'Spiritual' brain-drain!

I am sometimes perplexed when I see so much of ‘spiritual’ brain-drain to the West that is happening these days (not a recent phenomenon, though). I have to comment, even though I know it may ruffle a few feathers and cause a few heartaches, especially to my Indian friends out there. However, please take it as a gesture of love and concern.

Now I know that God is not limited by place or time. He works in ways we cannot see. Let me reiterate at the start, that I am not making a blanket statement to condemn all those who have left the shores of our great nation. Many have gone out of sheer desperation of not finding a proper job here. There are many who are earning well and playing a great role in supporting mission work back home. Others are influencing their adopted nation in a number of ways and it may all be part of God’s strategy of ‘evangelizing the West’ all over again. What a way to humble the proud and overthrow ungodliness!

What still concerns me is that the saints do not pause to think twice before making a beeline for the West. The demand for nurses as brides has to be seen to be believed! Among our christian friends, of course.Everything can be spiritualized, if given a chance, and I am disturbed that we are not laying it on the altar as we should.  When there is greater need for the Lord’s work in our nation, we have to be doubly sure that God has a purpose for leading us away from this place.

Also, this aspect of emigration and ‘settling’ in the West (more to the East, nowadays) is still unnerving to me. I can understand saints who are there for a time and for a reason. The most common reason I have heard people say is that they want their kids to have a good future. It still shakes me to the core. Our kids cannot survive in India. Our kids should have no role in pulling our nation out of its mess. What is worse is that we are unconcerned and we want to pass it on to our children. Decades ago, even secular people had only one purpose in going to the West. To be trained and come back to serve their motherland. Do we have people with such noble motives today? Among the saints at least?

Yes, we all want to live better lives. We all want to have neat roads and clean cities. But we stay in our country to serve. We should have a mindset to give and not merely to receive. Is it wrong to think like this? Is there not a selfish motive somewhere in planning to spend the rest of our lives in places which is most convenient to our flesh? I have heard people say after going abroad that it is more hectic there than back home. But no, they have no plans of coming back. Even the traffic jams are orderly.

The saddest part in all these is that many have no money to save. Or send something back home. “We have too many bills to pay. We are trying to take extra jobs. Our family life is not worth mentioning. We will do our best however…”

Signs of growth Series -3

The greatest sign of growth in a believer's life is when he sees that love is greater than all. It is bigger than any miracle and superior to any act of faith. As we grow in God, we find that we cannot divorce love for God with love for man. Jesus had to find favor with both God and man. If we truly love our brother, we will not be indifferent to his wrongdoings. We have to lovingly confront him regarding his sin. However, there is an interesting verse in 1Peter 4:8  which says, "Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins". Does this mean that our love can cover the sins of another? Surely not! Peter is talking to us about our heart attitude. We are usually quick to find fault in others. We do not give them the benefit of the doubt. We do not realize that we may be worse off ourselves. This condemning and judging attitude is contrary to a heart of love. The point is not that we should ignore sin. The point is that we are not perfect either. Only love can build a bridge over the mire of misgivings and mistrust. O for a heart of love!

Signs of Growth Series -2

Another definite sign of growth is in the attitude we have towards prayer. Yes, we all know that prayer works. We all know that God is willing to hear our prayers. But as we grow in God, we find that our prayers are really important. The thought that God will do it anyway whether we pray or not, is replaced by the thought that my prayers are essential for God to work. I do not take half-hearted attempts to pray but I can sense that God is waiting to hear me call out to Him. God is sending answers to my prayers and I have to pray the will of God down. I find that I am in partnership with the Holy Spirit with regards to getting things done.

I also begin to see that prayer is my vital lifeline to God. Prayer undergirds the soul with hope and longing. It is like a burst of sunlight piercing through the doomsday clouds.It is the rumblings of the soul thirsting to unite with its Maker. It fills the heart like nothing else can. It can lead to divine ecstasy, pure and simple.

Signs of growth Series -1

There is a wonderful progression in the life of a saint of God who is yielded to His ways. The journey is fascinating and there is a series of milestones that he encounters along the way. As he grows, he outgrows many things and move into greater levels of freedom and fellowship. For a new believer, one of the most important aspects of his journey is his learning process through the local church he is part of. He has to yield to the dealings of God through the leaders that God has placed over his life and only a heart of submission can carry him through that phase. I believe that a saint can progress from serving the local church to a place where he begins to serve many churches and groups very effectively. However, this 'promotion' comes only to those who have overcome the twin forces of resentment and rebellion  that will surely come his way. It is a  very crucial testing period and a severe test for some. I am not talking about open rebellion and division within the local body that he is part of. It is possible to succumb to these forces and we could harbor a spirit of bitterness and disdain that may not be obvious to all. The greatest temptation here is to blame the leaders that God has placed over us. And it is possible to expose the nakedness of many a leader just like Ham did with his father Noah. I pity the person who cannot overcome in this area. He will remain a frustrated saint.

Fitness Certificate!

We often tend to forget that the Holy Spirit is our teacher and that He has a definite training program going on for our lives. Just like our teacher at school who often helps us more than he should, with our maths problems, so also we find that we get answers from God even when we do not have enough faith or commitment from our side. A classic example is in the case of Martha who was confronted by Jesus during the death of her brother Lazarus. She did not believe that her brother would rise again and yet Jesus did the miracle. The fact that He questioned her itself shows that it mattered to Him regarding her faith. The fact that she did not believe did not prevent the miracle because she was on that training program. Failure during the training always means that we can hope to succeed next time. The training is still on because we have to succeed at some point of time. Sometimes we act as if it is the trainer who needs to be trained - 'Lord, why did you not do this? Why did that not happen?' We fail to hear His probing questions and the reasons as to why we failed to overcome. If only we had ears to hear and the heart to be trained...