Acknowledging

The words of Christ in Matthew 10:32 are as follows; "Therefore, everyone who will acknowledge Me before men, I will also acknowledge him before My Father in heaven." Outside of the expected times of the year, Easter and Christmas, do you take a stand for Christ? Do you acknowledge Him above and before all things? 

I remember April 20, 1999, Mary was pregnant with our first child, and I worked in an organization that taught teenagers diversity and communication training. The events of that day changed the way I sought to teach about Christ and charted a path I hoped to be able to fulfill in raising my own children. The following combines several versions of the same account after the Littleton, Colorado, school shooting. On April 20, 1999, Rachel Scott sat outside the cafeteria when two troubled students armed with guns came up the stairs at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. They opened fire, hitting her three times. After leaving to find more victims, they returned to where Rachel lay crying in pain. One of them lifted her head by her ponytail and jeered, "Do you believe in God?" She answered, "Yes." He put the gun to her temple and killed her. The many recorded accounts of that day recalled a young lady who acknowledged Christ to a peer and found herself face-to-face with Christ the next moment. 

In the ending verses recorded by Matthew in Chapter 10, Christ shares with the disciples both the importance and the cost of following Him. Matthew tends to teach us many lessons presented as conversations with the disciples. In the KJV, rather than the word "acknowledge," the word that is translated is "confess." Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven." To confess means to affirm, to agree, or to identify with. When we follow Christ, we don't sit back in silence; we tell others that we belong to Him. So is that true of your relationship with Christ? Are you silent, or do those around you know that you belong to Christ or that you identify with Christ? 

Dr. Eugene Peterson's writing of The Message translates the verse another way. "Stand up for me against world opinion, and I'll stand up for you before my Father in heaven. If you turn tail and run, do you think I'll cover for you?" When we stand up for Christ, we could very well be presenting ourselves against the opinions of others. It is important to remember that the love for others in this world is temporal, but the love of Christ is eternal.

Contrary to what this world believes, we do not find our lives by indulging in the pleasures, the stuff, the safety, and the security of this world. That's a recipe for losing your life. Instead, we find our lives in sacrificing these things for the sake of the pleasure, safety, and security to be found in Christ when we acknowledge Him. When we live like that, the reward is not just for us. Yes, it is for us—we find joy, peace, and life as we live in and with Christ for the spread of the gospel—but it's also for those who hear our proclamation of Christ. When they believe in the gospel, they, too, experience eternal reward! Isn't that worth it?