What would you do?

Have you ever heard that expression "If you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?"  Apparently, on Friday, these nine were targeted for their faith and found "guilty."

“The shooter was lining people up and asking if they were Christian,” she wrote. “If they said yes, then they were shot in the head. If they said no, or didn’t answer, they were shot in the legs." (New York Post)

As Steve and I pondered this last night, whether we would have stood up for Jesus, I questioned if these people made the right choice.  I mean, it's one thing to take a stand for what's right and for our faith when things are easy.  But when our lives are literally on the line:  would we have stood up, knowing our family was out there, waiting on us to return to them, waiting on us to keep teaching them, waiting on us to be Jesus to them?

Please don't get me wrong.  I admire these people.  Many of you may have seen the meme going around yesterday as to who the bravest person in the world was (the second one who stood after the first had been executed).  Many of you might quote the Bible Verses to me that is found in Matthew 10:32-33:  "Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven."

But when push comes to shove, would I have stood?  Would I have unhesitatingly confessed Jesus as my Saviour?  I'm not sure.  Honestly, it's easy to say in the ease of the moment that nothing would keep me from loudly proclaiming Christ but...but...why does it take a shooting to make this so?  Why does it take a life-changing event for me to speak up, to let the world know I am His and He is mine?  Should not every moment of my life scream this out, volunteer it, and no one even have to ask?

I'd like to think had I been in this situation that I would have responded but in a different way.  I'd like to think that I--along with my fellow hostages--would refuse to be victims but rather have joined together to jump this person, to overpower him and stop his madness, and then?  Then I'd like to think the situation could have ended on a more positive note and that my fellow man and I would have later visited with this man and let him know that indeed we were believers of Christ, so much so that we felt the best way to not deny Him was to introduce this shooter to Him himself.  I'd like to think that as a Christian I would indeed stand for my faith, for my Jesus, and for my fellow man and fight.

Please don't get me wrong.  I am one of the biggest chickens out there.  But Christ in me is stronger than any army, any foe of the wicked.  My hope is that if I ever am in a situation of this sort that rational thought overcomes scary emotions and that my focus is on Christ and what He would be saying to me in that moment.  My hope is that my life will reflect His and that I too would not be afraid to declare Him as Lord.