Seriously?

“Are you the chemist we’ve been waiting for?”

Ben was a chemist, and he was here to help with a clean water filtration project, but Ben was also a Christian missionary. His Pakistani hosts had given him careful instructions. Over and over, they told him, “You are a chemist. If you want to live to return home, you are a chemist.”

So, any time an official (or anyone else for that matter) asked him who he was, why he was traveling to Pakistan, anything, Ben always answered, “I am a chemist here to help with clean water.”

That much was certainly true, but Ben had an additional purpose. He also hoped to share the living water of Christ with those he would meet.

Given these very definite (and determined) traveling instructions, Ben was quite surprised at his welcome the next Sunday evening as he was welcomed to the small basement church. He had never experienced being part of a church so persecuted it had to meet in secret, continually changing its worship time and place. He quickly realized that his hosts had not exaggerated the danger he faced as a Christian here.

Ben was more than surprised. He was shocked by the words one elder spoke to him as worship began.

“We are so happy you are here. Now you can go out and show the people around here how wonderful Jesus is!”

Seriously? Are these people crazy? Chemist. Water. Are they crazy? Seriously?

Ben soon realized his thoughts must be showing on his face.

“Why me?” he asked them.

“Well,” they answered, “Like the book says, nobody should do anything in secret if they want people to know. So, you should go show them Jesus!”

Ben took a deep breath. In addition to preparing and gathering knowledge and resources to address the very real and urgent need for his expertise in water filtration, Ben had spent much time in prayer as he prepared for this trip.

“This is not my time and place. It is yours. I am here to help you. Here in this place, your time is always here.” (See John 7:5-6)

“Seriously?” they asked.

Ben’s answer?

“Yes, seriously. God is serious with you.”

This became his answer so often that soon he overheard them saying it to one another when worry or fear threatened to overtake them.

So began an amazing four months in Pakistan. Ben met many interesting people as he helped the people design and build water filtration and purification devices and systems. What a difference clean, safe water made. He also coached and taught in the “underground” Christian church, which soon bore the name that loosely translated as “Church of the Ever-Clean Water.”

Ben was even more amazed at the strength of the Christian community there. He knew he was being observed closely and diligently by those whom he had learned wouldn’t hesitate to harm (or even kill) him if they knew he was there for more than earthly water purposes.

But, it seemed the more persecuted they felt, the more they had to change worship times and places, the stronger they became.

Oh, and their new “code word” for believers? It was — seriously?

How serious are you about connecting – and living out – the strength your relationship with Christ as his disciple gives you?

Often, we expect someone else to act out our discipleship for us. In other words, we choose them as our “disciple-proxies.” Perhaps it’s a friend, parent or grandparent or our pastor.

Seriously? It would do us well to remember. This is our time. Each one of us. Seriously. Yes, God is indeed serious with us. So serious God sent, sacrificed and resurrected his son to demonstrate it – seriously.