Conditions of Release: Sign Here

Remember them? The ones in Afghanistan who were released?

David Park (Next Gener.Asian) looks at the implications of the conditions for their release. Makes me think what Jesus (Isa al-Masih) calls us to do as we follow Him. Our brothers and sisters who were captured counted the cost and took up their cross and followed Him as He took them to Afghanistan. Took up their cross. Knew they could be killed for it and followed in love and obedience. For them, then, especially for those who were killed, to live was Christ and to die was gain, and nothing the Taliban did could take away Christ’s love for people in Afghanistan.

So What?

But what about the Korean leaders? What would be the responsibility of a follower of Christ in their position? Hard to say.

Was it right to try to secure the release of the hostages? Absolutely. Was it the best decision to do what it eventually took to get them released? Perhaps not. Or as the article says,

As a Christian, I think the best way to send the message to terrorists is to say that our faith compels us to be witnesses (in Greek: martyrs) as well, but not of violence, but of love and peace. While we have gained 19 lives back, what is at stake is the greater impact of missionaries/aid workers to the nation of Afghanistan. Should we be relieved that the Taliban have returned those hostages then?

Did the ones who died die in vain? No, for the Lord will work their martyrdoms for good, as He does everything else. What would I say if I were one of the hostages? I don’t know, but my intuition says that refusal to make the deal that the Taliban struck would have allowed the missionaries to express the greatest love for both their captors and the entire people of Afghanistan.