What is the Value of the Cause?

Today, being the national recognition of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, I have been pondering the magnitude of his contribution to the Civil Rights Movement. The passion and resolve he, and countless others, had to right a horrific wrong in our nation cannot be fully comprehended today. This is an excerpt of Dr. King's speech given June 23, 1963 in Detroit.

If he doesn’t beat you, wonderful. If he beats you, you develop the quiet courage of accepting blows without retaliating. If he doesn’t put you in jail, wonderful. Nobody with any sense likes to go to jail. But if he puts you in jail, you go in that jail and transform it from a dungeon of shame to a haven of freedom and human dignity. And even if he tries to kill you, you’ll develop the inner conviction that there are some things so dear, some things so precious, some things so eternally true, that they are worth dying for. And I submit to you that if a man has not discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live. 

The speech in its entirety can be found here. The message he so eloquently conveyed was to not be afraid of enduring hardships for a cause so imperative and to which the ripple effects of consequences are so profound. The reverend knew there are issues of such importance and ramifications so vast that a line in the sand has to be drawn. He knew there were times the value of the cause was greater than the value of life itself.  

What does that mean for us today? What cause is consequential enough for us to draw a line in the sand, stand with a spine of iron, and with unshakable resolve know, without a shadow of a doubt, we would die for it? That is part of the job description as a child of God. Paul, in his second letter to Timothy, has a very similar philosophy to Rev. King. Paul is writing to Timothy from a prison cell. He is fairly certain he will die a martyr's death, and that time would not be far off. But as he faces this reality, he is not melancholy and mournful of the pain he will endure, wallowing in his unfortunate turn of events. He remains bold and purposeful in his dedication to the cause of Christ to which he willingly offers his life. Because the cause of Christ is worth far more than Paul's life. This evidences the value Paul places on the mission. "He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." John 12:25.

What I find unbelievably inspiring about Paul's words here, is his utter lack of awareness and disregard for his own condition. He is not afraid of death and is sharply focused on giving Timothy final instructions so he can continue spreading the gospel after Paul's death. I envision Paul in his cell being reminded by someone, 'Don't you know you are going to die soon?' and him with hardly a glance responding, 'There is no time for that. I need to get this instruction to Timothy.' After completing his directions he gave these reassuring words to him. "And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!" 2 Timothy 4:18.  Paul was not afraid! He was devoted even unto death to the cause of Christ. He wasn't afraid because he had nothing to fear. His life was not his own to spare and it could not be snatched unwittingly from the sovereign Lord who was in control of it. It was probably going to be painful and humiliating but it soon would be over and on top of that, God would receive glory for it all. You see, all measure of fear has its root in an aversion to pain, heartache, or loss of life. When we accept pain and heartache as inevitable parts of our life and regard life itself as a vessel to be sacrificed as the Lord sees fit, it strangles fear. Friend, let me say that again. It strangles fear! "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Romans 8:18. Pain and heartache often are devastating and nobody welcomes it. But accepting it, knowing that Christ is still with you, God himself is in you, makes it able to be endured and kills the fear.

When we believe and understand our position in Christ, and understand the sovereignty He has over our lives, we comprehend that Satan is powerless. He is POWERLESS, to wield his attacks on us and be successful without Sovereign God's permission. The only thing Satan can do is make us afraid he can. We are cherished, protected, covered, and sheltered by the mighty hand of God. Our lives will last as long as He wants them to. The cause of Christ is worth braving the fires of Hell so the message in its entirety is delivered. Sacrifice of any kind is difficult but by it very definition it declares higher value for the item for which it is sacrificed. Cambridge dictionary defines sacrifice this way: to give up something for something else considered more important. The value of the cause is priceless. How much then does it devalue Christ and His purpose that we will not even sacrifice sleep to be about His body, the church, on Sunday morning? How much is knowing Him devalued when we will not sacrifice time for our own pleasure to get to know Him better by studying His word? And how much does it devalue His power to not sacrifice time wasted for our amusement to spend extensive time in prayer? Our lack of sacrifice for these godly things is evidence that they do not hold as much value to us as the things we would be sacrificing.

Dr. King's cause, the Civil Rights Movement, was valued far higher than that of a single man and he called on his followers to make those important sacrifices to bring about changes our country desperately needed. It was to liberate those who had been oppressed in this country for more than a century. Paul's cause, as well as ours, is valued even higher. It is to liberate all of humanity and free us from the oppression and bondage of sin. What will we as individuals sacrifice for that? There is no pain too great, no heartache too devastating to not be endured and no life too admired to not be sacrificed for that cause.