Day: 5

Shahbaz

I met Shahbaz Bhatti right after I came on board at ICC. He was a fearless human rights worker for Christians in Pakistan. Founder of ICC Steve Snyder developed a relationship with Shahbaz and connected him with government leaders.

I inherited Steve’s relationship with Shahbaz after Steve died and, over time, became friends with him. If you knew Shahbaz well, you were absolutely struck by something about him.

That was, that he knew he was going to die for his faith, and he would tell you this plainly.

Due to his connections in Washington DC, he was eventually elevated to the position of Pakistan’s Minister for religious minorities. He stood up for persecuted Christians against Pakistani fundamentalists and their political allies.

For this, he had a target on his back, and he knew it was only a matter of time.

As Shahbaz felt that his time was near, he began to distance himself from his Christian friends and family – but not his country. He stayed in Pakistan despite the inevitable.

Pakistan is a country situated on the front lines of the war between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Darkness. It is one of the world’s most fundamentalist Islamic countries and extremely oppressive towards its Christian citizens.

Islamic radicals are completely woven into the cultural fabric of Pakistan. Some are recognizable by their beards and dress; others wear the suits of businessmen, generals, and government leaders. Pakistani Christians have to be very careful about what they say and do. One wrong move could provoke a beating or cost them their homes, jobs—or even their lives.

Just a few months after I saw him in Washington D.C., I received news that completely changed my perspective of what it means to live as a Christian. I heard that Shahbaz had been gunned down outside his home, brutally murdered by the ones he prayed for every day.

Shahbaz embraced death as an inevitable consequence of bold action on behalf of Pakistan’s Christians. He didn’t spend his days tiptoeing around authorities or doing his best to avoid conflict. He lived a radical, counter-cultural life in order to protect a population locked into the bottom rung of society and constantly targeted by discrimination, beatings, rape, imprisonment, and murder.

Shahbaz loved Pakistan. He loved his messy, broken country in a way that only a man motivated by God could be.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”

John 15:9-11

Jesus told his disciples that they will be sheep among wolves. Jesus’s followers did not leave their occupations, their families, and their religion to gain popularity. Jesus made it very clear to them that His good news would be “foolishness to those who are perishing.” In fact, he said it in the most straightforward manner possible: “You will be hated by everyone on account of My name, but the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.”

Ironically, martyrs like Shahbaz have become objects of pity to the western church. In our hearts, we believe that these martyrs should be rescued, that they should be saved from this tragedy! In actuality, martyrs are inspirational examples of Christ’s love for his people.

This perception couldn’t be farther from the truth. Pastor Ohji and Shahbaz are not to be pitied. They are our role-models.

They were able to keep their eye on the prize. Navigating across the wide expanse of the ocean of their life’s journey, they always had their eye on the North Star.

Death Was a Choice

Pastor Ohji and Shahbaz didn’t go to their deaths without consideration of the cost.  They chose death as the natural consequence of following Jesus in the most hostile of environments.

Pastor Ohji could have gone free by reciting three little words, “I deny Jesus.” Shahbaz, could easily have preserved his life by moving to the US. He had confided in me repeatedly that he would be assassinated, but that couldn’t stop him.

Pastor Ohji and Shahbaz have reached their home port, and their life’s message to us is this:

“The night is almost over and the dawn approaches. So consider the steps of your journey and find your North Star.

Are you tossed by the waves or are you navigating in your life? What goals are guiding you along the journey; wealth, experiences, happiness, or relationships?

These are not true North Stars – they can all lead you empty in the end.

The author of Ecclesiastes cried, “Meaningless, meaningless, all is meaningless!” Given the wrong goal, you are in danger of crying out, “Meaningless, meaningless, all is meaningless,” when earthly things break, experiences fade, or broken people let you down.

Proverbs 4:18 says, “The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.”

Death is often a source of terror for the world. For believers, the Word is telling us that our death is actually the dawn after a long journey across a vast, darkened sea!

1 Corinthians 2:9 says, “What no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived, the things God has prepared for those who love him.”

Can you imagine?

This is what is coming for you.  That dawn will usher you into the home you have been searching for your whole life.

So let’s encourage each other to live lives worthy of what is going to be given to us.

Keep your eye to the North Star and live your life in such a way that you can echo pastor Ohji’s last words and say “tell them I died (and lived) well.”