Another Reason I'm a Christian

I just finished a book called Killing Rommel by one of my favorite authors, Steven Pressfield. Pressfield has an amazing talent at gathering the facts of the great wars and conflicts of history and retelling them in stories that are both gripping and inspiring.

My favorite line in the book takes place when the main character of the story, a British soldier named Lt. Chapman is in the infirmary alongside a captured German soldier who is badly injured and near death. As Chapman weighs whether to go back onto the battlefield or transition to a safer assignment, he finds himself torn between the love he has for his new bride and the deep commitment he feels towards his cause. It is then that he hears the advice of the dying German lying next to him, in words that would be his last: "Do not be afraid to take that decision that a warrior would take - and for a warrior's reasons."

The warrior senses a deep commitment to something larger than himself. The goal is not self-preservation but self-sacrifice. If you're a warrior there is no shame in risking it all, even losing it all, for something you believe in.

That's why, among other things, I'm glad I'm a Christian. You see, the problem with atheism, evolution, relativism, secularism, and the like, is not that they offer nothing to live for - it's that they offer nothing to die for. There's nothing inherently noble about any of those beliefs, because at their core is self-preservation.

Ours, however, is a faith that requires nothing less than everything. It is a faith whose central figure, Jesus Christ, did not ultimately take but ultimately gave. The Author of our faith says things like: "For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and give his life as a ransom for many." (Mark 10:45)

And all that is required of us? Nothing more than everything. Put simply, take up your cross and follow him.

We all wrestle with a temptation that is perhaps greater than any other society has ever experienced to date: to live life in neutral and get away with it; to effectively entertain ourselves to death; to throw some solar panels on our rooftops, buy a hybrid, and live with the audacious, self-justifying delusion of grandeur that we are "saving the planet."

I don't know about you, but more than I care to admit I find myself living in the tension between risk and retreat, sacrifice and self-preservation, commitment and complacency. Like Peter, I want to tell Jesus, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you." But like Peter, I've heard the rooster crow more than a few times.

That's why it's a good thing it's not about me. It's about the one who secured my forgiveness and purchased my freedom. It's about the One who was not afraid to take that decision that a warrior would take - and for a warrior's reasons.

What do you think?