Stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel without being frightened. (Phil. 1:27–28)
Expanded Passage: Philippians 1:1-30
Some say more Christians have been killed during the last decade than in the entire history of the church. When the Rwandan massacres occurred in 1994, these large-scale killings reminded us that the evil surely didn’t end at the Holocaust. The BBC captured searing images from the Nyarubuye Roman Catholic Church and its grounds, with the bludgeoned bodies of 20,000 men, women, and children. World Hope International, founded by Dr. JoAnne Lyon, helped similar victims in Sierra Leone with its Limbs of Hope program—helping disfigured victims of attackers. These slaughters were but preludes to the following decades.
The rise of ISIS has brought with it scarring images of countless martyrs, from Coptic Christians in orange jumpsuits to whole Christian families being tarred and burned. Videos of tortured Christians remain in the open digital library. And yet, the apostle Paul—himself about to be martyred—challenged us not to be afraid for our faith.
How can one do this? Part of the answer is found in Philippians 1, a divinely appointed essay to encourage believers even though their spiritual leader was in chains. Spiritual leadership maintains an eternal perspective amongst injustice. We need to remind ourselves that in the light of eternity, what we face is at best short-lived, but our response has eternal consequences. We learn that it’s not the machete but the Messiah that helps us keep our heads.
Establish priorities to give energy to causes that have eternal consequences.
Jerry Pattengale is a professor at Indiana Wesleyan University and the codirector and cofounder of the Lumen Research Institute. He has authored and edited over forty books including Faith Made Real (WPH).
© 2025 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
