Things to Die For

I haven't posted on my blog for a long time, like I often do. But I am drawn to write once more, and this is a good thing as any to resume writing. Today is a Sunday and the second in a series by my church (CCF) on the Book of Galatians. It felt easy enough to understand and some points struck me as quite pertinent in my life, especially at this juncture. Because of this I felt I should write a quick version of the lessons and thoughts that I had today.

Preached today by Pastor Peter Tan-Chi Sr., we studied the second chapter in Galatians.

The first five verses show something about tradition, and those who hold to them too much, that they may impede the gospel. To a person like me who sees traditions held by cultural momentum all too often, this particular idea was rather amusing. Certainly traditions are valuable and a great many have practical sense. But we should be careful that they do not get in the way or mire down the core aspects of the Gospel.

We were reminded of some equations to think about, one that Ptr. Peter is fond of using when speaking about Faith and Salvation.

1. Faith in Jesus + 0 = Salvation
2. Faith in Jesus + Good Works = Salvation
3. Faith in Jesus + 0 = Salvation (which leads to -> Good Works)

We are told that by Faith ALONE because of Grace, one is saved (Ephesians 2:8-9) and this so no man may boast of his salvation.

The next part (Gal 2:6-8) speaks further and establishes that regardless of station, ergo those men who are of 'importance', makes no difference. In the eyes of God, all men are equal. This goes on however, to establish that although all men are equal in matters of salvation, sin, and the like - God reaches out to all of us differently. We are all different individuals and thus respond to God's Word in different ways.

This is illustrated by the fact that even in the early days, different apostles spoke to different groups: Peter for the Jews, Paul for the Gentiles. This is important to know - and is practiced by our Church, as an example. Different ministries reaching out to different people. An example given - you don't invite a Makati businessman to a bible study group in Tondo. This is not to say that one is better than the other, but as human beings we all have different levels of comfort and ease - certainly, we do not want to scare people while sharing the Gospel!

"Target Evangelism" therefore, is a valid and useful method of sharing. JZone for High Schoolers, Singles Ministry for young adults after college, Backstreet Kids ministry, the Host ministry, the Song Ministry, Sports Ministry - and other examples I cannot recall were given.

We are also shown that the early church had multiple 'pillars' or leaders - showing the importance of having a type of leadership where there is a team-style. It was at this point I think, where we were reminded of the importance of having peers to help keep us accountable to God. Leaders of the Church, like everyone else, are human and can be just as prone to failing as anyone else.

In fact it shows in Galatians 2:11-13, that the apostle Peter actually committed mistakes. It shows that due to 'peer pressure' from traditionalist Jews, Peter gradually withdrew his presence from Gentile gatherings, until even others were affected and similarly, stopped sharing and mingling with the 'Gentiles'. Paul acted here and reprimanded Peter for his mistake.

Ptr. Peter also points out a very real example - that in our culture of 'pakisama', we often are pulled in to 'go along' for the sake of friendship. This is a weakness in our culture, and like the Apostle Paul did for the Apostle Peter, we should have the courage to point out the Truth. It is of great importance that in issues of 'truth', we must have the courage to correct others.

"Pakisama" shouldn't be treated in the way we often do. When a person is wrong, a person is wrong. Indeed, we should be glad when people correct us. We shouldn't divert the issues and avoid them. Humility is something we should all remember. As friends and brothers/sisters in Christ, we should show our love not by abiding by another's mistakes, by acting in love to correct them.

Peter, was a long-standing pillar of the Church, one of the original disciples of Jesus himself, and here he was being corrected by a 'new' apostle. Many people nowadays might respond with something like - 'Sino ka ba? Hindi mo ba akong kilala?' or sentiments to the like. Instead, Peter listens to Paul's words.

In Gal. 2:14, the apostle Paul reminded Peter that we are saved by GRACE alone - not by traditions or habits, which should flow FROM our Salvation, but are not the cause OF it. Our lives must reflect this Grace through and through - the good news of the Gospel.

Gal. 2:15-16 speaks of being 'justified' - and we are told that in the Greek translation the word used was 'dekaios' which is a legal term that means "Not Guilty". It means that a person is completely absolved, as if no criminal action had ever occurred or was committed. It is a complete and total forgiveness.

"We put our faith in Christ," it says here, as the truth of our justification, not in the mere observance of the 'Law'. The Law being referenced here is the Law of Moses or the 10 Commandments. This does not mean that observance of the Commandments is useless - but that just following this does not entail salvation.

