What Do We Say To This

This man, Bae Hyung Kyu, has lost his life to the Taliban. He was leading 22 other South Korean Christians on a trip to Afghanistan. His crime was telling people about Jesus. Should we hate the Taliban for this? No, for Jesus said of his own killers, "Forgive them, they know not what they do."

What do we say to this, then?

First, we should not be surprised. The Taliban will kill any "infidel" they view as in their way, and all the more so Christians who are preaching a faith other than Islam. But also, Bae Hyung Kyu's Master told him this:

"For this reason also the wisdom of God said, 'I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and some they will persecute,

and also this:

"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues; and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say. For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you."

Jesus promised persecution for those He sends out to new places with the news of Jesus. This brother was persecuted, arrested, brought before the governors of many, and even killed, for the name of the Person he represented. For this, he has not lost his reward:


"And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.

However, for the sake of sorrow in this world, let us remember in prayer the family he left behind and the lives of the other 22.