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This post is occasioned by the recent visit of some missionary friends (who are still friendly with me, perhaps because they have not heard about Sinai 6000); I welcomed them with as much warmth as they hugged and greeted me. Since it was our Christian faith that first brought us together some 2 decades ago, naturally the conversation immediately centered on updates about how many souls were “saved” as a result of their evangelistic mission. I had no statistics to show off, since the Torah does not speak in terms of “saved” and “unsaved” but in terms of “choose today whom you will serve” and consequences of choice.
Christ-centered believers always speak in terms of being “saved” simply by “believing in Jesus Christ” as Lord and Savior, followed by “letting him enter into your heart”, then “waiting for the Holy Spirit to empower you to avoid temptation, not succumb to habitual sins, get you out of your bondage”, and so on. Belonging to a church or fellowship, regular bible study, Sunday worship, spreading the faith by witnessing to others, all become part of the new life of the “new creature” in Christ Jesus. Many actively choose their ‘ministry’ depending on how the “Holy Spirit” has gifted them; some are into charity, teaching bible, music for worship, visiting the sick, etc., all wonderful other-centered faith-in-action that benefit the underprivileged sector in society. This is all not only laudable, but admirable, and indeed touch the hearts of the recipients of God’s grace through such service-oriented religious flock.
This helping and reaching out and such self-giving quality in Christians is what is so attractive to non-believers so much so they want to ‘have’ the same faith. Christians are at the forefront of any HELP brigade, whether it be Catholic nuns or sisters of charity, international missions of Campus Crusade, Youth with a Mission, 700 Club, etc.
No doubt they are fulfilling the TORAH of YHWH which are full of reminders to help the needy. For one, Yeshayahu / Isaiah 58:10-11—
And if you draw out your soul to the hungry,
and satisfy the afflicted soul;
then shall your light rise in obscurity
and your darkness be as the noon day:
And YHVH shall guide you continually,
and satisfy your soul in drought,
and make fat your bones:
and you shall be like a watered garden,
and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
Is YHWH pleased that with the networking of people of differing faiths, the needy are blessed? No doubt.
Are those sincerely carrying out these wonderful deeds that benefit others just as blessed? No doubt.
Do all these bring glory to YHWH and is His Name praised? . . . That is for you to answer, dear reader.
I happen to have been on the receiving end of such kindness, graciousness and hospitality from this visiting Christian friend at a time when I was on the ‘needy’ side, if only for assistance in settling down in a strange new environment. I have been and continue to be grateful to this lovely person “SH” who went far beyond what was necessary to accommodate my basic needs.
Image from www.walkthecross.com
“SH” suddenly surfaced on my turf recently, accompanied by two missionary friends. She had been the conduit of donations from US and Canada for an orphanage in my city but over and above that, she and the other missionaries are also in “prison ministry” for decades now. I’ve always thought how I fall short in service to God and fellowmen compared to “SH” and her missionary friends. They shared with pride many stories about conversions of prisoners and how these converts are not only “saved in Jesus” but are also pastors now, in prison and out.
I asked a simple question: “how is it that every converted prisoner becomes a ‘pastor’?” Does pastoring not require some training and much biblical knowledge? Is it that easy to become a pastor? They said there are bible schools in prisons now. Well and good, changed lives mean change in direction, in or out of prison. Hopefully so but not always so. I am sure “real conversions” do happen, but I would not be surprised if there are also ulterior motives on the part of the converted convict or convicted convert.
Actually I have personally known and have heard about pastors who were former convicts; talking about their former life was always preliminary to why one should marvel at the change in their direction. As far as I know, many of them do succeed in “changing lives” of other people who are inspired that despite their ex-convict background, they believed that Jesus changed their hearts. But I also heard from “SH” herself of at least one prison pastor who married one of these missionary women, got his parole, got out of prison, but reverted to his former lifestyle and in fact got a second wife.
