Deciding to be silent and remain comfortable?

If you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will come to the Jewish people from another place, but you and your father’s family will be destroyed. Who knows, perhaps you have come to your royal position for such a time as this.” Esther 4:14 CSB 

We learn about the cruelty, planned against the Jews where the government (King) was convinced that the Jews were no good and follow entirely different law contrary to the norms and pattern of the nation. It just talks about anti-Semitism. What does it mean? It means the intense dislike for and prejudice against Jewish people.

 Anti-Semitism is not a recent phenomenon. Here in the book of Esther, set in the fifth century BC, we read of appalling anti-Semitism. Haman wanted to ‘annihilate all the Jews – young and old, women and little children – on a single day… and to plunder their goods’ (Esther 3:13). Haman estimated that he would be able to extort 375 tons of silver including all their possession and deposit in the king's treasury which convinced the king. It is extremely fearful to imagine such a decree was passed by the then government to get rid of the Jews and plunder their resources.

Isn't there an eerie resemblance to our present day's context? We see and hear in many places of our nation and in the world, radicals and powerful governments wanting to get rid of the Christians. There are subtle plots and in some cases, open ones to curb the privileges of Christians and persecute them in all possible manner; even though there are some Christians in powerful and influencing positions refusing to speak about it. How do Christians and leaders handle such context?  Should Christians just pray for justice and leave the rest to God?

That’s not what the Bible asks us to do. Instead Hebrews 11:33 tells us that we are God’s hands for dispensing justice and God uses us to “administer justice.”Prayer and action has to always go together. Is there a way Christians can come together to pray as a Church or community and do something about it? Or like most we think we are in a comfortable position and scared we may end up disturbing our comfort and security. We may even be wondering what if we are left alone fighting the battle without the support of fellow Christians or the faint doubt if God will actually make things happen, can linger in our minds. 

In the book of Esther when the decree was passed to annihilate the Jews we read Esther was informed by her uncle about the grave situation and at the same time also challenged her to get in action and not remain comfortable in the position she got into. We all know the story very well, Esther thereafter refused to remain comfortable. She decides to take a risk by planning to save her own people by influencing the king with honest report. Prayer was in the forefront but then the plan of action was not very far. Esther used a brilliant mixture of bravery, faith and skill. She had a discretion to find the right time to enter the presence of the King and get the attention from him. God at the same time was doing His part to Grant her favor in all the steps. This is exactly the Holistic gospel Esther lived. Every bit of the story is so dramatic thereafter. The Bible says in (Esther 9:1) "....just the opposite happened.." One person's willingness to stand daringly made an unimaginable difference to the whole Jewish clan. Is it not a strong emphasis on God's power and grandeur for saving the people from complete destruction?

 We read in Mathew 23:23 Jesus telling the teachers of law that they have neglected the more important matters of law, justice, mercy and faithfulness. The gospel that Jesus announced and lived was not only about rescuing and healing individuals; it was also about helping the poor and the needy and at the same time dismantling the oppressive systems of the world—spiritual, religious, political, economic, cultural, and so on, be it the individuals or Church.

Choosing to be silent and doing nothing about a situation which demands action is not a, measure to assure security for us and to our families. If God has kept us in a leadership position or in the area of influence, it is to be a blessing in our communities and in the nation in every possible manner. Do we have a plan or strategy? 

Blessings

Ready to Demonstrate??

We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 1 John 3:16 NASB

We are in a Lenten season where we focus as individuals and Church on Christ's sacrifice for us in the cross of Calvary. My prayer is that God would help us to have an enhanced view in this season as we become His witness and carry the gospel of love effectively. The first part of theme verse overwhelms us with gratitude and commitment knowing that God laid down His life for us and it is the core message of salvation. It says in Roman's (5:8) "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.". The Bible would have been just a set of philosophy if it had confined itself only to love, goodness and virtues of life without demonstration. The latter part of the theme verse (1 John 3:16) says we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. It is a strong demand and not just a cordial suggestion to demonstrate our love by ministering to the needs of people. 

In 1 John, Apostle John clarifies on our responses and responsibility towards the people who are needy.  It is said in the same theme verse “.. whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth." 1 John 3:17-18. The early Church demonstrated it and set a model for us. It says in the book of Acts that they brought all the resources and laid it in the feet of apostles which included selling of their properties. How are we demonstrating our love today? Is it just with niceties of conversation like" God loves you" and "I am praying for you"? Yes, we do understand that we need to affirm and intercede for people, but is there a higher ground in demonstrating it? There are so many people we can find all over, including in our Churches, who are desperately trying to make end's meet for their family each day. Most of the time we don’t even know about it and sometimes we think we are helpless and rationalize it as God’s business to help them.

