Epic History

Tonight, I started reading a work in history. I’ve been into video games all my life, so as I read, I kept hearing in my own mind the opening of “Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past” where the story is told. After all, this was an epic battle that changed history.

Some people are wondering what battle it was. Was it the 300 that held off the Persian army? Was it one of the epic battles between the Spartans and the Athenians? Was it an account of the Jerusalem War? Was it the troops landing on the shores of Normandy?

When I say “epic battle”, I’m betting that’s what most people think of. However, the battle I was reading about and haven’t finished reading the intro to yet, is the battle of Saint Augustine against the Donatists.

These kinds of battles are just as epic, but they are not generally fought with physical weaponry. These are clashes of ideas. These are wars though that have shaped history. When the apologists stood up for the cause of right to pagans and others, they were fighting battles that would effect us forever. If you want evidence, consider how vastly different history would be if Acts 15 had turned out differently.

This is something exciting about history we can forget. It involves real people fighting real battles. Did Augustine know that we would be reading his writings 1600 years later? I doubt it. Yet here we are.

Now consider the battles you are fighting today for the cause of Christ. What you say may not seem to make much difference, but you too are writing history. You too are making a difference like Augustine did. You may not be as famous as Augustine, but consider some points.

Not as many people have heard of Ambrose in comparison to Augustine, but history would be different if Augustine had not encountered this man. Fewer still have probably heard of Augustine’s mother Monica, but those of us of the faith believe that it was this woman praying for her son to convert that led to his conversion. If you’re a female, would you not be just as honored to know that you’re the mother of a great hero in the church?

In more recent history, most people have heard of Dwight L. Moody, but how many people have heard of Edward Kimball. Kimball though was Moody’s Sunday School teacher and when he shared his testimony with Moody, Moody was weeping and converted. A line can be traced from Moody to Billy Graham. How is it Billy Graham has touched so many? Simple. One man named Edward Kimball spoke the truth.

Today, what you do is not insignificant. It is not forgotten. Christ promised that if you give a cup of cold water in his name, it will not be forgotten. Take joy in your work laborer. You labor not in vain.