With nothing to do and miserable in overcrowded prisons, I suppose if I were a prisoner I would most likely hang around these kind and graciousl missionaries who not only bring ‘the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ’ but also other goodies sometimes, and have my ‘bible connection’ besides good behavior get on record to merit me the possibility of parole.
The reason I’m a bit skeptical is because the the gang of murderers of my youngest brother were all on this salvation-for-prisoners ministry. [Please read Where was God when . . . .] According to “SH” and her missionary friends, yes, they are all out now, converted, and in fact ‘pastors’. They recounted with pride that these killers have said in their testimonies that they are happy they ended up in prison where they finally met the Lord Jesus through these missionaries, because had they not committed the last and final dastardly crime (toward my brother) for which they were finally apprehended, brought to trial and convicted, they would still be continuing their non-stop criminal activities of robbery, rape, murder.
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Missionaries add to their accomplishments such happy endings, especially for transformed murderers whose lives had changed from being imprisoned, but I had to articulate my sentiments to my guests with some sarcasm: “Well, good for them, but I have some difficulty swallowing the drift of their testimonies, considering the torture they subjected my brother to, making him like the virtual sacrificial lamb on God’s altar so they could, after 17 years in a supposed life imprisonment sentence, connect with the Christian savior, be ‘saved’ and paroled, in that order. So they are all out free now with a new life while my brother is still dead.” That elicited an uncomfortable silence.
One of them, “RR” in fact was the deliverer of a letter addressed to me from the convict who inflicted the 17 stab wounds, leaving the bayonet on his victim’s neck as if to indicate to us that it was the kindest cut of all. That letter was the second I had received from this man; the first was when he had first “met Jesus his Lord and Savior” 12 years ago on which I was lectured about forgiveness but never asking forgiveness nor admitting to the crime! I ignored that letter. This second one was more of the same, except there was an extra request that our family not hinder the prospect of his being granted parole. Was there admission of guilt, regret, or a plea for forgiveness? None.
Now I’m told the gang of murderers are out, “pastors” you see, saved by the blood of the Christian god-man. John F. Kennedy is noted to have quipped “forgive your enemies but don’t forget their names.” Because Jesus lectured “love your enemies,” perhaps the most difficult test I underwent as a Christian at the time was to obey that strange command, found in NT (but not in OT as I just recently discovered); so what did my sister and I do way back then? We donated Christian bibles to the local jail where they were held up during trial, and prayed for their conversion. This was 1992. Lo and behold, ‘answered prayers’ in year 2013 . . . . not so fast, time will tell!
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My thinking has since been radically changed by my exposure to the TORAH of YHWH. I do know that the worst sinner is pardoned by the God of TNK on the basis of true repentance, turning one’s life around from the destructive direction previously undertaken. Confession is part of it, and asking forgiveness from those one has harmed or sinned against. What kind of restitution could be made? I have yet to hear of these reformed convicts writing the children and widow of my brother for depriving them of a loving father and husband, one of the precious lives that was snuffed so prematurely by these hoodlums who had already wreaked havoc on many lives but never reached the courts of justice until our family took it upon ourselves to see to it that justice is served for our brother and all the other victims.
Seventeen years in prison, ‘met Jesus’, born again, paroled. I pray they learn to live TORAH from here on. It is in the prequel to the New Testament from which they will preach as pastors. They might discover that the justice of YHWH, while it might not be well executed by imperfect court systems of men is well expressed in many texts, such as Yeshayahu/Isaiah 1:16:
Wash yourselves, purify yourselves,
remove the evil of your deeds from before My eyes;
cease doing evil.
Learn to do good, seek justice,
vindicate the victim,
render to the orphan, take up the grievance of the widow.
And let us not forget Bereshiyth 8:9:
Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed;
for in the image of God He made man.
The Artscroll comment on this verse:
“The Torah places another limitation
on man’s right to take a life:
God will demand an accounting
from one who spills his own blood,
For a human being’s life
belongs not to him
but to God.”
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