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Unto Death: Martyrdom, Missions, and the Maturity of the Church
Throughout the three and a half years of His earthly ministry, Jesus consistently called His disciples to expect and embrace suffering, persecution, and martyrdom, exhorting them with such words as, “hate your life,” “pick up your cross,” and “deny yourself.” He assured us that we are “blessed” when we are “reviled” and “persecuted,” and cursed if “all men speak well of us.” He made promises like, “You will have trouble,” “they will put you to death,” and “you will be hated by all for My name’s sake.”
Though not every believer is called to give a martyr-witness, every believer is called to embrace a martyr-mentality, every church a martyr-mandate, and every minister a martyr-theology. Whether we live or die is ultimately in the hands of our Master, and if we have not entrusted Him with that decision, we may be deluding ourselves into assuming we are His bondservants when in fact we are not.
'Unto Death' explores the implications of the resurrection, the imperatives of costly discipleship, and invites those who love and confess the Lordship of Jesus to invest their limited life in this age for an abundant life in the next—driven by the apostolic “blessed hope” befitting those who worship a crucified King and a slain Lamb.
Though not every believer is called to give a martyr-witness, every believer is called to embrace a martyr-mentality, every church a martyr-mandate, and every minister a martyr-theology. Whether we live or die is ultimately in the hands of our Master, and if we have not entrusted Him with that decision, we may be deluding ourselves into assuming we are His bondservants when in fact we are not.
'Unto Death' explores the implications of the resurrection, the imperatives of costly discipleship, and invites those who love and confess the Lordship of Jesus to invest their limited life in this age for an abundant life in the next—driven by the apostolic “blessed hope” befitting those who worship a crucified King and a slain Lamb.
138 pages, Paperback
First published June 8, 2012
62 people are currently reading
151 people want to read
About the author
Dalton Thomas
17 books14 followersDalton Thomas, 27, is a preacher and pioneer who is passionate about provoking, training, and mobilizing laborers for the final frontiers of global missions.
The aim of his preaching, teaching and writing is the fame of Christ among the nations, the maturity of the church, and the engaging of unreached peoples who have no access to the Gospel.
He is the Executive Producer of the film: 'Covenant and Controversy.'
The aim of his preaching, teaching and writing is the fame of Christ among the nations, the maturity of the church, and the engaging of unreached peoples who have no access to the Gospel.
He is the Executive Producer of the film: 'Covenant and Controversy.'
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
November 22, 2018
I had high hopes for this book. The title is intriguing and gave me hope that it was more in line with my expectations than it was. That being said, it is still a very good book with an important message for the church.
I know nothing about Thomas, beyond what he has written in this book, so I cannot vouch for his bona fides, but I was most impressed with his commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ and the high calling it makes upon us.
Thomas argues that martyrdom is not simply dying for the gospel, but a "mode of living." It is "not so much about aiming to die well as much as it is about aiming to love well." He writes that "The event of martyrdom as death...is the consummate and ultimate expression of our joy of God in life." p. 28
Thomas argues that martyrdom is a way of living, unto the Lord, such that we become wholly devoted to the cause of Christ. He writes, "The call to martyrdom is the call to know Christ, to follow Christ, and to bear witness about Him to the nations." p. 26
I love Thomas's passion for the gospel and his admiration for saints that have gone before us. He holds up highly many missionaries who gave their lives for the advancement of the gospel. He cites many missionaries most of us have some familiarity with, but also draws attention to others that few have likely ever heard of, yet he holds them up with equal esteem, for they too sacrificed their lives for the cause of Christ.
Thomas gives special attention to "Martyrdom and Islam" by setting aside a chapter to this mission, calling it "The Final Frontier of Global Missions." In this chapter, he devotes several pages to Raymond Lull, who devoted his life to "Muslim evangelism", and was stoned to death after preaching in a public market.
The best chapter of the book is chapter 9, "Martyrdom and Maturity." He begins the chapter by drawing our attention to Revelation 12:11, "they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for athey loved not their lives even unto death." He writes that if we do not understand that suffering and martyrdom is fundamental to the maturity of the church, "we will invariably miss much of what God intends to accomplish in His people through the crucible of suffering, persecution, and tribulation; all of which will become increasingly prominent in every nation before the Lord's return." p. 121
Some of the best ideas in the book are developed in seed form. Thomas writes, "Jesus has a higher vision for the Church than mere salvation through his blood (as amazing as that is). He purchased us through His blood so that we could express our devotion to Him by the shedding of ours (should it be granted to us). p. 126
Unfortunately, he doesn't develop these ideas very much. Perhaps his futurist interpretation of the Olivet Discourse has prevented him from seeing how martyrdom and the maturity of the people of God worked out in history will lead to the Kingdom of Heaven being established in all nations.
