By Lamont H. Fuchs, Ed.D.
Scripture references: Exodus 1:13-14, Matthew 27:32, Luke 14:16-23, 2 Corinthians 5:14-15
We are called to be courageous Christians. Yes, meek and humble are traits we should aspire to, but forthright, faithful, righteous, and brave as soldiers for Christ are also what Christians should be in the face of evil. When Christians evangelize and preach the Word to the lost, we are fighting against the unseen forces of evil, and if we are weak in Spirit or faith, we will lose and be ineffectual. We can never forget we are the Children of God and heirs to the throne with the power of the Holy Spirit so strong as to raise the dead. We must call upon that power to defeat Satan and put on the Full Armor of God, as in Ephesians 6.
The commentary is written to call Christians to action. We are to fear for the lost and fight for their salvation.
I was asked to chaperon a home missionary trip to the Outerbanks of NC with a youth group from our church. The purpose of the trip was to minister and spread the Gospel to vacationers and inhabitants of the area. I was disappointed that the expedition leaders were only interested in going to the beach and prayer walking through neighborhoods. No one was introduced to the Lord, and the youth group received very little discipleship training in witnessing or evangelizing. I wrote this devotional treatise for the breakfast morning devotion of the last day there. The devotional made the point that we had not done our job.
I like words, and often I like to play with their meanings by finding and using double entendre and double-meaning words. It helps to build a good vocabulary. I just like words, especially God’s Words.
Compel – Compel is one of those words you can say about ten times in a row, and it becomes a sound instead of a word. Depending on the version, the Bible uses the word compel in only a few places, and the use of the word provides you with a possibly different meaning than how our English language emphasizes.
Exodus 1:13 says, “The Egyptians used violence to compel the sons of Israel to labor; Yeah, right. Verse 14 continues with and they made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labor in the field, all their labors which they violently had them perform as slaves.” NASB (2000). That’s kind of funny to hear that. A rather compelling understatement to use the Word compel to enforce slavery. Bet it wasn’t too funny to the slaves of the Egyptians.
So, what does it mean to ‘compel’ someone? Let’s try it. What would I have to do to compel you to go to church on Sunday? A bit toned down from what the Egyptians did to make Israelis work, but a bit more urging than just asking someone…don’t you think? Let’s look at another example.
Matthew 27:32 “And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to go with them, that he might bear his cross.” ASV
Most Christians who grew up in Sunday School know that Simon wasn’t asked nicely to help bear Jesus’ crucifixion cross. The centurions didn’t say, “Golly mister, do you mind taking this criminal’s cross and carrying it up to Golgotha for him?”
