48 Principle 44- A Cost To Be a Part of the Church

Principle 44. A cost to be part of the church. A witness of the North Korean army, who later became a Christian, reported the following. The team had been sent to widen a highway. When they demolished a vacated house, they found a bible and a small notebook with 25 names. One identified as pastor, two as assistant pastors, two as elders, and twenty other names, apparently participants in a Christian group. The military police unit investigated and picked up the 25 persons without formal arrest. The 25 were brought to the road construction site. Four rows of spectators were assembled. The five leaders were bound hand and foot and made to lie down in front of a steam roller, which was used at the construction site to crush and level the roadway. The other 20 Christians were held at the side to watch. The condemned were told, if you abandon your faith and serve only Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, you will not be killed. None of the five said a word. The steam roller started to roll over the five leaders. Some of the fellow Christians assembled to watch the execution cried, screamed out, or fainted when the skulls made a popping sound as their brothers were crushed beneath the steam roller. Why must this happen, we ask. The martyr's blood drenched the ground. The soldier who witnessed the execution could not understand. Later he found Jesus because of the testimony of the 25 who saved his life for eternity. Each person is made in the image of God. Each person's soul has a greater value than all the gold, silver, diamonds, and oil in this world. For what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Jesus laid down his life for all sinners in this world. Are we not to lay down our lives so that others might receive eternal life? The soldiers took the other 20 prisoners to North Korean prison camps, better described as death camps. Because of the three-generation rule, it is certain that their parents, uncles, aunts, and children were also investigated and incarcerated. Generally, these family members will be sent to death camps regardless of whether they are believers. The average sentence for a prison death camp is 15 years. The average time a person survives in a death camp is five years. One prisoner described her experience, I want the world to know about the cruelty we faced in the North Korean prison camps. I was forced to go to Yadak prison camp. I spent nine long years there. They treated us like animals. Even animals lived better than we did. The thing that made me feel so sad yet furious was the fact they also put my parents and children in Yadak prison camp. Because only I was a Christian, my father, mother, and whole family were imprisoned. It hurt me so much that they treated my kids like animals. It made me so angry what they did. I want the whole world to know what they did. She said that she and her family members were forced to engage in heavy labor both day and night. For her father, it was more than he could physically endure. First, I lost my father in Yadak prison, she said. I had to wrap his body in a straw mat since there was no coffin. Not long after, my mother also died of severe hunger. She had been starved to death. When I also lost my children, my heart was so broken and I felt very sad and miserable. It hurt me so much. I'll never forget seeing many dead bodies from famine stacked all around the fields and mountains of Yadak. I want to tell the whole world. Another witness said, we were in constant fear. Even the least infraction brought a reduction in food allowance. Being hungry all the time was the worst tragedy. Here, I ate my first mouse. Escape attempts are punished by death. Not doing your work meant execution by firing squad. Stealing or taking food meant to be executed by firing squad. Disobedience is punished by death. Running away is punished by death, and not reporting others trying to escape is punished by death. A survivor reported, a grandmother, uncle, and little sister were taken to a death camp as part of the purge of three generations. Everyone was so weak, fragile, thin in rags, bones showing, all ribs showing, and shivering in the cold. With no food, they started dying slowly. For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him. The granting to suffer is a privilege. God will give each a martyr's crown called a crown of life, which is a reward for eternity. Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for 10 days. Be faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor's crown. They triumphed over him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony. They did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. The gospel call is free for all to accept and believe. Jesus Christ said that we are to come freely to his message of salvation, yet to associate ourselves with Jesus Christ and his followers has a cost. This is not a message preached or understood in nations where there is not immediate persecution upon becoming a believer. The early church in Acts had great success by the Holy Spirit to bring in many souls, even 3,000 people, during the first day of the church. Later on in that passage, it is stated, the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Yet, in the midst of this revival, when they were meeting publicly in Solomon's colonnade, we see that no one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. Whether it was understood by all or not, there was a sense that to join this group would mean persecution, misunderstanding, and even death as those rebelling against the religious system of the day. Jesus Christ himself was more interested in disciples than converts. When the largest crowds would gather, he would speak the hardest sayings, and most would leave from following him. Paul the apostle stated to Timothy, who was a young elder and apostle of many churches, in fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Thus, we should have as our aim to encourage strong discipleship that speaks of the cost of following Christ in our gatherings. Then Jesus said to his disciples, whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. Such a following will cost us greatly. A testimony from a believer of the underground church in North Korea should move and challenge us greatly. The cost to confess Christ openly is death. Many in the West are not aware of the suffering endured by North Korean brothers and sisters. In North Korea, if people believe in God and are caught by the Kim Jong-un government, they are killed along with three generations of their family. Believers do not care if they die by themselves. However, because entire families could get killed, many believers secretly follow Jesus, but do not know who else is a believer. It is estimated that there are currently 100,000 Christians in North Korea, of which 40,000 are in prison death camps. An additional 300,000 Christians who were formerly in North Korea are missing. Many left North Korea and became refugees in China, South Korea, Mongolia, and other nations. Many have given their lives during the terrible persecution that continues to this day.