I am put back in my place every time I hear the story of someone who is killed because they refuse to stop preaching the gospel.

Last Friday, MSNBC released a story about Ri Hyon Ok, a North Korean woman who was publicly executed for distributing Bibles. Her family has been taken to a national prison camp.

Ri believed that the gospel was real. She new that her country needed to hear about salvation. She believed that without salvation through Christ, hell is inevitable. She wasn’t afraid to go against a corrupt dictator to get God’s word out to the people.

I would like to think that I would stand up for Christ unto death, but what does my life reveal? God says that people who are entrusted with small things will be entrusted with bigger things. Have I stood up for Christ in small things? 

Maybe. Sometimes. But I think I overwhelmingly let opportunities slide by. The reality is that I would rather not offend someone (especially if it is a family member or close friend). And even more than offending someone, standing up for Christ makes me uncomfortable. I don’t like to be uncomfortable.

But what will be more offensive to my friends and family when they die: the fact that I saved them from an awkward conversation or the fact that they were never challenged to consider the claims of the Bible? Hell is just as real as heaven. I know that I need to live like it.