‘’ You travel over land and sea to win one follower. And when you have done so, you make that person twice as fit for hell as you are ‘’ (Mathew 23:15)
Jesus instructed his disciples to go and preach the good news to everyone in the world. Many churches are engaged in evangelization and some churches undertake social work as a substitute to preaching of gospel. If we introspect what we do, our actions are more symbolical and sometimes even contradictory to the true spirit of teachings of gospel.
Some 10 years back I happened to witness a grand celebration of some important event of an Episcopal church in Sharjah and to mark the occasion they announced to build some houses for the homeless people in a remote village in Haryana. This church in my knowledge doesn’t have any evangelization agenda, but only deprecate the name of Christ among gentiles by their despicable acts which very often find vulgar display in visual media. What seemed strange to me was, they could not see thousands of poor and homeless in their own church, under their own nose and in front of their eyes in central Travancore where they are based, but had to go all the way to a remote place in Haryana in search of someone who needs their help. Galatians 6:10 says “ We should help people ….., especially … followers of the Lord’’ In 1 John chap 4:20 John asks ‘’how one who can love God when he can’t’ love the brother he sees’’ Secondly, the amount they spent on the celebrations (I skip to elaborate details) was many times more than the amount set apart for charity . This is true in lesser or higher degree in many of the charity acts. People conveniently forget the bible teaching ‘’ when you give to the poor, don’t blow a loud horn’’
Let us come back to Marthoma Church, each marthomite is supposed to be an evangelist. We have lot of full time evangelists working in even remotest places in India and abroad. Also have lot of social/charity works. But seeing the actions and attitude of church leaders, I used to wonder why we go for evangelization to the outside world, sometimes even scarifying the life of some poor evangelists, spending crores of rupees, when the church could not evangelize the people within the church family. Does not it sound ludicrous to go out to preach gospel when there is continuous depletion of members of the church for one reason or the other, tens of thousands are exiting from the church every year? Does the church leadership ever thought of this, have any clue why is it happening? What is the meaning of evangelization and charity to outside world, when you have thousands within the church family who have no relation with Christ, who are in dire need of basic things of life ? How many marthomites are now worshipping pagan gods, are drunkards, drug addicts and leading a hell like life? Why thousands of faithful marthomites do is leaving to join some other faith groups?
In fact a predominant majority of faithful who are in church register are already in a transition stage of exit, it is only a matter of time , eventually they will end up in some other group. No doubt these are matters of least concern for a leadership which is so engrossed and mired in their own world with no time to think of such looming reality. What else we draw when bishop mar Poulose said that there is no problem even if there is no Kuwait marthoma Parish? It does not matter him to lose a worshipping community of 5000 members who were backbone of support to evangelization and relief to thousands of needy. But he wants money and support of people to evangelize to the outside world. When Kuwait Marthomites, with near unanimity, resented to the Kalpana of abolition of church, the Methrapolitha responded by saying that when you eat peanuts, you throw away the outer cover, for him losing a community of 5000 marthomites was like throwing away the peanut’s outer cover. But he took keen interest and pain to solve a purely personal financial dispute of a film actress who was a marthomite, now publicly an idol worshipper. We have many well known names like her and others not so well known, who were born marthomites, but live with no relationship with Christ. A church head who has no botheration for thousands of lost souls within the church family, had time to go all the way to Ahmedabad to meet a person who earned the unsavory repute of organizing pogrom of communal violence and still engaged in systematic torture of missionaries. He had to learn message of non-violence from a person who still subscribe to an ideology of hate and elimination of christianity?
Bishop Mar Poulose who had the last priority to meet Kuwait marthomites but had taken great pain to meet the ambassador and brought a message from ambassador to Marthomites about clean environment! Also used the occasion to publish in news papers the names 3 nano churches he conceived illegally using stealthy means. It is no surprise even at the 8th month of delivery; the triplex nano babies are still languishing in ventilator on loaned funds! Is it not sinful waste of the resources of the church contributed by the faithful to achieve their personal agendas of leaders? It seems ok to our leaders to kill or loose 9999 and get a one!
Looking at the actions and policies of the church leadership of today, the captioned Bible verse in Mathew 23:15 which was a statement made by Jesus and addressed to Pharisees of that time around 2000 years ago, seems to have prophetic connotations with more relevance and applicability to the church’s Pharisees and Sastries (teachers, gurus) of today. Our leaders travel continents by land, sea and air, take great pain and efforts to win one soul but shows scant regard for the hundreds of thousands of lost souls entrusted under their guard within the church. Why? Souls within church are inferior in value to them?
Those who feign ignorance may do well to remember Prov 24:11 & 12 ’11 Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. 12 If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay everyone according to what they have done? ‘’
Sajan