During the game of Bola-Bola, there were many instances where we had shown sportsmanship. Some of us chose not to focus on winning and instead, to play in the name of fellowship and to have a good time. Others took it even further, by displaying graciousness in allowing their fallen opponents to stand before continuing, and by being more restrained when faced with a weaker player. This was observed by the instructor, and he commended us for our right attitude.
However, there were other moments where we were especially aggressive to the extent that an instructor remarked, “Is this a church?”
This was a paradigm example of our lives as Christians. The issue of being the salt and the light in the world has always weighed on my mind. On one hand, we are free from sin, where believing in Christ and accepting His offer of salvation has severed our ties with sin. We can thus show God’s glory in our lives by resisting modern culture, such as turning the other cheek whenever we are offended, or choosing to reject the paper chase and focus on treasures in heaven instead, or in our situation, showing sportsmanship.
On the other hand, we ultimately live in an imperfect world; in a world of sin. Thus, just like non Christians, we are also susceptible to Sin’s seduction. Oftentimes, it is difficult to discern that someone is a Christian by simply observing, because their words and conduct may not reflect Christ-like behaviour. If the only way people can discern our faith is by asking us, I think that there is something fundamentally wrong. Perhaps this was us when we chose to be aggressive.
I think this observation raises two points. First, it is that even when Christians show exemplary behaviour, sometimes all it takes is one of a few bad sheep to cast the whole flock into disgrace. That one black sheep can easily turn others away, and cast Christ into bad light.
Second, that black sheep can be any one of us. We live in a world of conflict and chaos, and it is indeed difficult for us to always be exemplary and shine Christ’s light into the world. Oftentimes, our fallen nature shows itself and blots out Christ’s glorious sun. Thus, we have to always be introspective and mindful of our own behaviour, to not undo others’ good work, and worse, to portray Christ negatively.
Then again, musing over my reflections, I note one crucial thing, possibly the most important thing. While we have conquered sin when we accepted and acknowledged Christ’s salvation over our sinful natures, our continuing fallen natures show that we need Christ’s protection and blessings all through our life and not just at the moment of our acceptance. It is an ongoing struggle; a fight to continually pray and seek His goodness, to triumph over sin’s seduction and power.
With Christ, we can.
Zhuang Changzhong
No comments:
Post a Comment