This is in fact my biggest criticism of the book--Thomas is surprisingly adamant in his opposition to a preterist interpretation of the Olivet Discourse for someone who either chose not, or could not, adequately articulate what this position actually believes. He writes that those believe Matthew 24-25 were fulfilled by the end of 70 A.D. to hold and teach to a "false doctrine that will have serious consequences in the generation of the Lord's return." p. 109
His exegesis of Matthew 24-25 is quite weak and he makes many assertions without properly grounding them in the text. For example, he assumes "oikumene" in Matthew 24:14 means "world" rather than the more limited geography denoted by Luke 2:1. But it is much more than just that. He smuggles in his interpretation of Daniel 12 and projects it upon Matthew 24 in a way that asserts his interpretation of that text without actually doing the exegetical work required to make a convincing argument.
His belief that the "great tribulation" is still ahead of us, rather than behind us does taint the book, and does seem to prevent him from seeing martyrdom in a more positive light. For if the great tribulation is behind us, as I believe it is, it should give us hope that the best is still before us and that though God still calls us to overcome the world through much suffering and affliction, we will win because God is triumphing in history, subduing all his enemies already. We should find great hope in this, and not the fear that many will hear in Thomas's message of martrydom.
I know nothing about Thomas, beyond what he has written in this book, so I cannot vouch for his bona fides, but I was most impressed with his commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ and the high calling it makes upon us.
Thomas argues that martyrdom is not simply dying for the gospel, but a "mode of living." It is "not so much about aiming to die well as much as it is about aiming to love well." He writes that "The event of martyrdom as death...is the consummate and ultimate expression of our joy of God in life." p. 28
Thomas argues that martyrdom is a way of living, unto the Lord, such that we become wholly devoted to the cause of Christ. He writes, "The call to martyrdom is the call to know Christ, to follow Christ, and to bear witness about Him to the nations." p. 26
I love Thomas's passion for the gospel and his admiration for saints that have gone before us. He holds up highly many missionaries who gave their lives for the advancement of the gospel. He cites many missionaries most of us have some familiarity with, but also draws attention to others that few have likely ever heard of, yet he holds them up with equal esteem, for they too sacrificed their lives for the cause of Christ.
Thomas gives special attention to "Martyrdom and Islam" by setting aside a chapter to this mission, calling it "The Final Frontier of Global Missions." In this chapter, he devotes several pages to Raymond Lull, who devoted his life to "Muslim evangelism", and was stoned to death after preaching in a public market.
The best chapter of the book is chapter 9, "Martyrdom and Maturity." He begins the chapter by drawing our attention to Revelation 12:11, "they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for athey loved not their lives even unto death." He writes that if we do not understand that suffering and martyrdom is fundamental to the maturity of the church, "we will invariably miss much of what God intends to accomplish in His people through the crucible of suffering, persecution, and tribulation; all of which will become increasingly prominent in every nation before the Lord's return." p. 121
Some of the best ideas in the book are developed in seed form. Thomas writes, "Jesus has a higher vision for the Church than mere salvation through his blood (as amazing as that is). He purchased us through His blood so that we could express our devotion to Him by the shedding of ours (should it be granted to us). p. 126
Unfortunately, he doesn't develop these ideas very much. Perhaps his futurist interpretation of the Olivet Discourse has prevented him from seeing how martyrdom and the maturity of the people of God worked out in history will lead to the Kingdom of Heaven being established in all nations.
This is in fact my biggest criticism of the book--Thomas is surprisingly adamant in his opposition to a preterist interpretation of the Olivet Discourse for someone who either chose not, or could not, adequately articulate what this position actually believes. He writes that those believe Matthew 24-25 were fulfilled by the end of 70 A.D. to hold and teach to a "false doctrine that will have serious consequences in the generation of the Lord's return." p. 109
His exegesis of Matthew 24-25 is quite weak and he makes many assertions without properly grounding them in the text. For example, he assumes "oikumene" in Matthew 24:14 means "world" rather than the more limited geography denoted by Luke 2:1. But it is much more than just that. He smuggles in his interpretation of Daniel 12 and projects it upon Matthew 24 in a way that asserts his interpretation of that text without actually doing the exegetical work required to make a convincing argument.
