The Moravian Brethren have a rich history. Tracing their origins back to 1457, this Christian denomination still has about a million members worldwide. Their famous logo is a lamb carrying a flag, but they once had a lesser known emblem to represent their missionary arm. This image was that of an ox, standing in between a plow and an altar.
On the one hand, the ox can be strapped to the plow and put to work, and on the other hand, he could be led to the altar and be offered as a sacrifice. With these two very drastically different options before him, the caption reads: “Ready for Either!” That ox was prepared to be given as a sacrifice, or to spend his life as a living sacrifice (the concept has been adapted by various denominations over the years).
Church history gives us examples of both options. We study people like Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission, where he spent fifty-one years ministering to the Chinese people. But we also study people like Jim Elliot, who was savagely murdered by the Auca Indians when he made first contact with their tribe in Ecuador. For Taylor it was the plow, and for Elliot it was the altar, but they were both ready for either.
That serves as a microcosm of the Christian life. We are not all called to serve as overseas missionaries, and few of us will ever die for the Gospel (I hope!), but the same two options are equally before us and that ox on the Moravian Brethren flag. When we give our lives to Jesus, we do not know how He will use us, but we must be ready for either.
But the altar does not have to refer to physical death. Paul famously spoke of the concept of laying our lives down on a metaphorical altar. In Romans 12:1 he would write, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
When we present our bodies as a living sacrifice we actually embrace both the plow and the altar. We lay down our rights to our own lives, even our future, and we allow the Lord to harness His plow to us. We surrender our lives to His service, to be used however He sees fit. Some He calls into vocational ministry, like pastors, missionaries, and evangelists; and others He calls to be used in the community, workforce, and schoolhouse, “as we are going.”
To quote Jesus, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me (Mark 8:34).” The cross was a symbol of death—literally capital punishment—and Jesus encouraged His followers to be prepared for that same fate. But the Christian life isn’t necessarily Christian death; it is simply taking a hands off approach to our lives, submitting to God, and allowing Him to chart our course. Rather than being ready for either, we really need to be ready for both—sacrifice and service.
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