Earlier this week, my family and I had the opportunity to see the film The Insanity of God at a local theater.

Missionaries Ruth and Nik Ripken recount the successes and tragedies of their time in Africa.  They also share incredible and inspiring stories of fellow believers in numerous countries who are being persecuted, and in some cases killed, for their Christian beliefs.

The film is deeply personal, though it transcends the Ripken’s own story to profoundly question the limits of faith in a sin-ravaged world.  They are forced to confront the question, “Is Jesus worth it?”  And the answer – from Somalia, Russia, China, and southcentral Asia – is a resounding “Yes!”

Jesus is experienced differently by believers who are suffering, as opposed to those living in comfort and security.  When everything  has been stripped away, what remains is a raw, gritty dependency on Christ producing a kind of glory reserved for saints and martyrs.  It’s not pretty, but it unmistakably points to the one true living God.

During the past few years, I have become reluctantly convinced that our most powerful witness is often through persecution.  We can accomplish much for the kingdom through sheer wealth and the economics of scale.  But our best witness – our living sacrifice – is most evident when enduring hardships for our belief in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Taking that stand demonstrates something to non-believers that nothing else can.  Until our beliefs costs us something, we look like everyone else.

The Insanity of God is powerful and challenging, and as an American Christian, it left me feeling sheltered, unprepared, and distressingly vulnerable.

Numerous moments and snippets of dialogue stand out; two of which follow.  I’m unable to provide direct quotes, so I’ll paraphrase:

• There is not a persecuted church and a free church, there is only one global church to which all believers belong.
• We tend to think that religious freedom is required for the Gospel message to spread, but that’s not true.  You have the same freedom to share Christ in Afghanistan as in Ohio.  People can listen – and lives can be transformed – without the permission of kings and governments.

The only barrier is what we’re willing to risk.  How far are we prepared to go to proclaim His name wherever we live?  We determine that for ourselves by answering the ultimate question: “Is Jesus worth it?”