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A Tamil
Brahmin boy, just 19, was invited by his Christian
friend who played cricket with him to his home. There he
and his sister said a five-minute prayer for him. The
boy was impacted by the blessing and the intercession.
Around two decades later, the teenager who had attained
some professional standing, knowledge of world's ways
and wealth wrote his testimony in the October 27,2008
edition of the weekly newsmagazine, Outlook.
It wasn't the most striking testimony one read about
recently. And it is not the custom of secular magazines
to give space for news about the transforming work of
Jesus Christ in the hearts of people. Yet Anand
Mahadevan's deposition provoked wide and wild reactions
like no other testimony of God's miracle working power
active in men.
In the believers' circle there is no surprise over some
one like Anand making a confession of his conversion. It
keeps happening all the time in the lives of the
intellectual, the rich, the smart and the noble not
necessarily in the poor, the illiterate and the evil.
God is at work. When He is at work the blind sees, the
deaf hears, the hopeless become radiant with faith,
drunkards and murderers give up their ways becoming do
gooders, incurable diseases get healed in answer to mere
prayer, Bible-burning enemies of the Gospel turn into
preachers, glamour queens and wealthy tycoons repent of
sinful living turning new leaves, merchants of miseries
turn into benefactors of mankind… one can go on.
But don't expect the media to sing happily or even take
notice of such transformations. It keeps happening all
the time. However the same media, daily and constantly
lists all those conditions of man and his wickedness
calling for a radical transformation! And it thrills my
heart to hear of the amazing ways of God with men and
women in our times and in this land.
Anand Mahadevan was in Delhi recently and spoke to an
interested audience about bearing witness to Christ in
the workplace and also on being a missionary in the
market place. 'I am not ashamed of the Gospel of
Christ,' the Tamil Brahmin from Chennai and editor of
Outlook Business echoed the words of St Paul leaving no
one in doubt as to the priorities in his life.
Elaborating his theme, he said at the work place, the
Christian is not called upon to preach but to excel in
work. The Christian has to be a Christian in the Spirit
and not attempt to be an evangelist in disguise. His
values must be evident in the way he relates to people
and conducts himself in his day to day affairs.
There is a verse in the Bible which clearly lays down
what is expected of us: “Slaves, obey your earthly
masters in everything; and do it not only when their eye
is on you and to win their favour, but with sincerity of
heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work
at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not
for men, since you know that you will receive an
inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord
Christ you are serving.” (Colossians 3:22-24)
Elaborating his theme, he says work is part of our
worship of God and not for furthering selfish ambition
or pleasing bosses. Our conduct must be worthy of the
Gospel. Committed Christians may form cell groups in the
workplace and pray regularly for matters concerning the
work place and their role in standing for the values of
the kingdom. What is more they have access to places and
people to which the pastors and Gospel ministries can
not reach.
In the past evangelical efforts had concentrated among
the poor. Some work has gone on to reach the middle
class. But the business and professional class as also
the leadership class of the nation remain untouched by
the Gospel. Of course the Christian message is
particularly addressed to the poor and the oppressed and
most of the missionary efforts were directed towards the
poor and the needy.
Several hurdles are in evidence in reaching out to the
educated and prosperous class: there is the impression
that only the poor, the low caste and the illiterate
choose the Christian faith; the educated and the
affluent do not. Further, Christianity is considered a
foreign religion and a campaign has gone on alleging
that conversions are effected through fraudulent means,
by promising jobs and other material benefits!
Right from ancient times, an impression has gained
ground that it is unpatriotic and sinful to leave one's
religion and embrace another. In short, tradition is to
be obeyed unquestioningly and to subject one's
traditional faith to reason is unpardonable. The
writings of Mahatma Gandhi, Vivekananda and such like
even viewed with disfavour activities of the
missionaries, however divine and laudable their
contribution to the uplift of the poor and deliverance
of the ignorant from superstitions and meaningless
rituals. Sometimes, the learned and the famous can be
grossly illogical. God hides from the wise, what He
reveals to babes!
Yet over the years, many have crossed the barriers and
shown courage to respond to God's call.
The Bible clearly lays down that God is the one (the
Holy Spirit ) who converts and transforms the hearts of
people. No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' without the help
of the Holy Spirit, declares the Bible. The opponents of
the Gospel do not agree
Anand said the plethora of reactions received after
publication of his story in Outlook was amazing. He had
gone on writing for 15 years; but no piece of writing
had evoked such an avalanche of letters. Outlook issue
dated November 10, 2008 carried a wide variety of
opinions as a reaction to the testimony. Human nature
has not changed and we can be sure that men's reactions
are bound to follow a certain pattern whenever someone
makes an open confession of faith in Jesus. It was so in
ancient of times; it will be so tomorrow.
He says that believers in the workplace have
opportunities to reach out to the leaders and
professionals for Christ. But they must know Christ,
before they can bear witness to Him. They must have
boldness and wisdom.
“The best testimony we can give is by our lives as we
live it…that the whole world will see that Jesus lives
in us, by our fruits…I would go to public places and
people would be touched even by my smile,” he quoted
another soul.
He points out that the great commandment to love God
with all our heart, mind and strength and to love our
neighbour as we love ourselves takes precedence over
Jesus commandment to go into all the world and preach
the Gospel.
Change of religious labels is not the aim of the Gospel.
It was n't the goal of Jesus Christ. Nor of His
followers. As Jim Wallis puts it: ' conversion is from
sin to salvation , from idols to God, from slavery to
freedom, from injustice to justice, from guilt to
forgiveness, from lies to truth, from darkness to light,
from self to others, from death to life and much more.
Conversion always means to turn to God.’
Obviously love must be our supreme motive for our
involvement in evangelism. “The saving of souls, if a
man has once gained love to perishing sinners and his
blessed Master, will be an all absorbing passion to him.
It will so carry him away, that he will almost forget
himself in the saving of others. He will be like the
brave fireman, who cares not for the fire or scorch or
the heat, so that he may rescue the poor creature on
whom true humanity has set his heart,” so wrote
Spurgeon.
Despite such love activating you, others might reject
you and your message. Your zeal can be interpreted as
arrogance. Some of our law makers are capable of intense
humor. One piece which obligates me to get permission
from a district magistrate or equivalent authority for a
'change of heart!' And they title that piece of
legislation as Freedom of Religious Act!
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