In the early 1800's there was a revival in Whales. One of the men whose life was touched by the gospel of
Christ decided to go out and spread the gospel to India . He went to a particular region
of India
that was openly hostile toward Christians. After a while he managed to lead a
family of four to the Lord. Praise God! This family, a father, mother, and two
children publically proclaimed their faith and were baptized.
He moved on from that region to spread the Word elsewhere. This
family was so on fire for Jesus that they began to lead other people from their
tribe to Christ. It did not take long before the tribal chief heard of their
work and he took them into custody. Because this tribe was of North
India , known for their head-hunting tradition, putting a family to
death was not unheard of for the people of this village. And so, the family was
taken to be executed. On the day of their execution the father was brought
before the people with his family and he was told to renounce his faith or
watch as his two children were executed before his eyes.
His response was:
“I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back, no turning
back.”
And with that, this man’s sons were shot and killed in front
of his eyes.
The tribal chief asked this man again to renounce Jesus as
his savior.
His response was:
“Though none go with me, I still will follow.”
His wife was also shot and killed.
Once more he was told to renounce.
His final response was:
“The world behind me, the cross is before me.”
When the missionary from Whales heard of the family’s fate he
returned to the village where he found that many of the tribal members and many
of the people who were responsible for the death of this family were now
following Christ.
“No turning back, no turning back.”
This story made me realize that there really is no turning
back from our faith. When we accept Christ we are by no means entering into a
happy life.
Christ Himself said that we are to expect to take up our
cross for Him. When Jesus said that He was making a reference to what it truly meant
when one was taking up a cross.
When Jesus took up a cross He was carrying the very tool
that would kill Him.
In the same way when we take up our cross for Christ we are
taking up a sign that we are heading to our deaths. We are taking on a world
that wants to see us all suffer and die. We are not going through this life
just to sit on our front porch and drink sweet tea.
We are going through this life to change this world and take
on everything that stands in our way.
But we will never stand alone. We have a family of believers
by our sides who are willing to help us through every trial and every enemy we
may ever face.
We have… dare I say it?
A Guild of fellow wizards who will stand by our side to
fight every enemy and take on jobs together.
We have a Nakama.
Nakama is a Japanese word that means a non-blood family
member. It is more than a friend in terms of love, but not a romantic love.
That is what Believers have with one another.
We are Nakama.
We stand together and we fight to protect one another…
right?
Am I so insane to compare something like Fairy Tail to our
lives today?
Bear with me and think about it…
We are a group of people who have chosen to join a great and
legendary group of people who have changed the world for the better.
Fairy Tail is a group of people who have created great men
and women (wizards) who have gone on to change the world for the better.
We accept people (or we should anyway) despite their pasts
and welcome them with open arms to our Nakama and we help them to feel at home
and we go out and take on life together.
Fairy Tail accepts people into their Nakama despite their
pasts and welcomes them with open arms and help them to feel
at home and go out on missions together.
We are Nakama.
We all work under our Master who is greater than all of us
and yet He still loves us like a Father would and He HAS died for us so that we may have the strength to stand up to
anything and everything that we ever come up against.
Master Makarov is not perfect. He even found himself near
death trying to protect his “children.” Isn’t it awesome that we have a Master
who will never leave us or forsake us and will always come through in the end?
I find this to be an awesome analogy.
Grey once said that he had never lost twice to the same
person once he entered Fairy Tail. In the same way, when we enter the Christian
faith, we are bound to lose every once in a while. But why in the world do we
have to fail twice? We train up our bodies and our spirits to withstand the
trials of this life and we crush the enemy on the head.
Yes, people die in our guild. It is to be expected. The
people who die a martyr’s death are the wizards who went out and died on a
mission protecting those who cannot protect themselves.
If we are like this awesome guild who goes out and helps
people in their times of need… why do I feel like we are failing so much?
I mean, think about it… Fairy Tail is a guild people turn to when they need
help because the world knows that they will get the job done and get it done
well.
Heck!
They level the entire city while they’re at it! They rock
the world when they walk across it. They leave their mark wherever they go.
They change the world every day.
Even so, the world looks to them when they need help.
What does OUR
world do when they need help?
They go crying to the government.
They send our troops to go out and help.
Church? Are you there? Hello? Is the Church out there?
Is it?
I have yet to see people on the news in other countries crying
out “Send the strongest people you can to help us!” and then the news anchor
says “Calling all churches! We need your strongest teams to go and help this
country!”
They go crying to the UN and mock us.
If we had a Natsu in our ranks we would all get our butts
handed to us and then have them dragged to the rest of the world.
We need a fire in our bellies!!
Our Guild is being mocked!
We have been trapped in the nether-void for too long!
Our Nakama is being lazy!
I am ashamed of how we all think that this is supposed to be
easy.
I have grown up in the easy life and have always lived my
life as such.
I want to change that now. I want to take up my cross, get
that fire in my belly, and be a part of the Fairy Tail God has called me to be
in!
NO TURNING BACK, NO TURNING BACK!
Let’s go out there and make our Master proud!
Let’s go out there and give Billy Gram (who I associate with
Gildarts) a run for his money!
Let’s continue to make legends in the name of Jesus!
Let’s make Fairy Tail a reality! Who wouldn’t want to go out
on missions (trips) and turn the world upside-down with every step we take!
Let’s level a city in the name of Jesus!!!!!!
And let us make this our battle cry!!!
NO TURNING BACK, NO TURNING BACK!!!!
