The Journey 200: To Be A Christian (Rev. Dr. Joe Joseph Kuruvilla)
Read: Acts 23, 26
The African country of Nigeria has been in the headlines for quite some now. The reason- Persecution of Christians. Though there were reports every month of bombing the church or repeatedly killing Christians, the past week has been horrific. New agencies report that in the past week more than 100 people were killed by an extremist group Boko Haram, who have always taken responsibility of the massacre of Christians. These persecution is considered as part of the plan to make Nigeria come under the Shariah Law. What is more tragic of the recent massacre was that most of the people fearing persecution, had fled their homes and took refuge in the house of a pastor. But the whole house and its compound was burned down along with the believers, their families and children thus killing all of them. The dead included the pastor, his wife and also his children. What is happening in Nigeria is a systematic elimination of Christians, thus giving the country of Nigeria the nickname "the killing fields of Christians". Church's, homes have all been burnt down and Christians in every village is being systematically targeted. The problems of Christians in Nigeria is also compounded by the sectarian politics that reign in each village and also because of a weak government in Nigeria. As Christians in Nigeria are being systematically eliminated and persecuted, the church elsewhere seems to be in a slumber mode. As I read the news these persecution in Nigeria, I go through lot of guilt feelings of how we Christians in the other part of the world are so complacent of the suffering of fellow believers in another nation and also by the fact that there are people in this century also who are ready to pay the extreme price of giving up their life for the sake of the gospel. Does the news of the persecution of Christians in Nigeria affect the way we live our Christian life today and also the way we express our faith in the land that we live?
This week we are meditating on the theme “Transformation in the Church”. The passage for our meditation is from Acts 26. Yesterday in our meditation we learnt how Paul was passionate about his conversion experience and also in his belief that King Agrippa would also be like him– encountering the risen Lord. Along with the passion that Paul had in presenting the gospel to the King Agrippa, what is more noteworthy is that Paul is preaching the gospel while he is in chains. This is not the first time that Paul is preaching the gospel message in very hostile situation. In Acts 22, he is preaching boldly to the crowd. The crowd became furious by the testimony and he is manhandled and the commander later puts Paul in chains. Paul is then taken in front of the Sanhedrin [ Acts 23], wherein there also he preaches the gospel boldly. He is not concerned about the audience nor cowed down by the authority or the power that is vested on the king, nor the commander nor the Sanhedrin. Here is an apostle who is not concerned about his freedom but more concerned on the freedom that Christ offers to others. Here is Paul who has a strong conviction on what His beliefs are and is ready to pay a price and also take a stand for his beliefs. As we read the news of persecution in Nigeria, we need to ask ourselves both as individual Christians and community of believers whether we take our faith seriously and whether our Christian living rises above the observances of certain rituals that denotes our faith and that we are ready to pay a price for being a Christian?
The African country of Nigeria has been in the headlines for quite some now. The reason- Persecution of Christians. Though there were reports every month of bombing the church or repeatedly killing Christians, the past week has been horrific. New agencies report that in the past week more than 100 people were killed by an extremist group Boko Haram, who have always taken responsibility of the massacre of Christians. These persecution is considered as part of the plan to make Nigeria come under the Shariah Law. What is more tragic of the recent massacre was that most of the people fearing persecution, had fled their homes and took refuge in the house of a pastor. But the whole house and its compound was burned down along with the believers, their families and children thus killing all of them. The dead included the pastor, his wife and also his children. What is happening in Nigeria is a systematic elimination of Christians, thus giving the country of Nigeria the nickname "the killing fields of Christians". Church's, homes have all been burnt down and Christians in every village is being systematically targeted. The problems of Christians in Nigeria is also compounded by the sectarian politics that reign in each village and also because of a weak government in Nigeria. As Christians in Nigeria are being systematically eliminated and persecuted, the church elsewhere seems to be in a slumber mode. As I read the news these persecution in Nigeria, I go through lot of guilt feelings of how we Christians in the other part of the world are so complacent of the suffering of fellow believers in another nation and also by the fact that there are people in this century also who are ready to pay the extreme price of giving up their life for the sake of the gospel. Does the news of the persecution of Christians in Nigeria affect the way we live our Christian life today and also the way we express our faith in the land that we live?
This week we are meditating on the theme “Transformation in the Church”. The passage for our meditation is from Acts 26. Yesterday in our meditation we learnt how Paul was passionate about his conversion experience and also in his belief that King Agrippa would also be like him– encountering the risen Lord. Along with the passion that Paul had in presenting the gospel to the King Agrippa, what is more noteworthy is that Paul is preaching the gospel while he is in chains. This is not the first time that Paul is preaching the gospel message in very hostile situation. In Acts 22, he is preaching boldly to the crowd. The crowd became furious by the testimony and he is manhandled and the commander later puts Paul in chains. Paul is then taken in front of the Sanhedrin [ Acts 23], wherein there also he preaches the gospel boldly. He is not concerned about the audience nor cowed down by the authority or the power that is vested on the king, nor the commander nor the Sanhedrin. Here is an apostle who is not concerned about his freedom but more concerned on the freedom that Christ offers to others. Here is Paul who has a strong conviction on what His beliefs are and is ready to pay a price and also take a stand for his beliefs. As we read the news of persecution in Nigeria, we need to ask ourselves both as individual Christians and community of believers whether we take our faith seriously and whether our Christian living rises above the observances of certain rituals that denotes our faith and that we are ready to pay a price for being a Christian?