Christian Dedication

A young American Communist, writing to his fiancee to break off their engagement, gave his reasons as follows:

"We have a high casualty rate. We're the ones who get shot and hung and lynched and tarred and feathered and jailed and slandered, and ridiculed and fired from our jobs and in every way made as uncomfortable as possible. A certain percentage of us get killed and imprisoned. We live in virtual poverty. We turn back to the party every penny we make above what is absolutely necessary to keep us alive. We Communists don't have the time or the money for many movies and concerts, or T-bone steaks or decent homes and new cars. We've been described as fanatics. We are fanatics. Our lives are dominated by one great overshadowing factor, the struggle for world Communism. We Communists have a philosophy of which no amount of money could buy. We have a cause to fight for, a definite purpose in life. We subordinate our petty, personal selves into a great movement of humanity, and if our personal lives seem hard, or our egos appear to suffer through subordination to the party, then we are adequately compensated by the thought that each of us in his small way is contributing something new and true and better for mankind. There is one thing in which I am in dead earnest and that is the Communist cause. It is my life.... Therefore, I cannot carry on a friendship, a love affair or even a conversation without relating it to this force which drives and guides my life."

Allowing for the histrionics which appear here and there, this avowal is a revealing example of absolute dedication to an ideal. It breathes a spirit of sacrifice which is a rebuke to the easygoing complacency of many of us who confess allegiance to Christ. Such advocates of a cause will always gain a hearing and attract a following. They are not only found among Communists but also in many other political and humanitarian movements. The success of modern cults is largely due to adherents inspired with similar fanatical zeal.

Christian dedication should match that of the Communist in its singleness of purpose. But there the comparison ends: it is not so much attachment to a cause as devotion to a Person. And the extent of the Christian's dedication will be reflected as much in his likeness to his Master as in his zeal to serve Him. He will carry out his Master's wishes not only in the letter but in the spirit. When Saul of Tarsus met the Saviour on the Damascus road it was not a case of fanatical zeal being diverted from one cause to another; the man himself was transformed in his character and in his ways. And what a transformation! A stronger force now took charge of his life, "the love of Christ constraineth us" he wrote (2 Cor. 5:14). Again" I ... intreat you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:1). Here is the hall-mark of Christian dedication in contrast to the Communist kind. It is summed up in our Lord's words, "If any man serve Me, let him follow Me" (John 12:26).

Have Thine own way, Lord,

Have Thine own way;

Hold o'er my being,

Absolute sway.

Fill with Thy Spirit

Till all shall see

Christ only, always,

Living in me.

Christian comfort

I discovered the other day the story behind the hymn, "What a Friend we have in Jesus". Joseph Scriven, the Irishman who wrote it, lost the one he loved on the eve of his wedding day. But apparently he wrote the hymn, not for his own comfort but for his mother who was passing through a time of deep sorrow. The story pointedly illustrates the precious "afterward" of divine chastening (Heb. 12:11). In Christian experience sufferings may be either stumbling blocks or stepping stones. For Joseph Scriven they were the latter. Not mere sentiment but distilled sorrow produced the couplet which has comforted thousands:

"In His arms He'll take and shield thee, Thou wilt find a solace there."

The apostle Paul, himself a great sufferer, gives this jewel about his own experience:

God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort them that are in any affliction, through the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God" (2 Cor. 1:3,4).

unknown | Aug 1973
Comment By Torchlight