December 2, 2015

Longing for a loving community

Christianity is rarely in danger from the outside; the danger lies within.  It even lasted 1400 years of severe persecution under the Islamic rule.  The current danger for its eradication from the Muslim lands has still got to do with its problem from within; i.e. the advent of modern mission movement with its heavy emphasis on financial support for those who serve in these countries.  Such financial incentives from the outside world have created jealousy, friction, and hate filled competition for the dollars among the Christian workers that result in bitter division.  A church divided is by definition is no church at all.  Bitter competitions open up the door for the Devil (Eph. 4:27), and the non-Christian population naturally becomes cynical toward the church.   
The native missionaries are thus caught up in the game of pleasing their donors while the foreign missionaries are busy in building their own profiles by any means.  In fact, 99.9% of foreign missionaries have 0% of respect toward their native counterparts because they look at these natives as hirelings.  I have had several encounters with such foreign missionaries who blatantly claim "We can buy a pastor like you with a hundred dollars a month"!
Because of such leadership of the church, the church is being killed from within without the Christ like character ever evolving either in the life of the leaders or the believers.  Any church that lacks love will eventually die down.  The above video message is one such longing to have a church where there would be love and respect for fellow believers whether we are native or foreigner in any given nation on this earth.