Sunday 20 May 2012

It is not about vindictiveness but forgiveness!


It seems somewhere, down the road we have become rather vindictive, revengeful,spiteful and yet we call ourselves Christians. We are baptised as infants, and then as we enter our teens we are confirmed. Confirmation becomes more  of a grand social event, and our entry into the club is guaranteed. It is a lifelong membership! But then the moot question is, are we fit to be called, “Christians”? Do we remember the vows made by our parents on our behalf during baptism, or, do we remember the statements of re-affirmation made by us during the Confirmation Ceremony? The answer is, no! We go on with our lives, school passes by and then comes college,and after college, we enter into professions of our choice! Somehow, down the road we forget all the vows we made before the alter and become as vindictive, revengeful,and malicious as ever! Even highly educated and enlightened professionals become vindictive and malicious towards those who they think are trying to, “Cross Swords” with them. Once this feeling of insecurity of the feeling of being threatened enters their minds they become the most malicious and spiteful of all Christians!”
The motto of of a school where I once served reads, “With Love Serve One Another!” Somehow we have forgotten the message of Christianity which is to serve one another with love,and instead we have started serving our own selfish egotistic selves forgetting the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross specifically for the forgiveness of our sins. By being spiteful and vindictive towards one another we are only crucifying Jesus Christ again and again, and how heartless we are to prolong his suffering on the Cross! We keep forgetting that New Testament is all about a forgiving God, God who sent his only son so that he could suffer for the forgiveness of all mankind. Instead we seem to favour the angry God who cast out Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden with the following words: Genesis, chapter 3:16,17,18,: “I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception (To Eve) – cursed is the ground for thy sake (to Adam) – Thou shalt eat of the herb of the field”. In Genesis 3: 23-24 we are told, “Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden – So he drove out the man”. The book of Hebrew 12:29, refers to God as a, “Consuming fire”. The message seems to be clear to all of us human beings to beware of being vindictive, revengeful and malicious towards each other lest God should consume us in a fire of wrath, if we are vindictive towards each other then how much more wrathful would God be towards us! But then we forget that in the New Testament, he is a more forgiving God: Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Spitefulness and revenge do not become us as Christian Stewards, and everyone has a mission today and this includes the laity! So many of our Christians are holding responsible positions in the society but  they do not take up their roles as stewards seriously, and this is because they get mired in the material world of intrigue, crossing of swords and even moon-lighting! Every Christian professional should set an example of humility, and forgiveness as exemplified by the life of Jesus Christ! Going to Church on Sundays is not enough to make us Christians, nor just boasting about our knowledge of  verses and lines from the Bible! We need to meditate and introspect to see where we have gone wrong.Unfortunately, the higher we progress professionally, the more vindictive and revengeful we become! Little do we realise that the higher we progress professionally, the greater is our responsibility as Stewards to exemplify the true spirit of forgiveness, salvation, redemption, and  love as enshrined in the New Testament. We should not be spiteful and revengeful towards each other lest we should draw the Wrath of God on to us! Instead of serving one another with love we are jealous and vindictive towards each other, and full of malice towards each other! It seems as if our motto has become, “With Malice Serve One Another!”



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