-Caveat Lector-
BreakPoint Commentary - April 26, 1999
Littleton's Martyrs
By Charles W. Colson
It was a test all of us would hope to pass, but none
of us really wants to take. A masked gunman points
his weapon at a Christian and asks "Do you believe in
God?" She knows that if she says "yes," she'll pay
with her life. But unfaithfulness to her Lord is unthinkable.
So, with what would be her last words, she calmly
answers "yes, I believe in God."
What makes this story remarkable is that the gunman
was no communist thug, nor was the martyr a Chinese
pastor. As you may have guessed, the event I'm
describing took place last Tuesday in Littleton, Colorado.
As the Washington Post reported, the two students who
shot 13 people, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, did not
choose their victims at random--they were acting out
of a kalideoscope of ugly prejudices.
Media coverage has centered on the killers'
hostility toward racial minorities and athletes, but
there was another group the pair hated every bit as
much, if not more: Christians. And, there were plenty
of them to hate at Columbine High School. According
to some accounts eight Christians--four Evangelicals
and four Catholics--were killed.
Among them was Cassie Bernall. And it was Cassie who
made the dramatic decision I've just described--
fitting for a person whose favorite movie was
"Braveheart," in which the hero dies a martyr's death.
Cassie was a 17-year-old junior with long blond hair,
hair she wanted to cut off and have made into wigs
for cancer patients who had lost their hair through
chemotherapy. She was active
in her youth group at Westpool's Community Church and
was known for carrying a Bible to school.
Cassie was in the school library reading her Bible when
the two young killers burst in. According to witnesses,
one of the killers pointed his gun at Cassie and asked,
do you believe in God?" Cassie paused and then
answered, "Yes, I believe in God." "Why?" the gunman
asked. Cassie did not have a chance to respond; the
gunman had already shot her dead.
As her classmate Mickie Cain told Larry King on CNN,
"She completely stood up for God. When the killers
asked her if there was anyone who had faith in
Christ, she spoke up and they shot her for it."
Cassie's martyrdom was even more remarkable when you
consider that just a few years ago she had dabbled in
the occult, including witchcraft. She had embraced
the same darkness and nihilism that drove her killers
to such despicable acts. But two years ago, Cassie
dedicated her life to Christ, and turned her life
around. Her friend, Craig Moon, called her a "light
for Christ."
Well, this "light for Christ" became a rare American
martyr of the 20th Century.
According to the Boston Globe, on the night of her
death, Cassie's brother Chris found a poem Cassie
had written just two days prior to her death.
It read:
"Now I have given up on everything else
I have found it to be the only way
To really know Christ and to experience
The mighty power that brought
Him back to life again, and to find
Out what it means to suffer and to
Die with him. So, whatever it takes
I will be one who lives in the fresh
Newness of life of those who are
Alive from the dead."
The best way all of us can honor Cassie's memory is
To embrace that same courageous commitment to our
faith. For example, we should stand up to our kids
when they want to play violent video games. We should
be willing to stand up to community ridicule when we
oppose access to Internet pornography at the local library.
For the families of these young martyrs, I can only
offer deep personal sympathy and the hope that they
might take strength from the words Jesus spoke to the
woman who honored Him by pouring ointment on His
head. "Wherever this gospel is preached in the whole
world, what she has done will be told in memory of her"
(Matthew 26:13).
"Well done, good and faithful servant. Now enter into
the joy of your Lord" (Matthew 25:23).
Copyright (c) 1999 Prison Fellowship Ministries
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