Muzungu!
Over the past two months my team and I have probably led over one hundred people to Christ. Praise God, right? But why is it so easy to save people here? Do Africans just have more faith than we do?
Every Friday morning, we elect one of our team members to preach the gospel at an open air market. This could easily be compared to the people back in the U.S. that stand on the street and shout Jesus stuff at people. But no one ever gives them the time of day. You almost don’t even like him. To you, he’s just wasting his time. But that’s basically what we’re doing, except we have crowds of people surrounding us, trying to hear what we have to say. Why is this? Why the difference in success for the same plan of attack?
Here’s our first theory:
We’ve talked to many young African adults, and almost every one of them has the same answer to, “What is your deepest desire?” They all answer the same. Something along the lines of, “To one day go to the United States, hopefully to live there, but at the very least, to just see it.” Wow, they sure do have high aspirations huh? But what’s sad is, as silly as that “desire” may sound, a lot of them understand how unrealistic it is.
Here is an almost exact dialogue between myself and a nineteen year old kid named Eric. We were walking home from his evening English lesson. And throughout his whole lesson, he was asking me questions about what the United States of America was like. Greatest country in the world, right?
“So you hope to go to the U.S. one day then, huh?” It was almost rhetorical, because I knew the answer already.
“Oh yes! Glory to God it would be if I got to go. But I know it will not actually happen.” He replied light heartedly, keeping a joking tone throughout the conversation.
“Oh really? Why not? I mean… maybe one day!” It tasted awful in my mouth. It was practically a lie, but a lie that inspired hope right?
“No. It is not possible. Rwanda is like a prison. It keeps us all here because it is too expensive to leave. It is too expensive to go anywhere else.” He said it jokingly, but he knew it to be true. I laughed with him, to keep the conversation light. But it was truly heartbreaking to hear.
As ridiculous as it might sound, we thought for a long time that the only reason we were saving so many people, the only reason people took to heart the words that we spoke, was because we are white. We are from the most successful country in the world. Of course they should listen to us. Surely we have life figured out more than they do. It would be silly for them to ignore us. And what’s truly crazy is they think we come from a righteous country. Where almost everybody is a Christian. LOL.
Well, to be totally honest, according to human geographical studies of religion, the continent of North America is actually 90% Christian. But what a lie that must be. I almost bet that not even 90% of the people that are reading this Christian blog are Christian. Most of us are too comfortable to truly understand Christianity. We have no need for a god, we have money! What can God compare to my fat stacks of doe?
As nice as that theory is, I think there could be a more spiritual reason for so much faith. Maybe even theological:
Throughout the Bible, there are numerous things that God has put into motion that have the statement, “We need God.” As well as “God is present in suffering.” These two points are very closely related. Here are a couple examples:
- Romans 7: Paul tells us that Moses’ law was not created for us to fulfill it, because that is quite obviously impossible, but it was created for us to know that we are flawed. It was created for us to know that the only hope we have at attempting to be truly good, is to be one with God.
- Jesus suffered terribly before his death on the cross. He had to carry his own crucifix up a mountain, all while getting whipped and spit on. Then he was nailed to the cross through his wrists and feet. Our God of the universe is extremely present in suffering.
- In Mark 10:24-25 Jesus makes the point that it is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. Now, in context the point is that it is easy to love material over God. And anyone who loves the gift more than the giver is unworthy of the gift. This much is simple. But I think there is a deeper lesson to be taken.
As flawed humans, when do we look to God the most? For the majority of us, we look to God when we’re in pain. Even profound atheists can recognize that people will almost always turn to God for help in great distress, regardless of their beliefs prior to the event. Why is this? This is because God is present in suffering.
Do not misunderstand; I’m not saying God creates suffering. We do. We have free will, therefor evil exists, and we suffer because of it. But God is incredibly tangible in those moments, the moments when we’re so close to the ground because nothing in the universe is going right.
This is because we need God. It’s so, so hard for us to recognize how necessary it is for us to be dependent on God if we’re okay. He is present in suffering because that is when we, as humans, turn to him. If everything was going well, we wouldn’t be able to see our need for him.
This all might seem a little farfetched, maybe even unbiblical. But I’ve provided my sources, so tell me: how many rich people do you know, who aren’t in love with their treasures? If God is present in suffering, and money makes this world go round, then when does a rich man have time to need God? It’s hard for a rich man to get into heaven because he doesn’t need God. He’s at the top of his game all the time.
Okay, now answer me another question: Who is the rich man in this story? Because it’s certainly not Africa. Africa is the man that is in suffering, and desperately turning to God. African has no more faith than you do, he is still only human. The difference is that you are comfortable, America. It is difficult for you to see the necessity for dependence on God. You are the rich man. Africa has very little, he is always in great distress, and his only hope is for something supernatural.
Also according to those same geographical studies, Christianity is rapidly growing everywhere in the world except for the United States, Canada, and the U.K.
I can barely begin to tell Africa the gospel before he is asking me if I can lead him into salvation. What? You heard me right? He’s asking me if I can lead him into salvation. Is it not normally my job to ask him if he would like to be saved?
Do you measure your wealth by treasure or by grace? The entire world thinks that America is the greatest country in the world. Which by definition, would technically be true. But I measure my wealth by grace, and because America has everything, we have nothing.
I’ve never been good with tone in writing, so I apologize if I sound a way that I don’t mean to sound. Understand that this is all from love.
Noah.