The succeeding verses (Gal 2:17-21) points out other important things. First is that
it points out that true salvation and true faith is the kind that effects change within us. But nonetheless, this does not mean we shall not ever sin again - it does mean however, that there is a real change in our hearts.

Indeed, it warns against hypocrisy - 'If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker.' This is because what is 'destroyed' is one's old life of sin, when one accepts Christ.

"No Longer I, but Christ" is the central point of the succeeding verses. Ptr. Peter reminds us that we should not view the Christian life as boring duties, but as a joy. If we should see these things as onerous, then it is important to reexamine ourselves and more closely know the Gospel.

We are also reminded that a Christian, as a person who has Christ in one's self should remember to never ever sell one's self short! We have been saved by Grace and God's Love, and we are special in the eyes of our Lord. We should therefore always strive for excellence and not fear it or shy away from it.

Ptr. Peter ended the day's sermon with a simple story illustrating an example of Grace, which I paraphrased below:

A professor in a university wanted to show his students the concept of Grace in a way that they would appreciate and understand. So for the next few weeks, he dedicated a great effort into reviewing them in classes, showing them where in the books they could find the answers to questions that would come up in their test, and other things one could expect

On the day of the exam the professor gave them their test papers one at a time and told them not to turn it over so they could start together. Carefully he distributed each paper to each student - then once that was done, told them to turn the exam sheets over.

On each paper was their name as well as the answers to each of the questions, with the last part of the test stating simply that each answer was correct - and each of them would get an A for that test.

To each student he walked up and asked, "Do you know what grade you got on this exam?" to which they would reply, "An A." He would follow up that question with, "Did you work for or deserve this A?" He knew well that they all had reviewed and studied for the exam - he had done the reviews with them after all. But no one could really say that the A they were being given was one they had gotten for by their own work.

It was an example of 'Grace', given to them by their professor.

Lifetimes of Purpose

Coming back from watching "How to Train a Dragon", which is a thoroughly enjoyable movie, I was reflecting on the simple and warm feelings a good, well-made movie can do. Prior to watching this I was in a downswing of emotions and moods, trying to keep it together, when the idea of catching a nice pick-up flick caught my mind thanks to way the online oceans tend to carry ideas around.

The positive mood that I was blessed with, largely thanks to the movie, made me feel like this was a sign to continue pursuing and developing my creative side. As I often do, I quickly associated this with some rough number crunching. While most people wouldn't associate creativity and enjoyment with numbers, this sort of calculation is really very simple and something I'm sure many may have stumbled upon.

Let us take for example this very movie, "How to Train a Dragon". It is around 1.5-2 hours long of enjoyment, amusement, happiness or whatever positive emotion you wish to ascribe to watching it. Let us say then that at least a hundred thousand people, around the world, have so enjoyed the movie. This is around 200,000 hours worth of enjoyment, albeit distributed amongst many different persons. But 200,000 hours of life spent is roughly the equivalent of 22 years of any single person's life.

Now take any book or any other piece of literature in any form of media, which often takes more time to finish than a movie, and relate it to the simple calculation above. This is certainly a simplistic view of things, but nonetheless it has some semblance of truth to it.

While I have responsibilities and duties that have been thrust upon me, I do not ever wish to give up this thing that I believe God has gifted to me - this meager talent or at least, desire, for writing and what other creative skills I have. I believe that someday, after I have done what 'duties' have been asked of me, I will be able to produce work that will salve the souls of others, or at least for some moments give them enjoyment, happiness or food for thought.

And when I am at that point, I hope to remember that perhaps for ever little book or piece I might produce - it just may be the equivalent of one person's lifetime worth of happiness.

What Lies Ahead?

As the school year draws to an end, my last few subjects and their final presentation looming before me as my last major hurdle to graduation, I wonder what lies beyond in life for me. It is a daunting thing to know that I'll soon be taking part in the family business and learning the ropes on how to handle it.

Often times I think I won't be a good boss, that I'll be the doom of the corporation and that I'll cause dozens, if not hundreds, of people to lose their jobs or something. I have to remind myself when this idea looms that dozens of others my own age have done what I'm about to do or have done more. This trial before me is something that is meant to be.

But that aside, in these last few weeks as a 'proper student' in the last few steps of my life in the academe I've begun swinging from despondency to inspiration, almost as fast as a coin flip.

It's been rather difficult for me to focus myself and settle down, to just put myself to work and get used to developing a certain degree of self-discipline beyond the level that school demands of you. Things like entrepreneurial spirit and opportunism in the business aspect are things I need to get myself to internalize. But nonetheless these are also part of things that shadow my thoughts, things I need to learn.

Changes, changes.