Conviction


In the fall of 2021 Jim and I traveled throughout Italy on our honeymoon.  

Upon arriving in Rome I was struck by the graffiti, and the contrast of the new construction and drab concrete with the older, more historical, full-of-stories architecture of the past... Initially I thought I would hate it.  Boy was I wrong!

Rome as a city is INCREDIBLE.  It is amazing to walk the streets of the forum and to imagine Julius Caesar or Marc Anthony traveling the same roads.  It is jaw-dropping to see the Colosseum and try to imagine its construction without the use of cranes or heavy equipment.  And it is humbling to visit the Mamertine Prison and to know it is where both Peter and Paul were imprisoned before Peter was crucified (upside down at his request), and Paul as beheaded because THEY WOULD NOT STOP TALKING ABOUT A RISEN JESUS!

Death was a fate both of them knew awaited them, and yet proclaiming the Gospel was more important than their lives.  So, way down in the bowels of that damp, dark, small prison - Peter and Paul spent their last days.  

It is stories like theirs that serve to strengthen my faith.  I mean, heck - it took me decades before I was willing to openly tell people that I am a Christian…I can only imagine the strength of character it took to keep proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus despite multiple floggings and imprisonments.  Yet these men did.  And it wasn’t just them…

While Judas died of suicide and John died of old age, exiled to the island of Patmos, the other 10 disciples were all martyred because they knew what they’d seen - A RISEN JESUS, and they wanted EVERYONE to know about it.

The Bible says after Jesus was crucified, the remaining 11 disciples were hidden in a room, waiting for a time when they could safely leave Jerusalem.  They feared their association with Jesus would mean their own persecution. But then Jesus appeared to them. 

“He rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.  He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.’” (Mark  16:14-16)

In reading this, I am humbled, and I realize I’m not doing the job I need to be doing in order to share the gospel with those who haven’t heard it…I am not sharing the Good News with anywhere near the same conviction, Paul, Peter or the disciples had.  I am not choosing discomfort and the TRUTH, over my own comfort and security.

What about you?

In thinking about Mamertine this morning - I realize it's time to get busy...



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