By Deepak Iype David
In a particular part of India, near a holy place, there was a sage who was a renowned scholar and a religious authority in his area. He was very strict in observing religious rituals and as an act of worship, would rise up early in the morning at sunrise to worship the sun. This was being done consistently by him since he committed his life to spiritual ways. Each day he would rise before sun rise and do all the ritual as prescribed by the holy books or the standard practice in that part of the world. He had a beautiful small clay pot that he used to carry with him everywhere, and normally he carries water in this small pot. Normally when he goes to worship the sun in the morning, he does not carry the clay pot with him.
One day he was sleeping in a temple nearby, and he woke up early in the morning and went for his worship. As a standard practice, he normally has a bath before he does the worship. There was a river near the temple, and he went there to have his morning bath. When he reached there only did he realise that he had the clay pot with him, his only belonging and he did not want to leave it in the open, fear of somebody stealing it. He pondered for a moment and then kept his clay pot on the banks of the river, and covered it with sand from the river bank so as to make a pile of sand which covered the clay pot and it was very wisely hidden underneath the pile. He went to the river to have his bath. It was at this time that a team of pilgrims reached the river to bathe and for their morning prayers. What they saw there was the holy man making the pile of sand, (they did not see the pot underneath) and then worshipping. They came to the conclusion that since the holy man has done this, it is a standard practice to have perfection in worship and for their worship to be acceptable to God. Without hesitation or second thought, all of them started making sand piles similar to the one that was created by the sage and went into the river for their bath and morning worship. Not to mention the poor state in which the sage was when he came out and saw not one but many piles of sand on the river bank.
We might laugh at this story or think what foolish people the pilgrims were when we read the story. This is the state of the Christian church today. The teachings of Christ and Bible are cornered to a remote place at home, and what are blindly followed are the church practices or what is observed by the church leaders. In today’s world, people pursue miracles such as healing, speaking in tongues, etc.. etc.. when the basis of Christianity lies far behind. Our faith is a very simple one, yet complex to observe. When we study and examine the word of God strictly, we find that during the days of our Lord, there was a multitude with Him wherever he went. A clear situation is when the lord feeds the thousands with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. All of these people might not have been believers. There might be people who followed Him only to see a miracle or to get healing and from when we see today, we can understand the human nature would have been the same at that time too. They heard about a person called Jesus and that He was doing mighty things and hence went to see Him or hear what He preached. Still we find that Jesus has a group with Him whom he counted on, to support His ministry, and these people were His disciples, and it is worth to note that it was this group who were called Christians in Antioch. We are also called by this name today and it is up to us to understand from the scriptures when it means to be called a Christian.
The very essence of Christian life looks up to the second coming of our Lord in all glory and splendor. The Lord himself said that there would be time when the King would sit on the throne of Glory and judge all the nations. He clearly stated that he would divide his flock as a shepherd does between the sheep and the goat. (Mathew 25: 31-46) The sheep on His right and the goat on His left. To the people on His right he would say,” Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.”
This is the basis of Christian life. We follow a master who being in the form of God thought it robbery to be God and lowered himself until his humiliated death on the cross. (Philippians 2: 6-8) He was always with the ordinary people. He was never found proclaiming His glory. He became man so that we mankind would follow the example what he has shown. He never took any glory for himself, he never started any organisation, he was never found collecting funds for His disciples. Where do we stand? Where does Christianity stand? Answers to these questions would raise another important question which would be that if Christ comes to this world today; would we as Christians be on his left or right? The answer is straight forward and the reference is the Word of God and only the Word of God. We need to have the right discernment on things that are coming from God. All miracles need not be from God. Let us not adhere to genealogical doctrines and practices, but turn to the Word of God for wisdom. Let us not turn to preachers to introduce new doctrines each day but hold fast to the doctrines in the scriptures.
The Word of God is complete and there is no need for anyone to add or take away anything from it. God gave the wisdom to many linguists to translate His word to many languages so that the common man would understand what is written. It is written in our own language, for us as gift, a gift to use, to study and to follow.
When there are hordes of people who cannot afford one meal a day, our duty to humanity does not end or is not within the walls of our churches. We need to come out to society, as what Jesus did. He did not preach inside the church, he did not go to the religious leaders. He came to the down trodden folks, ordinary people and this is Christian life. Many times it is a shock looking at the budget that is kept apart for crusades. Millions are spent every year to hold crusades in areas where the gospel is already preached, in areas where Christianity is thriving. If these funds are used to obey what the master said; Feed the hungry, clothe the naked etc Christianity would be acclaimed as unique, we as Christians would be recognised as followers of Christ. Let us in one spirit take a decision to adhere to and only to the Word of God, practice what it says and extended our withered hands towards society. Let us not be among the people to whom He would say, “I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers” (Mathew 7: 13-27)
We have a responsibility to “Teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Mathew 28: 20) and this should start at our Jerusalem; our home, from there let it spread to all Judaea; and then in Samaria; our society and then go to the ends of the earth. Let us examine ourselves in the light of the Word that we be worthy to really be called Christians – and let this be our motive – a motive to follow with His grace!