His belief that the "great tribulation" is still ahead of us, rather than behind us does taint the book, and does seem to prevent him from seeing martyrdom in a more positive light. For if the great tribulation is behind us, as I believe it is, it should give us hope that the best is still before us and that though God still calls us to overcome the world through much suffering and affliction, we will win because God is triumphing in history, subduing all his enemies already. We should find great hope in this, and not the fear that many will hear in Thomas's message of martrydom.
January 10, 2023
I should have liked this book a lot more than I did. The topic, and the need for more on this topic, is a very important one and dear to my heart. I have lived my life to this point, and continue to live, expecting that I will not die a natural death but one of martyrdom. Should I only be so blessed. I also love the spotlight the author threw on Raymon Lull when discussing ministry to Muslims. He is one of my heroes and one of the most overlooked figures in Church history.
That said, the content was fairly bread and butter and did not give the depth I was hoping for. Also, there were two key ideas that I disagree with. The first was the idea that, as Tertullian said, "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church." This is often pulled out of context to claim that persecution and martyrdom always lead to the strengthening and growth (if not exponential revival) of the church. There are many key points of history one could point to in demonstrating that this is untrue. The Boxer Rebellion and Cultural Revolution in China as well as numerous waves of persecution in the Muslim world are some examples. If persecution and martyrdom strengthened and grew the church every time it occurred, the church would be stronger and larger in the 10/40 window than anywhere else in the world. By far.
The second issue is that this author seems to hold to a "Left Behind" style pre-trib view of the end times. While this is one way of reading scriptures that seem to deal with end times, it is certainly not the only way, and it behooves us to speak with humility rather than dogmatic certainty when talking about how God might bring about the end of times. What scripture says on the issue is true, the church historically has been notoriously bad at interpreting how such scriptures apply to their current times.
A couple quotes:
If I get to (not have to) lay down my life in some remote jungle swamp, but God uses my death as an object lesson to turn their eyes to Christ and His name and the gospel gets established among an unreached people group somewhere, that isn’t a bad “risk” for me. I didn’t lose; I won! It was the bargain of a lifetime because Jesus is worth a lot more than my little life.
A Gospel that isn’t worth Christians dying for is a Gospel that isn’t worth Muslims living for. Since the cost of a Muslim renouncing Allah for the sake of Christ in much of the Islamic world is rejection, opposition, persecution, estrangement, or death, they need to know that it is worth such a price. They need to know that He is worth it.
That said, the content was fairly bread and butter and did not give the depth I was hoping for. Also, there were two key ideas that I disagree with. The first was the idea that, as Tertullian said, "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church." This is often pulled out of context to claim that persecution and martyrdom always lead to the strengthening and growth (if not exponential revival) of the church. There are many key points of history one could point to in demonstrating that this is untrue. The Boxer Rebellion and Cultural Revolution in China as well as numerous waves of persecution in the Muslim world are some examples. If persecution and martyrdom strengthened and grew the church every time it occurred, the church would be stronger and larger in the 10/40 window than anywhere else in the world. By far.
The second issue is that this author seems to hold to a "Left Behind" style pre-trib view of the end times. While this is one way of reading scriptures that seem to deal with end times, it is certainly not the only way, and it behooves us to speak with humility rather than dogmatic certainty when talking about how God might bring about the end of times. What scripture says on the issue is true, the church historically has been notoriously bad at interpreting how such scriptures apply to their current times.
A couple quotes:
If I get to (not have to) lay down my life in some remote jungle swamp, but God uses my death as an object lesson to turn their eyes to Christ and His name and the gospel gets established among an unreached people group somewhere, that isn’t a bad “risk” for me. I didn’t lose; I won! It was the bargain of a lifetime because Jesus is worth a lot more than my little life.
A Gospel that isn’t worth Christians dying for is a Gospel that isn’t worth Muslims living for. Since the cost of a Muslim renouncing Allah for the sake of Christ in much of the Islamic world is rejection, opposition, persecution, estrangement, or death, they need to know that it is worth such a price. They need to know that He is worth it.
November 16, 2023
My heart is shaken. Being a Christian cannot simply be a cool thing, like a club or social gathering every week. May God help me to give up my life unto Him.
May 22, 2013
This is a fabulous book. I like that it's academic and research and history based in its presentation of a theology of martyrdom. Yet at the same time, it's not as weighty as most academic books. I like it for those who are connected to missionary work but also for those who are ready to give their lives for the sake of the wrong thing (or simply overly zealous without a good grounding in what it is Jesus actually asks of us).
