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| Joan of Arc, the savior of France |
There was much to it. For a man to really be a "great" man, it seems that by history's standards, he must have great wit, survive some great calamity, be educated by a great man, have a great religious standard, rule or conquer a great kingdom, be great in his treatment of his subjects and soldiers, write a few great things, and stand out as a great leader. Phew. That's a lot of greats.
Still, this is such a low, low standard for being great. If a man truly was great with every bit of his heart and soul behind it, he would have to do much more. Being truly great would mean to know everything that ever was, is, or ever shall be. It would mean living through life's greatest disasters, and yet having the greatest wealth and privilege as well. To be a great person in your very essence would force a person to be the ultimate educator, to author your own religion, to be the awe of everyone who ever lived, and at the same time the pure hate of these very people. To write the greatest masterpiece ever written, and to make it exceed not by just a little the other works. To be the most powerful leader, and yet the humblest servant. The most loving person, but the one most likely to invoke fear in any individual or group, no matter how powerful. To be nothing but absolute good, and to have no traces of evil or sin in your life. To be God.
"Wait a minute!," you're thinking, "To be great, you don't have to be God." Well, technically, no, but if you want to come anywhere close to the epitome of greatness, you'll have to come pretty stinking close to being God. Don't hear what I'm not saying: that these men should stop being called great. No, of course not! They were fantastic as men, and I admire them ever so deeply, but the reality is they weren't God. But even the Creator of the Universe -- the Creator of time itself! -- chose not to stop with being great. No, he went much farther.
Willing to suffer, God died on our behalf. We who were ugly, disgusting, unworthy, sinners, an insult to the very name of God -- he died for us. Jonathan Edwards said it well:
The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked; his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else but to be cast into the fire; be is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times so abominable in his eyes as the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours. You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince; and yet it is nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment. 'Tis to be ascribed to nothing else, that you did not go to hell the last night; that you were suffered to awake again in this world, after you closed your eyes to sleep. And there is no other reason to be given why you have not dropped into hell since you arose in the morning, but that God's hand has held you tip. There is no other reason to be given why you haven't gone to hell since you have sat here in the House of God, provoking his pure eyes by your sinful wicked manner of attending his solemn worship; yea, there is nothing else that is to be given as a reason why you don't this very moment drop down into hell...And now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein Christ has thrown the door of mercy wide open, and stands in the door calling and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners; a day wherein many are flocking to Him, and pressing into the kingdom of God. Many are daily coming from the east, west, north, and south., many that were very lately in the same miserable condition that you are in, are now in a happy state, with their hearts filled with love to Him who has loved them, and washed them from their sins in his own blood, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God.
If you couldn't read that, just copy-paste it into a document and enlarge it. It takes up a lot of space, but you need to read it. Now.
The point is, God is completely great in every way, if he would do this for us! And even if he didn't do it, he still is worthy of every praise.
So why did I call this post "Conquistadors"? I did so because that is what we are called to be. See Matthew 28 and the book of Acts for proof. If we serve such a great God, shouldn't we want to get out there and spread the message of his loving grace toward us? And if this is the case, why shouldn't we be conquistadors for the Cross?
Alfred the Great, Charlemagne, and Constantine are three fantastic examples of rulers who were used by God to save their nations. All three of these men, though, did it partly by conquering in battles, and much by conquering hearts. They showed their people the Living God, and the people wanted more of him. Mini-renaissances happened in these nations. Often it began with a single step of action for the Gospel, which is something each of us should aspire to accomplish. That first step is hardest, and from there you have to go if you've really experienced the love of God. Loving God makes you want others to have him for a king, and it makes you want to serve him in every action. As St. Augustine said,
"Love God and do what you please."
We should want to spread his kingdom.
How this should be done is a question that has spanned the ages. Martin Luther King, Jr. believed firmly in peace. The Crusades were not afraid of violence. The Separatists of England chose to start over all together. But, regardless of how it is done, there is no question as to what must be done. The how depends on the situation, but the what remains. Go into all the world. And don't turn back. There are two things Mr. Baker told me which I will never forget. The first,
"Move forward, be swift, never let the dust of the earth touch you."
In other words, don't doubt what you're called to do for a single moment if you know you're called to do it. And finally, I leave you with my favorite thing he's ever taught me,
Theorein- Greek, verb: the act of gazing intently
Mr. Baker showed us a depiction of Moses gazing at the burning bush, awed at the majesty of God. What are you gazing intently upon? Does it strike your heart with terror, and yet with a firm, unshakable love? Is it the God of the Universe, who holding you over the very gates of hell, chose to rescue you and call you his child, his beloved? I challenge you to love him for that, and simply for being God. I challenge you, and myself, and any brother or sister out there, to go all out for this God. Be changed. Tell everyone about him. Dance the dance, sing the song, know the Book, love our Lord. One step can change the world. Be conquistadors.
Meridian
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