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| Volume 25 Number 12 December 2023 |
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| Volume 25 Number 12 December 2023 |
Page 2 |
Louis Rushmore, Editor
Unconditional Faithfulness
A dictionary definition for the word “unconditional” is “not conditional or limited: absolute, unqualified” (“Unconditional”). Synonyms include complete, flat-out, all-out, definite, out-and-out, total and unmitigated. Hence, unconditional faithfulness in God is a permanent state of immovable loyalty to God no matter what may transpire in one’s life.
That’s exactly what Jesus Christ calls upon each Christian to embrace, and He encapsulated that posture in Revelation 2:10. It reads, “Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (NKJV). We may want to appeal to this verse merely to teach that the heavenly reward follows a life of faithfulness, and of course, it does. However, our Lord meant much more than such a light application. Notice particularly the words “suffer,” “prison,” “tribulation” and “death,” among other significant words. The Greek for “suffer” indicates a painful experience. The word “throw” carries the connotation of violence. “Tested” has to do with an examination, to be scrutinized or to be disciplined (cf., 1 Peter 3:14-17). “Tribulation” means pressure and is sometimes translated as persecution. “Ten days” is a figurative expression representing an indefinitely long time.
Do you realize, then, Revelation 2:10 is more than a pleasant and optimistic view of faithfulness and eternity to come? Revelation 2:10 denotes serious and lethal consequences of practicing Christianity in an ungodly and hostile world. The outcome of unconditional faithfulness in God can be any manner of suffering, violence, imprisonment, persecution and the forfeiture of one’s life (cf., Matthew 24:9; Luke 12:4; 2 Timothy 3:12; 1 Peter 4:12-16). If we as Christians are willing to die rather than to deny Christianity, we ought to be more than willing to also live out – act out – our Christianity daily.
Faithful through Sickness
The biblical character who most exemplifies faithfulness through sickness is the patriarch Job. “So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes” (Job 2:7-8). Job’s whole body was racked in pain with no viable resolution. Every minute of every day and night, Job was unable to escape relentless pain. To make matters worse, Job’s wife provided woefully misguided advice to him. “Then his wife said to him, ‘Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!’” (Job 2:9). To his credit, Job’s faithfulness in God exceeded the faltering faith of his wife. “But he said to her, ‘You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?’ In all this Job did not sin with his lips” (Job 2:10).
Job and his wife had already suffered the sudden death of all their children and most of their servants. Additionally, Job, a wealthy man, lost all of his possessions on the same day that his children perished. His response at that time was praiseworthy. “Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he said: ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.’ In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong” (Job 1:20-22).
A New Testament Bible character named Epaphroditus also experienced sickness – jeopardizing his life – while acting out his faithfulness to God.
Yet I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, but your messenger and the one who ministered to my need; since he was longing for you all, and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. For indeed he was sick almost unto death; but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. Therefore I sent him the more eagerly, that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less sorrowful. Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such men in esteem; because for the work of Christ he came close to death, not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in your service toward me. (Philippians 2:25-30)
Sometimes when bad things happen, when sickness afflicts our family members or us, or when death brings grief to our homes, our faith can be shaken or even waver. However, leaning on our unconditional faithfulness in God and accepting the comfort offered by brethren (2 Corinthians 1:3-4) can help us to remain unmoved from our loyalty to God.
There always seems to be someone of whom we are aware who has more medical complications than we have. Most of us are wonderfully blessed despite what ailments affect us. Truly, it is sad to contemplate the maladies that afflict mankind around the world. Especially heart-wrenching sicknesses afflicting children distress us. Particularly people in the world commonly either blame God or declare that there is no God (i.e., saying He does not exist).
Trying to be faithful to God when severe sickness or another medical condition occurs in our homes brings about an unwanted dose of reality. For instance, a young family man broke both his neck and his back, but neither he nor his family blamed God or allowed their faithfulness in God to waiver.
In another real-life example, a middle-aged Christian lady fought an aggressive form of cancer for three years prior to her passing away. Neither she nor her family blamed God or lost their faith in God. Instead, they pondered how the unseen providence of God permitted her and her husband to meet people with whom otherwise they would have had no occasion to meet. Therefore, they provided Christian literature to every doctor’s office and facility they encountered for her treatments. Also, they prayed to God more often and more feverishly than ever before. They examined their lives more closely than perhaps they had at any time in the past.
On one Friday evening, this Christian lady asked her husband, a long-time preacher, if she had left anything undone, and he assured her that she had not. Her only complaint was that she had planned more service to our Lord, and for that reason, she wasn’t ready to die. The next day she fell unconscious from which she never awoke. She died quietly Monday afternoon with family members at her bedside. Like the New Testament character, Dorcas (Acts 9:36-40), she was fondly remembered for her Christian service. For her, there was no apostle Peter to lift her alive from her bed. Neither she nor her family waffled in their unconditional faith in God.
Doubtlessly, such accounts could be multiplied numerous times where faithfulness to God was not conditional or limited but absolute, unqualified, complete, flat-out, all-out, definite, out-and-out, total and unmitigated. Unconditional faithfulness in God is a permanent state of immovable loyalty to God no matter what may transpire in one’s life – even terminal illness. Those are the attributes every child of God needs to emulate, resulting in unconditional faithfulness in God.
Works Cited
“Unconditional.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster. Accessed 18 Jan. 2024. <https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unconditional>.
