MARCH 14, 2005

ASHLEY AND BRIAN
by Pastor George Van Alstine

We have all been introduced to Ashley Smith in the past few days. She is the young woman who showed unbelievable poise, wisdom and compassion in helping to end the terrible killing spree of Brian Gene Nichols near Atlanta. She was his captive for seven hours, during which time she was able to subdue his out-of-control violence and bring out the confused human being beneath. Her behavior was truly heroic.

Those of us who are followers of Jesus have felt a special joy in this episode, because she was acting from her Christian faith and experience. She talked openly with Brian about his relationship with God. She affirmed that God still, after all he’d done, had a positive purpose for his life. This awakened some part of him that had been dormant. He had apparently had some strong Christian training and experience, this was awakened by their conversation. He referred to her as “an angel sent by God” and actually said he was her “brother in Christ.”

We rejoice to hear that Ashley is a Christian and was so openly acting from her faith. We cringe at the idea that Brian is a Christian and was so blatantly acting in opposition to his faith in killing innocent people.

Here are some of the questions people of faith might do well to think about with regards to Brian:

• Can a Christian do the things he did?
• If the answer is No, then is it possible that Brian was once a believer but lost his salvation?
• If the answer is Yes, then why didn’t the indwelling Holy Spirit stop him from his actions?
• If he did such things as a Christian, can he be forgiven?
• If he was an unbeliever when he did these things, can he now be forgiven and saved?

I offer no answers, only questions.

Now let’s turn again to Ashley. She did not act from a carefully devised plan. She acted from her intuitive faith response. When someone sincerely attempts to follow God’s will and God’s way, a deposit of faith is laid down in that person’s soul. In a time of extreme emergency, he or she will act from that faith deposit and will be able to confront great obstacles—even death, as in the case of martyrs.

We may be tempted to think of how we would operate in such a situation, but the thought is too overwhelming. Such fretting accomplishes nothing anyway, because the crisis you face may be totally unique. How could Ashley have prepared herself in advance?

Ashley’s intuitive faith response was to see Brian as a struggling human being. The TV reporters were all portraying him as a vicious beast, and his actions were truly beastly. But faith caused her to see him in his full humanity.

Her faith also caused her to assume God’s power to redeem Brian. She even envisioned him having a ministry in the future, “to share the word of God with all the prisoners” when he returns to jail. This vision was not what her reason told her was possible, but what her faith told her was possible.

I was struck by the unlikeliness that Ashley would play this kind of role. She was young, only 26. She was a woman, standing before a violent rapist. She was wounded, by the loss of her husband by a stabbing four years earlier. How could a person so weak and vulnerable act as powerfully as she did?

Then I realized that this is the way God does things. He has chosen the weak and the “foolish” to accomplish his purposes (1 Corinthians 1:27). Jesus himself came in weakness, submitted to indignities, and showed the way of victory through meekness. Ashley’s a great example of a person who is totally overmatched, yet wins the victory by faith.

Finally, pray for Ashley, so that all the public acclaim does not destroy her spiritual balance. And, if the arms of your faith are big enough, pray for Brian.