  

Mother Teresa quotes "Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the grace we have received and not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work" and she further quotes by saying "one of the greatest diseases is to be nobody to somebody. ". I have heard people argue I have just enough for my family and if my status gets better maybe I will. Likewise, small Churches wait for a better status or for structured resources. My strong conviction is that you are called to give, help and render your service from the condition you are at present.

Your demonstration may not always include your money though it is significantly inclusive of the resources. The gospel of Mathew records Jesus saying, if someone asks you to accompany him for one mile, go with him an extra one, where does money picture in here? and then He further instructs "Give him who asks you and not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you" (Matthew 5:42). There are myriads of ways you can start demonstrating the gospel of Love. Are you out there for people who need support?

Blessings,

David Raj

HOLISM-A Focal Approach

I wish to give a brief introduction for my emphasis on the crucial topic, Holism. It is my strong desire and conviction by the spirit of God to accentuate the integration of holism in the churches so that its visibility is not merely by its name or location but primarily for the influence it creates. 

The community the church influences would find solution from it for every facet of life problem, be it spiritual, socio-economical or socio-cultural or political. I pray this series on Holism will be a blessing as it is a requirement to be the core of our ministry and life.

It is important to understand that the Bible exercises its full authority over Holism. God is Holistic and the Bible reiterates it. The Old Testament in the Bible  required mankind to act justly, to love faithfulness, to walk humbly before God (Micah 6:8) and stretched its focus yet wider demanding attentions towards poor, orphans, strangers and to all vulnerable category. 

The demand and expectation to operate and have its approaches Holistically remains unchanged. In the New Testament Luke narrates that Jesus grew Holistically -  “..Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Luke 2:52,NASB). The four areas Cognitive (wisdom), Physical (stature), Spiritual (favor with God) and Socio-emotional (favor with men) development. This passage translates to us clearly that man is made Holistic. 

We are able to see that the Holism is being reiterated throughout the Bible not as a concept or an idea but the core of a person's existence as meant by God. This will not be realized unless individuals and Church connect with Holism and exhibit the principle in all its approaches.  This is the mandate for each individuals and the church as required by God in the Bible. Therefore we can confer that the church is  the integration of the  three crucial areas; Fellowship of the believers, Biblical mandate and social dimension-which is its mission. This is further explained in the pictorial presentation given below:

The early church depicted this model strongly as described in Acts 4:34 - "For there was not a needy person among them..." By the time we come to Chapter 6 of Acts, we notice that the leadership had appointed seven anointed people to  manage the social wing effectively. The one thing that fascinates me is that the social intervention of the early church was not confined to external funding channels but  were able to mobilize resources internally (How often the majority seems to miss this opportunity). It is a clear indication that every individual and the leaders realize it      as a biblical call towards Holism. 

It is said, “The local church is the hope for the world, and its future rests primarily in the hands of the leaders”. 

• How is the Church going to respond? 
• What is the plan to address the physical needs, the social needs, physiological needs, the emotional needs of the people in the church and in the community? 
• How do the church, Christian fellowship, groups going to work it out? 
• Do we have a plan to make the approaches consistent and less sporadic? 

It is the demand of the Bible that the Body of Christ takes this issue very seriously and exhibit the gospel of love in action.  Definitely, not only confined to, as a worship center for believers, but also to become Holistic in nature and viewed that way by the world. Unless the Church raises to this standard, I am afraid it will not have any effect in the lives of the people.

David Bosch reminds us that “the church is both a theological and a sociological entity, an inseparable union of the divine and the dusty."  Our community is filled with varied problem that needs an Holistic approach from the Church to reach them.  It just cannot emphasize on spiritual facet alone. Bryant L. Myers in his book "Walking with the Poor" states "When we separate the spiritual from the physical, not only do we separate evangelism from development, but we separate gospel-as-word from the gospel-as-deed, and provide no home for gospel-as-sign."  May the good Lord help us as individuals and church to take up this call to integrate our life and approach towards Holism and transform our community.  

This is the vision God has given to SHEFA to work alongside the churches in building the Holistic approach. The intervention is to establish an active social program or revamp the existing program, derived out of the vision and mission of the Church, develop a Church strategy (short-term and long-term) and connecting to the resources available. You may reach us to know how we can impact your ministry or be part of your mission by extending your support in what we do.

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Blessings 

David Raj

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