The Lost Sheep

I read a quote by G.K Chesterton describing how God brought someone to repentance: - “I caught him with an unseen hook and an invisible line which is long enough to let him wander to the ends of the world and still bring him back with a twitch upon the thread” 

This is surely reassuring for anyone with a family member who has strayed from the path, however far they may be from God at this moment, it’s not out of the reach of His mercy. That said we must play our part in seeking out the lost. 

I read the autobiography of Joshua Blahyi , a Liberian Warlord and pagan priest, once described as the most evil man in the world. He would certainly be a contender for that title as his life was truly horrific. As a pagan priest he was required to offer human sacrifices (usually children) by his deity to give him more power, cannibalism also formed part of this ritual. As a Warlord he earned the moniker “General Butt Naked” as that is how he ran into battle with bands of child soldiers he had recruited. He claims to have been responsible for 20,000 deaths.

A group of Interdenominational ministers in Monrovia (Liberia’s Capital) felt led by the Holy Spirit to start to pray and fast for Joshua. They prayed and fasted for 54 days before one of them visited the military compound and spoke with and even prayed for Joshua. Later they moved into a building opposite the compound and held prayer meetings every night inviting him over to join them. In the midst of one battle Joshua even had a vision of Jesus who told him to ‘repent and live or refuse and die’. After all the prayer, fasting and intercession to win his soul, Joshua did surrender to God and was delivered of his past and set free. 

He had much to atone for, seeking out his victim’s families to ask forgiveness, rehabilitating child soldiers and of course sharing the good news of the Gospel. 

The ‘twitch upon the thread’ involved a mighty spiritual battle to wrestle Joshua from Satan’s grip and consistent intercession on his behalf by those who loved him enough to make the effort.

“Trained by war and betrayed by peace”

In 1916, at the age of 17, my great-uncle Tom was killed during the battle of the Somme along with all of his ‘pals’ and another half a million or so boys and young men. Some 70 years later, the medals he had been awarded posthumously were stolen from his elderly sister’s house by teenagers of a different generation.

It’s odd how in those times the young possessed a sense of duty, courage and honour, a long forgotten innocence perhaps that drove them to sacrifice for their country, kin, and the freedoms they sought to defend. What was lacking in their leaders does not lessen their qualities.

How quickly the collective memory fades though, even with another war in between, all is taken for granted, unappreciated, mocked even. A Victorian scholar came to the conclusion that “War is the foundation of all the high virtues and faculties of men” and “that all great nations learned their truth of word and strength of thought in war; that they were nourished in war and wasted by peace, taught by war and deceived by peace; trained by war and betrayed by peace; in a word, that they were born in war and expired in peace."

This is especially true in the Christian life if the daily spiritual warfare we must engage in is not attended to.

The poor and persecuted church, dressed in rags with calloused knees from supplication, knows it’s at war. And it leans in hard to prayer, clings to its saviour, knows it’s only source of hope and strength. And strangely, through those times of strife, the persecuted become more and more open hearted to one another too; in similar fashion to those who lived through wars do; they reminisce about those days when people pulled together, looked out for one another. They are growing ever stronger in faith and virtue.

As the persecuted church is tested by such trials; the western church has a far greater test to endure; prosperity. The peaceful unhindered practice of faith, lives of relative opulence, slumped on the sofa, remote control in one hand and a mug of tea in the other. Smooth knees and calloused hearts ? It takes us on a downward path to complacency and even to an illusory sense of entitlement. This weakens souls and eliminates virtue. It’s an invisible war, but an eternally dangerous one.

Our memory has faded too, we forget what Jesus did for us, fail to appreciate it and take it for granted instead of developing a renewed sense of duty, courage and honour. Called to be vigilant; to pray like our lives depended on it (they do), make sacrifices for others, pass the test of generosity to those in need, be in solidarity in practical helpful ways with our suffering brethren. We are all required to show up for battle each morning, and fight all the day long, for what we believe in, cherish, hope for.