The Invaluable Pearls I Could Dig out of Christianity
“When he found one of great value…he bought it – Mt 13:46 (NIV)”
No wonder that the Bible excels among all the Holy books in the world and stays alive and appealing even after millenniums. I am a bookish fellow. I have read innumerable number of books in Tamil as well as English. But I have not read a book like the Holy Bible. The Bible alone can give a person the self confidence, hope and faith even in the worst possible situation. Christianity has done a yeoman job for the individuals as well as for the society. It inculcates a feeling of universal brotherliness irrespective of their caste, creed and nationality. As King David said in Ps 119:11, “Your word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you”, the Scripture saves, rescues people from sin and gives them enough courage, mental power and strength to win over the worldly temptations and instills a godly fear in their mind to shun away the sin. It guides them to lead a holy, holistic, healthiest, happiest, contended, peaceful and meaningful life. If one follows the teachings of the New Testament, he is sure to experience the richness and unimaginable comforts and peace of the Heaven in this earthly life itself. CHRISTIANITY IS NOT A RELIGION AT ALL. IT SHOWS THE WAY TO HAVE A CLOSE ETERNAL PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CREATOR. It is not one of the ways to the Creator but the ONLY WAY. The patience and humility shown by the Christians, their character/culture of thanking the Lord for every thing, even for a small thing in their lives, thinking and remembering the Creator at every step and stage of their lives, an admirable attitude to forgive and forget the blunders and mistakes of others, giving top most place and priority in their lives for the Lord, enduring all the sufferings with a smile and unshakeable hope that all the ordeals in their lives were permitted by the Lord only to mould them, really astonished me, made me spellbound and speechless. All the family members join together daily at a particular time for family prayer really helped in resolving many family disputes and built
S. THAYAPPAN 29 up a harmonious, wonderful, close knitted relationship amongst the family members when the joint family system and a good family institution is disintegrating these days. Whatever the impediments that may intrude, they attended the church on all the Sundays with all the family members and enjoyed the bliss, anointing and of the presence of the Holy Spirit throughout their stay in the church and in the worship without allowing their mind to wander elsewhere. The word of God shared in the Church by the Pastor for about 45 minutes really mends and moulds our lives, thoughts, our character and attitudes to lead a holy life. I was moved when special prayers were made for the sick, studies of the children, marriage of children or for their job or for the difficulties, problems prevailing in a family. Even when you worship in a church where the congregation is more than 2000 to 3000 believers, every one is able to feel and enjoy the presence of the Lord individually without any disturbance or hindrance and is able to have total communion and a divine relationship with the Lord through out the service of 2 ½ hours. When a new comer comes to the church, he is spotted even among a congregation of thousands and is welcomed, greeted and introduced to other believers and enquired for any special prayer requirements for them or for their family members. Organizing conventions and retreats for the youth in the church for two to three days to inculcate good habits and thoughts in them at the right age before they are tempted to fall a prey to the worldly sins and attractions and conducting of Sunday classes for the young children to shape them for the holy way right from their childhood, praying for a peaceful co-existence in the area, praying for the welfare and development of the nation, to give wisdom to the elected body of politicians, local administration and government officials, praying for the victims of national calamities, disasters etc., helping the poor and downtrodden in times of their dire needs, children’s school admission, books, fees, a feeling of oneness and a family among all the members of the church irrespective of their social and financial status, caste or creed and inviting every member of the church for all the family functions etc. all these and many
more good things that I have not mentioned here surfaced before me and I was really awe struck and dumbfounded. What a vital and pivotal role the church, the Pastor and the members play in the lives of its believers in shaping their mind, thoughts, deeds and help them to become a good citizen in the society! The whole world does not know what exactly the Christianity is contributing to the world silently. Almost all the non-Christians carry a wrong notion that the Christians are fanatic and they are interested only in spreading Christianity and converting other religious people to Christianity. What are they going to get by converting people to Christianity? Nothing except that the people will become good, rescued from all sorts of sins, smoking, alcoholism, drugs, peace loving and away from violence, terrorism, unrest, crimes, law and order problems which the government and other religions have been trying to eradicate for centuries but could not do anything at all. I am fully convinced beyond any doubt that strict adherence to the teachings of the Bible alone can bring peace to the world and harmony among many religions and culture. I don’t say that all Christians are good. There are bad people among Christians also. They are not actually Christians. Only for name sake they are Christians. A real Christian will imbibe all the qualities of Jesus Christ and reflect His abundant love and holiness in all his activities and to every one in the society even under adverse circumstances. A true Christian who has Jesus Christ in his heart cannot act in any other way. Hallelujah!