Outside the Camp

by Rocky Fleming

Day 1:  Inside Out

“So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured.”  Hebrews 13:12-13 (ESV)

When I read this exhortation from Hebrews, I must confess that I was confused.  I murmured privately, “What is he talking about?”  Then I did a little research to answer my question and I discovered that it would have helped me to understand this exhortation better if I had been a Christian Jew at that time in history.  You see, as a Jew they would have understood the words to be connected to the animal sacrifices that were made outside of the Temple, and as a Christian this would have connected to the Lamb of God (Jesus) who was crucified outside the Temple on a hill called Golgotha.  Even more, it would help them understand why they were put out of the Temple and synagogues because they joined with Jesus as His disciples and were persecuted because of it.  They had been inside the system and because they followed Jesus, they were now put outside of it.  They would have understood clearly the cost of discipleship.  They would understand that when they obeyed Jesus by taking up their own crosses, they would be excluded by the culture they lived in.  This culture would not understand them.  They would be ridiculed, threatened, and would become a threat to this same society.  

You see, Christianity has always been a threat to the society or culture we live in, if we conduct ourselves as true disciples of Christ should, for as His disciples we will live and act in contrast to the world’s value system.  The world and all the cultures in it will be eventually opposed to Jesus and the changes He brings to it.  It is absolutely a battle of Good against evil.  It is His kingdom against the evil of this world.  This is what those Christian Jews would have understood when they read these words, as they soberly took up their crosses, and waded into the camp outside their comfort zones to follow Jesus and impact their culture.

Think of the same thing going on in the Muslim countries that persecute Christians now days, simply because Christians there will not deny Jesus Christ.  Even children, not to exclude men and women, have been raped, beheaded and tortured because they would not deny Jesus.  Unlike what the radical Islamist terrorists are promised because they are willing to blow themselves up to prove something and hopefully gain heaven, these persecuted children and adult Christians die because of what they have already found, and they will not deny it.  They have found something the terrorists who persecute them have not found, nor will they ever find as a Muslim, including the paradise promised to them.  Their solid stand while being persecuted becomes a silent testimony by these Christians and an indictment against a false religion and scares the insecure radical Islamists so much that they want to eradicate Christianity from society.  The precious lives of those persecuted Christians understand clearly what joining Jesus “outside the camp” means, but do we in our Western Christianity understand it?

This week I want to explore what joining Jesus “outside the camp” means to the Christian men who live in our culture.  I am concerned that we do not understand that the biggest deterrent we have with joining Jesus in things He invites us to is our unwillingness to get outside our comfort zones.  Outside the camp represents our greatest fears, and our greatest vulnerabilities, but also the greatest investment of our lives.  Let’s be willing to challenge our comfort zones by going with Jesus to those places He leads us to.  Let’s start by understanding better what that might be.