I've been following this author and am impressed with what I see. Follow him on his website (daltonthomas.org I think, or maybe .com) and on Twitter for more.
I've been following this author and am impressed with what I see. Follow him on his website (daltonthomas.org I think, or maybe .com) and on Twitter for more.
December 28, 2013
Such an inspiring read by Dalton Thomas! He did a great job on covering the subjects of martyrdom and what it truly is about. Too many people view it as the death instead of the view OF death. After all I can say after reading this book is "Worthy is the lamb!" For me to die is truly a gain because of Christ. Forever praise him! Thank you Shawn for the recommendation.
October 19, 2020
The theology of suffering and martyrdom is rarely taught in America. Yet, it is almost a pre-requisite to becoming a follower of Christ in other persecuted countries. I have always been interested in this subject because I believe the call to follow Christ is the same call to give up your rights and life. I have found nominal Christianity to be dangerous and a threat to my devotion to Christ. I really appreciate Dalton writing this book on a much needed subject. Especially as we are quickly approaching the end of days. We will need to understand the call to suffer, as well as, how to endure. The last few chapters on persecution for the end-time believer is worth the book alone!
April 21, 2023
Strong message, subpar writing. I think Thomas could have made his points clearer and more effective through some restructuring and editing of the book; it felt like he made identical points across multiple chapters, just with a bit of rewording or through different examples. I'm also not sure that I agree with his end times theology or that Jesus' prophecy didn't refer to the events in A.D. 70; like others have said, he was quick to dismiss it but didn't provide a great deal of evidence to support his own view. I think this might have been more effective as an essay.
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January 20, 2025"Our willingness to sacrifice for an enterprise is always in proportion to our faith in that enterprise." - Samuel Zwemer
"Do not pray for easy lives; pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers; pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be a miracle." - Bishop Phillips Brooks
"God can give us power for the task. He was sufficient for those who went out in the past, and is sufficient for those who go out today." - Samuel Zwemer
"Do not pray for easy lives; pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers; pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be a miracle." - Bishop Phillips Brooks
"God can give us power for the task. He was sufficient for those who went out in the past, and is sufficient for those who go out today." - Samuel Zwemer
June 10, 2021
Provoking and thoughtful
As a long term domestic missionary, I was stirred to count it all as loss for the excellence of knowing Christ (Phil. 3:8-11), and reminded of the zeal of the Lord for the fullness of the gentiles unto the salvation of Israel (Ro. 11:11-12). I want to partner in prayer more fully with FAI and missions in general. Maranatha!
As a long term domestic missionary, I was stirred to count it all as loss for the excellence of knowing Christ (Phil. 3:8-11), and reminded of the zeal of the Lord for the fullness of the gentiles unto the salvation of Israel (Ro. 11:11-12). I want to partner in prayer more fully with FAI and missions in general. Maranatha!
December 15, 2021
A strong call to an unpopular idea. But this is the way of the Kingdom. It is the call of Christ to trade my life for His - that in laying down my life, I will find true life in Him. Dalton Thomas brings a clear and much needed message to the Church - a message my soul longed to hear. A message that has been like a breath of fresh air even as bids me "come and die".
December 27, 2018
Very challenging on a personal level.
February 26, 2019
Truly inspiring stories about martyrdom, and how important it has been for the church, but I definitely disagreed with him on some of his theological points.
January 23, 2020
Wow, what a wake call! A book to make one think, challenging.
May 21, 2021
A truly compelling call to complete, unashamed commitment to the spread of the gospel.
March 26, 2019
It was a good book- full of depth and peeling away layers of the flesh to yield true devotion to Christ in life and until death. Study of Peter and his journey as a Christ follower is humbling, deep and yet relatable. Really helps show how the real radical Christian looks set apart in this world and yearning actively towards completing the Great Commission.
December 13, 2021
What a powerful call to partake in the sufferings of Christ. I started reading this today, thinking I would finish it in a week or so, but instead couldn't put it down. I walk away from this book incredibly challenged in my own attitude towards the priorities I carry and my willingness to "love not (my) life unto death" in the context of my personal walk with Christ and the outward expression of it. I have much to repent of and am thankful that this book came across me when it did.
June 5, 2013
A challenging walk through scripture presenting a healthy, biblical theology of persecution and martyrdom. Suffering for the cross happens wherever bold faith is, not just "over there."
September 6, 2014
Highly recommended reading for bringing the church to maturity and to her knees.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews