Singular Passion

A week and a half ago, Billy Graham turned 96.  I once had the privilege of meeting Billy Graham in a the home of a mutual friend back in 1999. It was one of the unexpected highlights of my life. My father came to Christ upon hearing one of Billy Graham's sermons, as did my dad's older brother, who later founded the Pioneers missions organization.  

Way back in 1957 at the Urbana missions conference, Dr. Graham preached on the nature of true commitment to Jesus Christ.  That was the theme of my sermon on Philippians 3:12-21 this past Lord's Day.  I had wanted to share the following illustration during my sermon, but I was running short on time so decided to share this story on my blog instead.

During his 1957 Urbana address, Billy Graham pulled out a copy of a letter that the pastor of the Presbyterian church in his hometown had given him.  The letter was written by a university student after he had gone to Mexico and become a Communist.  He wrote to his fiancée, breaking off their engagement.  Here is part of what he said:

We Communists 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 other way made as uncomfortable as possible. 
A certain percentage of us get killed or 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, or 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 life 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 to something new and true and better for mankind.  There is one thing in which I am dead earnest and that is the Communist cause. It is my life, my business, my religion, my hobby, my sweetheart, my wife and mistress, my bread and meat. I work at it in the daytime and dream 
of it at night. Its hold on me grows, not lessens as time goes on. Therefore I cannot carry on a friend-ship, a love affair, or even a conversation without 
relating to this force which both drives and guides my life.  I evaluate people,
books, ideas and actions according to how they effect the Communist cause
and by their attitude toward it.  I've already been in jail because of my ideas
and if necessary, I'm ready to go before a firing squad.

If someone could be so radically committed to such a flawed political system such as Communism, how much more should Christians be committed to the King of kings and Lord of lords, whose "kingdom is one that will never be destroyed" (Daniel 7:14)? Indeed, Jesus himself declared, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me" (Matt. 16:24). C.T. Studd understood the implications of Jesus' call to discipleship, stating, "If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him."

What are the implications of Jesus' call for your life?  What sacrifice are you willing to make for Him?

Thoughts about Brittany Maynard

Last Saturday, Brittany Maynard ended her life at the age of 29. She did so six months after being diagnosed with stage 4 glioblastoma, an aggressive malignant brain tumor. Brittany had decided her death date ahead of time, appointing November 1 as the day that she would end her life.  In June, Brittany moved to Oregon with her husband and other family members so that she could take advantage of the state's Death with Dignity Act. In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE last month, Brittany declared,

My glioblastoma is going to kill me and that's out of my control. I've discussed with many experts how I would die from it, and it's a terrible, terrible, way to die. So being able to choose to go with dignity is less terrifying.

Brittany died on November 1 by taking a fatal dose of barbiturates as prescribed by her physician. Her farewell message was posted on Facebook:

Goodbye to all my dear friends and family that I love. Today is the day I have chosen to pass away with dignity in the face of my terminal illness, this terrible brain cancer that has taken so much from me ... but would have taken so much more. The world is a beautiful place, travel has been my greatest teacher, my close friends and folks are the greatest givers. I even have a ring of support around my bed as I type ... Goodbye world. Spread good energy. Pay it forward!

Several Christian friends of mine on social media affirmed, and even applauded, Brittany's decision to end her life. This troubled me, and I think for good reason.

Before explaining why, let me express my own sympathy for Brittany and her family. In October of 2005 I conducted a funeral for a 14-year-old boy in our congregation who died of a malignant brain tumor. I walked with him and his family through that valley of suffering and heartache. I can assure you it made a profound impression on me. My heart is truly saddened over this terrible crisis Brittany and her family has had to endure over these last six months.

Still, I am concerned that many Christians have showed their support for Brittany's act of suicide. That's what it was, despite Brittany's claim to the contrary: "For people to argue against this choice for sick people really seems evil to me," she told PEOPLE. "They try to mix it up with suicide and that's really unfair, because there's not a single part of me that wants to die. But I am dying." Yes, we all are. Some are simply dying more quickly than others. Suicide is, by definition, the act of intentionally killing oneself, and that is precisely what Brittany did, with the help of her physician.

Arguments for the right-to-die movement are usually based on cases of terminal illness in which the pain is presumably intolerable and beyond the range of medical relief. But several medical options exist for adequate pain control (e.g. analgesics, nerve-blocking) without too much sedation or other undesirable side effects.

But the bigger issue is what Scripture itself teaches about the sanctity of life and the sovereign purpose of God. On these matters John Jefferson Davis provides some very helpful insights in his book Evangelical Ethics. The following quote is lengthy but speaks to an even broader context than Brittany Maynard's situation and is well worth taking the time to read carefully and reflectively:

From the perspective of the Judeo-Christian tradition, euthanasia violates the commandment "You shall not murder" (Ex. 20:13, NIV). The taking of human life--for whatever motives--is strictly forbidden in Scripture, except in those very narrowly defined circumstances such as justifiable war, self-defense, and capital punishment. Societies that have gone beyond these narrow exceptions have opened the door to unintended but tragic levels of bloodshed and violence. 

Human life is sacred because God made man in his own image and likeness (Gen. 1:26-27). This canopy of sacredness extends throughout man's life, and is not simply limited to those times and circumstances when man happens to be strong, independent, healthy, and fully conscious of his relationships to others. God is actively at work in the womb, for example (Ps. 139:13-16; Job 10:8-13), long before the human being can exercise the mental functions that secular humanists tend to see as the key criteria of value for human personality. The same God who lovingly is present in the womb can be present in the dying and comatose patient, for whom conscious human relationships are broken. The body of the dying can still be a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19), and hence sacred to God. 

The euthanasia mentality sees man as the lord of his own life; the Christian sees human life as a gift from God, to be held in trusteeship throughout man's life on earth. "You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body" (1 Cor. 6:19b-20). Determining the moment of death is God's prerogative, not man's (Job 14:5). Man does not choose his own death, but acquiesces in the will of the heavenly Father, knowing that for the believer, death is both the last enemy and the doorway to eternal life. Because man bears the image of God, his life is sacred in every state of its existence, in sickness or in health, in the womb, in infancy, in adolescence, in maturity, in old age, or even in the process of dying itself. Among a society all too often characterized by the choosing of death and violence, Christians are to be shining lights to a world of darkness, who choose life for themselves and for others--offering to the dying patient not deadly poisons, but rather neighbor love and the hope of life eternal.

Earlier in this article I mentioned a 14-year-old boy in my church who died of a malignant brain tumor. On the front of the funeral program was his picture and these words from 2 Timothy 4:7:

I have fought the good fight,

I have finished the race,

I have kept the faith.

That's dying with dignity.