a strong believer in Jesus Christ,” Pastor Digal said. “You may kill me but I will never become Hindu.”

The 18 men began to beat Pastor Digal. They tied his hands and legs. Witnesses watched as they stripped him of his clothes leaving nothing but a shirt. They burned his face and tortured him in unspeakable ways. Then they dumped this limp body in a creek where it floated for days.

May we learn to consider with a sense of greater purpose and passion the exhortation of Hebrews 10:24, “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”  And, let’s not “pray about it,” let’s just do it!  After all, what is a little “spurring” in the shadow of the cross?