Thursday, May 5, 2016
This present darkness
There's a lot of suffering in the world we live in. Take the last month's news: a dead child lying on a beach, people desperate for a better future away from a war torn Syria, more than seven hundred people getting crushed to death while performing a religious ritual in Mecca, children dying of sickness and disease...it goes on and on. Closer to home, I have my own sufferings, Accidents, death of loved ones, long term illnesses, plane crashes, lost jobs, lost spouses, failed exams, betrayal by people I love, loneliness, each year comes with its own set of sorrows. God doesn't seem to solve all of my problems. I have a growing list of unanswered prayers. Yet this belief in God, gives me hope. I believe that even in the midst of the chaos of everyday life, there is a God, who is in control, who I can trust. Like trusting the pilot of an airplane. I can't navigate the skies by looking out the small window by my seat, and even if no digital screen told me where I was, I trust the pilot to take me where I want to go. I'll sit back and let him do what only he is capable of doing. I don't know why life happens the way it does, but God has promised a destination. I need to trust him to take me there. It's often too easy to forget that.
Friday, February 5, 2016
What difference does it make?
Philip Yancey, while writing his book Reaching for the invisible God, asked his friends this question: If a seeking person came to you and asked how your life as a Christian differs from his or hers as a moral non-Christian, what would you say? I've been thinking about what my answer would be.
I wonder if people see anything more to me than a decent guy who goes to church on Sundays. Shouldn't there be be more to a follower of Christ than that, I ask myself. And if there is, shouldn't it be apparent to everybody?
If I understand my faith correctly, I think the biggest difference being a Christian makes in my life is how I love others. Jesus said to his disciples, Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognise that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.” (John 13:34-35).
Christian love is radically different from any other love. Our natural love is always dependant on who the recipient is. We love people either because they are related to us or because they poses the qualities we admire; beauty, intelligence, courage, friendliness, integrity, social status etc. Christian love is unconditional. The message of the gospel is pretty simple, we had no desirable qualities that God should love us and yet he did. Go and do likewise, Jesus said, while explaining the parable of the Good Samaritan.
Loving people who have nothing to offer in return is hard. It means caring for people who might not appreciate the time, effort, money or self sacrifice you made for them. It means loving the unlovables. Followers of Christ love like that. But sadly, most people do not find the 'church people' that loving these days. In conversations with my non-Christians friends, I often hear about how judgemental, unforgiving and hypocritical the church is. Most also claim to be living more 'moral' lives than the alleged 'Christians'. It grieves my heart to admit they are right to some extent. Often, the church does not seem to follow it's central teaching; love God and love others.
However, there are plenty to Christians, that live out that message everyday. Consider the guy I heard about last week. One of South Korea's top surgeons, he leaves his six figure salary and comfortable life and goes to a remote village in northern China, where he's been running a hospital for the poor for the last 15 years. It takes more than a sense of philanthropy to do that. He could have sent money for a hospital and doctors if he wanted to. But somehow Christian love demands sacrifice, it's a giving of your life to others that makes love so powerful.
I recently watched a little know film titled 'Noble' based on the life of Christina Noble, a children's rights campaigner and charity worker who has changed the lives of thousands of street children in Vietnam through her work. Christina had a difficult life herself. Born in Ireland in the mid 40s, Christina was sent to live in an orphanage at age ten, gang-raped while living on the streets, her son forcibly adopted, and a victim of domestic abuse. Yet despite all these hardships, this woman went on to fulfil her vision of caring for the abused street children of Vietnam.
What compels these people to do what they do? I believe it's the message of the gospel. Loved people, love people. And most importantly, they love the people that ordinary 'moral' people don't love. The ones that have nothing to offer. That's called grace. That's what Christianity is all about. And that is what makes all the difference.
I wonder if people see anything more to me than a decent guy who goes to church on Sundays. Shouldn't there be be more to a follower of Christ than that, I ask myself. And if there is, shouldn't it be apparent to everybody?
If I understand my faith correctly, I think the biggest difference being a Christian makes in my life is how I love others. Jesus said to his disciples, Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognise that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.” (John 13:34-35).
Christian love is radically different from any other love. Our natural love is always dependant on who the recipient is. We love people either because they are related to us or because they poses the qualities we admire; beauty, intelligence, courage, friendliness, integrity, social status etc. Christian love is unconditional. The message of the gospel is pretty simple, we had no desirable qualities that God should love us and yet he did. Go and do likewise, Jesus said, while explaining the parable of the Good Samaritan.
Loving people who have nothing to offer in return is hard. It means caring for people who might not appreciate the time, effort, money or self sacrifice you made for them. It means loving the unlovables. Followers of Christ love like that. But sadly, most people do not find the 'church people' that loving these days. In conversations with my non-Christians friends, I often hear about how judgemental, unforgiving and hypocritical the church is. Most also claim to be living more 'moral' lives than the alleged 'Christians'. It grieves my heart to admit they are right to some extent. Often, the church does not seem to follow it's central teaching; love God and love others.
However, there are plenty to Christians, that live out that message everyday. Consider the guy I heard about last week. One of South Korea's top surgeons, he leaves his six figure salary and comfortable life and goes to a remote village in northern China, where he's been running a hospital for the poor for the last 15 years. It takes more than a sense of philanthropy to do that. He could have sent money for a hospital and doctors if he wanted to. But somehow Christian love demands sacrifice, it's a giving of your life to others that makes love so powerful.
I recently watched a little know film titled 'Noble' based on the life of Christina Noble, a children's rights campaigner and charity worker who has changed the lives of thousands of street children in Vietnam through her work. Christina had a difficult life herself. Born in Ireland in the mid 40s, Christina was sent to live in an orphanage at age ten, gang-raped while living on the streets, her son forcibly adopted, and a victim of domestic abuse. Yet despite all these hardships, this woman went on to fulfil her vision of caring for the abused street children of Vietnam.
What compels these people to do what they do? I believe it's the message of the gospel. Loved people, love people. And most importantly, they love the people that ordinary 'moral' people don't love. The ones that have nothing to offer. That's called grace. That's what Christianity is all about. And that is what makes all the difference.
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