For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. ––Romans 10:10

St. Ignatius of Antioch (98-117 AD) was a Syrian who became a disciple of the Apostle John after converting to Christianity from paganism. He rose to prominence in the Church and succeeded the Apostle Peter as the third bishop of Antioch, being ordained by Peter himself. Ignatius defied pagan Emperor Trajan’s edict to worship false gods, and was fed to the lions before the crowds of the Coliseum.

“Be it so” are words of a man who has stopped caring about what men think— especially powerful men like Emperor Trajan. If Ignatius were living among us in the digital age, he would have a problem with men today, men who are so concerned about being accepted or liked by people, bosses, friends, peers, neighbors, or the guy in seat 22A next to him.

Finding “Be it so” air to breathe is really hard in today’s world. Loss of a strong identity in Christ has created a culture of Christian men who are more at ease chasing cool and being liked. We want to be admired and respected but not really known. Sexual conquest, physical attractiveness, recognition, and status have landed many of God’s men in a stupor of self-importance and spiritual insignificance.

It’s a subtle game, but a game nonetheless. Instead of “Be it so,” they are hitting the crack pipe of being liked, which is too intoxicating to give up. Being liked by everyone is the wicked twin of “Be it so”: a charade, an act, and a fraud. It’s a show—a parlor trick—versus what a real God’s man is supposed to be. The only outcome of a life devoted to the shadow is a life controlled and dominated by sin, because there is no honesty in that life.

Where there is no honesty, there is sickness of character, which is expressed in sick conduct and sin. And we wonder why we fail in our relationships with God and people.  In the end, neither buys our act.

What honored God during the Roman persecutions still honors Him today. Be a man of God’s Word and one’s personal word, committed to Christ, surrendered to the direction of the Holy Spirit. This is what makes earthly kings tremble and Jesus smile.

Thank You, Father, for showing me what comes naturally and then what comes from You.

 

 

Every Man Ministries