Your Identity in Christ
We're going to spend another week looking at this book, God's Hostage, by Andrew Brunson. Great book, and I recommend that you find it and read the whole thing. You'll be very blessed, as I was.
If you remember from last week, he was in a Turkish prison, falsely accused of all sorts of things, but he had to hold on to his faith as he suffered for Christ. This was a very Muslim country that despised Christians.
The Cross in Prison
At one point, towards the end of his stay in prison, Andrew had to have a picture taken. As the photographer was about to take the snap, Andrew held up a small cross that a Chinese Christian had given to him before his arrest. He held it so that it fell over his hand, covering his heart.
The photographer said, “You can’t take a picture with a cross. That’s not allowed in this place.”
But Andrew said, “Please take the picture. Your supervisor can delete it if he wants, but please take it.”
And so the man gave in, and Andrew said that in that moment, he felt something that he hadn’t experienced for a whole year as he’d been held in prison - happiness.
He said this on page 174: “I wasn’t carefree and I wasn’t about to burst out in laughter, but somewhere inside me, quiet but strong, I was happy. I was declaring who I was. I was proudly holding a cross that reminded me of all my fellow Christians who’d been persecuted for their faith. I embraced my identity.”
Then he said, “I belonged to Jesus Christ. I was Andrew of the Cross.”
Our Identity in Christ
I loved that. I thought, I wonder if I see myself as Luke of the Cross.
Now, I wonder if I can truly say that, and if my life and my words match up to that description.
Is your identity in Christ something that you hide? Is it something that you don’t want anybody to really know about because it’s just a personal thing? Or are you happy to show your cross to the world — to tell the world, “I belong to Jesus Christ. I am Luke of the Cross.”
Of course, we don’t want to be the type of people who shove it down other people’s throats. It’s not about stamping this onto people with force, but it’s about never being ashamed, never backing down, and always standing firm for the name of Jesus.
Unashamed of the Gospel
That reminds me of Paul’s great verse in Romans 1:16, which says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.”
“I’m not ashamed.”
Andrew Brunson, in a prison full of militant Muslims, was not ashamed.
How about you?
