“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13
“Born a Scythian, Andrew was brought to Constantinople as a slave of Theognostus while still a small child. Theognostus was a protospatharios (an aristocrat title) of Emperor Leo VI and was quite well to do. He had Andrew baptized and taught him to read and write.
Andrew excelled in his studies and was a skilled reader of Greek at a young age, particularly enjoying reading the lives of the saints whom he wished to emulate. Strongly dedicated to the Church, he became the spiritual child of one Nicephorus, a priest at Hagia Sophia.
Andrew desired to dedicate himself solely to God, and in his lifetime he received several visions that encouraged him in his path. His first recorded vision occurred while he was a young man. After standing in prayer intently for an extended period, he became weary and lay down to rest.
In the vision, he then received , he saw two armies facing each other, one an army of saints and the other an army of demons. A giant emerged from among the demons, and an angel descended from on high holding glorious crowns in his hand, which he told Andrew were for the one who could conquer the giant.
Calling on the Lord for help, Andrew proceeded to do battle with the demon and after a great struggle was victorious. The Lord then said to Andrew, “Proceed with this good deed. Be a fool for My sake.” Andrew interpreted this to mean that he was being called to the great struggle of being a fool for Christ.”
Andrew of Constantinople (870-936) in Holy Fools: The Lives of Twenty Fools for Christ by Oswin Craton (Chesterton: Ancient Faith Publishing, 2024) 9-10.
I am reading a new book. I bought it recently and, in the coming days, I am so excited to introduce you to 20 not widely known “fools for Christ” aimed at good deeds regardless of what everyone else was doing in their day.
Going against the flow of the culture makes us fools for Christ. We might understand the culture not to adapt or assimilate to it but to serve as an agent of transformation calling people to move beyond culture to Christ.
I am in Colombia and the trip is going indescribably good. It’s the first GTP trip to combine four very complex factors on the same trip.
We invited an influential giving catalyst and activated a palmful vision (Palmful of Coffee), while also launching a peer accountability group (Orden) and facilitating Stations of Generosity…in four major cities.
We have arrived in city #3 of four. We started in Medellín, ministered in Cali, and now find ourselves in hot, humid, and tropical Cartagena. We have started the work here but will rest and I will preach on the weekend.
Back to Andrew. Before you think about his struggle, consider his story. He was a slave. God provided education. That knowledge of Greek, led him to radical obedience. That’s where I want us to focus.
He went from underprivileged to privileged and used that not for himself but for others. The apostle Paul reminds us that our battle is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
When a proverbial “Goliath” stood against the forces of good, he stepped up like “David” and that’s what I want us to focus on. All over the world, I hear of “Goliaths” taunting God’s people.
The work of GTP, in large part, is to visit the battle lines like David (see 1 Samuel 17), to bring cheese and bread (basic supplies), and to remind them fearlessly that the battle belongs to the Lord, we must call on Him for help.
I don’t know where you are today. I don’t know your situation. But I know this. The battle you face belongs to the Lord. Like Andrew, the most generous thing you can do is move toward the struggle and call on the Lord for help.
Reply “with you” if you are “all in” to being a fool for Christ. I want to see who is awake out there.