Be Saved

Have you been to the university campus where, while sitting on a bench, a student comes to ask you this question, “Have you accepted Christ already?” Having been deep in your own thoughts, you simply gape at the speaker. Then the student will invite himself to a seat near you and keeps rattling on like the-world’s-going-to-explode in a short while. (Well, if you have much time to share, you may listen and have a small talk.) Problem is, even if you say that you’re busy and that you want to be alone, the student insists to stay for more moments… then, he gets the bible and reads some marked lines and interprets it for you. Otherwise he tells you outright that you won’t be saved. Well… some people are turned off with this approach that they walk out; others straightforwardly tell them that they do not want to be disturbed, and there are those who simply tolerate them politely.

I can see that in Christian schools, there are really youth prayer-group members convincing their classmates to join them. These members have to be sensitive also to the reactions of others. One time, I heard two students arguing because the preacher told her that she won’t be saved because she didn’t spare a little time listening to the preaching or whatever they call it. Wow, hooh! It’s very judgmental to say that to another as much as it is so rude.

If you feel like sharing how the amazing grace found you… go ahead, this is a free country. Just don’t forget that no one is morally better than another in the eyes of the Most High. Ah-ah, think about these lines from Jesus, “But whoever says, “You fool!” shall be in danger of the fires in hell…” or these, “whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Those are mistakes that none is exempted but the hypocrites. So, will it not be nicer if we rather invite without judging or condemning? I heard a brother say that ‘if the Holy Spirit is working in the heart of the sinner, not even another soul is needed to help;’ although oftentimes God has a way of conducting His graces through another person too.

Father Efren Condino once said to our prayer group, “You cannot always interpret the bible literally because some lines are allegorical. It were better if somebody older than you who can shed light on it is with your group because if the interpretation of the phrase is wrong then the person will likely end up doing the opposite instead of what is right. Like when some people kill themselves because they read in the bible that Jesus said, ‘…it was better for the person to tie a grindstone to his neck and throw himself to sea…’ Without looking into the whole context of the message, they misinterpreted the line to commit a suicide. See?”

So, dear brothers and sisters, while it is good to read the Holy Bible and follow the teachings of Jesus, let us always have tact in calling the attention of another person to the Christian way. We may be the channel through which God’s graces flow to save a fellow but we can also be an instrument for the other to lose that ‘warmth in the faith;’ the miracle of changing a person’s heart is beyond us, it is in God’s healing hands; the power to save is not within us either, it has already been done by Christ – it is in God’s perfect Spirit of Love… We are only around to continue to witness His greatness and testify to his goodness.