This week, abuzz in all circles of the social media networks, we find complete contrasts in the Christian spectrum.  On one side, we as Christians are rightly appalled at the brutal murders of 21 Christians who have been beheaded in the Middle East by ISIS.  The heartless and cruel murders have struck a chord with believers because this is injustice, yet it is something that Jesus said was going to happen to Christians.  There has been an outcry.  It’s not right that Christians are martyred.

Certainly, my heart goes out to the families of these brave men who gave their lives for Christ.  They are sharing a prophet’s reward in Heaven and have been clothed in garments of white. These believers gave their heads to the cause of Christ and instead of renouncing Him, they proclaimed Him until their final breath.  We should all be so strong.  These brave souls willingly gave themselves for Christ, while American Christians are too timid to witness to our co-workers or neighbors because we are afraid of rejection or worse yet offending people.  Oh that we would be more like these martyrs, willing to share Christ no matter the cost.

But one thing that causes me to wonder about the true state of Christianity in America is that we champion the martyrs cause but yet in the end, many of us would not stand for Christ when facing the same fate.  Furthermore, while Christians around the world are giving their lives, we in America are having to be convinced that it is wrong to go to the theater to see an unwholesome movie.

Here is where the “grey”area comes to light.  Men die for their faith because they go against the society’s norms and do not embrace things contrary to Christ, yet in America, the church is divided over accepting things that are unholy.  Why must there be articles and social media blasts out there to warn Christians about seeing a movie that is known to be unholy, as if the “R’ rating isn’t enough to warn us. Why must we be persuaded?  Is there a question as to whether these types of things are okay for the believer to view?

The contrast we look at, is the way that we view things.  It alarms us when 21 men lose their heads for Christ, but it doesn’t alarm us that Christians should be warned of an unwholesome movie.  Perhaps I am making too much of this, but I would dare say that if American believers were faced with being beheaded they would not even think of whether this movie is unholy or not.  In fact, we would be searching every part of our lives to see that we live holy in our speech, our actions, what we view and what we listen to.  This generation is faced with a decision, will we choose to live differently than the world’s standards?  Will we choose to live holy lives like the Bible says and quit being swayed by the world?

Here is a  thought: Those 21 men gave their lives because they did not embrace the culture of another religion.  Why are we so worried about not making people upset because we do not embrace immorality?  Friends, be different. Don’t live your life in such a way that someone has to convince you not to do sinful things.  Open the Word of God and it will tell you what you should and should not do.  Not because God is a stick in the mud but because He loves you enough to know what is best for your life.  Let us be so unashamed of Christ that we are willing to lay down our lives for Him and let us live holy lives at all times that we would be ready for Christ at any moment.