The Head

Once again, the world is in shock about the decapitation, by a radical Muslim, of an "infidel" in France. The victim was a schoolteacher who, to teach a lesson about free speech, displayed an unflattering cartoon of Muhammed to his class. Muslim kids told their parents, and within just a few days, the retaliatory murder happened, in broad daylight. 

The Bible also details a couple of instances of decapitation. 

Of course, everybody's familiar with David's conquest of Goliath. One of the most popular shirts at t-sciple.com depicts David holding Goliath's head aloft, right after the bloody deed was done. https://bit.ly/3dKD0jY From time immemorial, we like to recount this story, as inspiration in the battle against our own giants. 

But let's not forget another decapitation story, John the Baptist, that ended badly for the good guys. For starters, JB was jailed for "blowing the whistle", publicly denouncing Herod's divorce / remarriage scandal. After Herod's (new) daughter-in-law seduced him with a dance, the lusty emperor promised her anything, and she demanded John's head on a platter. 

The moral of this story is that serving Jesus can be costly. JB stood up for righteousness, and against the bully, even though it cost him his freedom. Many Christians, so used to American ease and comfort, quickly compromise themselves when confronted with a hard choice. 

Not JB.

He paid the ultimate price for standing his moral ground. 

Decapitation is gruesome and graphic but also instructive, about as Freudian as it gets. Like what happened in France, the perp is not so much trying to kill but SILENCE the victim. You can't talk if your head is separated from your shoulders! 

Bigger picture, Jesus is the head of his body.

Although we, the body of Christ, are definitely splintered and fractured and often times at each other's throats, Jesus is, in fact, building his church. 

Satan's end-game, therefore, is to cut off the head. While it is totally inappropriate to respond with violence, as believers, we have to jealously guard the identity of Christ, and his rightful place on our shoulders. Yes, we live in a secular society that (at least) boasts about free speech, but when it comes to Jesus, we can't afford to let them make the rules. He wasn't just a good teacher. He was God in the flesh.