DrRita
09-12-2004, 06:09 AM
I see many times on television how the masses flock to the crusades held in India and used to wonder if so many came to Christ, why aren't there more Christians in India. Having gone there, I think I can answer that at least in part.
We were shopping one afternoon with out two guides who had the awesome responsibility of protecting and guiding us while we were exposed to the general public. The rest of the group stayed in line but of course my camera and I kept stopping to take a photo and I would fall back much to the despair of our Indian friends. I walked along the street and noticed the tables piled with various gods for sale. We all know the Indian people worship about 3000 gods (depending on the area) and I guess I shouldn't have been surprised to see the Virgin Mary, various Catholic saints and Jesus piled in the midst of the blue, green and elephant idols. I realized that when these crusades take place the people will accept Christ in a heartbeat. They would also flock to any religious gathering in hopes of some sort of salvation from the daily life they live. Worshipping gods is just as natural to them as television is to us. So when a new god appears on the scene, he or she is worthy of a try. If it works, it will be worshipped, it not it will be set aside just like all the others. The challenge is not to get the people to accept Christ but to get them to forsake their other gods and worship God alone. That is what they refuse to do. With the government so strict on missionaries coming into the country and preaching to the Hindus and Muslims it's difficult to get churches started or to get these new converts in the hands of some sort of discipleship program. Kerala is consider the most "Christian" state in all of India. And still there are only 2% confessing Christians. We need to pray for more of the local churches to have a lasting impact on their communities. I know God can do it if we are faithful to prayer. When I look at the work to be done for Christ, I think it's rather like trying to clean the Florida beaches with a small hand broom. But nothing is impossible for God.
We were shopping one afternoon with out two guides who had the awesome responsibility of protecting and guiding us while we were exposed to the general public. The rest of the group stayed in line but of course my camera and I kept stopping to take a photo and I would fall back much to the despair of our Indian friends. I walked along the street and noticed the tables piled with various gods for sale. We all know the Indian people worship about 3000 gods (depending on the area) and I guess I shouldn't have been surprised to see the Virgin Mary, various Catholic saints and Jesus piled in the midst of the blue, green and elephant idols. I realized that when these crusades take place the people will accept Christ in a heartbeat. They would also flock to any religious gathering in hopes of some sort of salvation from the daily life they live. Worshipping gods is just as natural to them as television is to us. So when a new god appears on the scene, he or she is worthy of a try. If it works, it will be worshipped, it not it will be set aside just like all the others. The challenge is not to get the people to accept Christ but to get them to forsake their other gods and worship God alone. That is what they refuse to do. With the government so strict on missionaries coming into the country and preaching to the Hindus and Muslims it's difficult to get churches started or to get these new converts in the hands of some sort of discipleship program. Kerala is consider the most "Christian" state in all of India. And still there are only 2% confessing Christians. We need to pray for more of the local churches to have a lasting impact on their communities. I know God can do it if we are faithful to prayer. When I look at the work to be done for Christ, I think it's rather like trying to clean the Florida beaches with a small hand broom. But nothing is impossible for God.