Faith in Action

Last year Brother Andrew and I released a 60-day devotional called Fearless by Faith. But just what is faith? What does faith look like? The two of us spent a lot of time examining Hebrews 11, the chapter some call the “Faith Hall of Fame.”

The chapter begins with a definition of faith: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

Brother Andrew lived out both of those elements of faith. His hope was that the Gospel would do its work. At heart, my friend was an evangelist. He often told me, “Al, everyone has a right to hear the Gospel.” That was his primary motivation for ministry. Why strengthen the Church in persecution? Because those that persecute the Church need to hear the Gospel. It is the Church among the persecutors that must be equipped to help fulfill its part of the Great Commission in the language and culture where it is located.

Concerning the conviction of things not seen, Brother Andrew was convinced that God was at work and had plans for him to contribute to that work. With that conviction, Andrew was prepared to go anywhere God told him to go, whether to Poland and the World Communist Youth Festival in 1955, to China in 1965, to the Middle East after publication of God’s Smuggler, or to the persecutors such as Hezbollah and Hamas.

The author of Hebrews lists sixteen people of faith by name and implies many more. We love the list of their accomplishments—through faith they “conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.”

But our eyes were also drawn to verse 36. “Others.” Who are these others?

“Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—of whom the world was not worthy.”

These others represent our brothers and sisters in persecution. The latest World Watch List reports than more than 365 million Christians face high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith. Hebrews says this about these others: “all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised.”

Why? Well, that’s for OUR benefit: “since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.”

So, according to the writer of Hebrews, each of us has a vital role to play in this portfolio of faith. We are invited to join this list, to live out our faith so that those who pay such a high price for following Christ might be made complete.

I can’t say I fully understand what that means. However, I know I must participate. I must pray for my persecuted brothers and sisters. I must listen for God’s call on my life and obey Him in whatever way He tells me to get involved.

Let’s join together in this journey of faith. To help us move forward, I would like to invite you to view a short (just two minutes) video by Brother Andrew titled “Faith Replaces Fear.”