My friend Tia is in India right now serving her Father faithfully and spreading His word. I got to speak to her a few mornings ago while she was relaxing and updating her own blog about her journey. She mentioned the beauty of the country and its villages. Tia has the blessing of working with a people group that have never even seen Americans, much less heard the word of eternal Hope. As we were talking she mentioned how terrible the Indian caste system is. It is often divided by the wealth of the household one is born into. The poor and wealthy live by each other without a look from the other. Although people from each of these groups live lives that cause them to collide with one another each day. Side by side they conduct their lives casting judgement and creating differences between all of them because of the oppressive system.
Most of us live in caste systems of our own. Each day we run into others that are poorer or richer than us. But not in the monetary sense of the word; in the spiritual. We create boundries between people we know that are suffering because of their lack of Hope and our own lives. Its as if we're concerned that we're going to catch some sort of 'disbelief disease' if we spend too much time conducting our lives with them in mind. But we're commanded to. I am reminded of the Great Commission and 'to go and make disciples of all nations' in Matthew 28. Too often we read all nations and we think of those that are not our own. But what about it? What about this nation? What about the cites and towns that we find ourselves in right now that have caste systems that too greatly parallel that of India?
Why can't the richness that we have found for our own lives not be overflowed to those that lack it? How can we cast judgements on those who live a lifestyle of sin, when we offer them no hope to step out of it? Do we live our lives in attempt to break down the spiritual caste system that we universally live in?
All this to say, remember that the souls without Christ across the world are just and hungry as those in this nation. Let us not live our lives in the a caste system that restricts the Spirit from fulfilling His work in us. I ask that you join me in praying particularly for the nation of India today. For the Lord can indeed break the barriers that exists spiritually and physically in that country. And do the same for your own country. The God that we serve can destroy the caste system we find ourselves functioning under.
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I was guilty of this yesterday at WalMart. There was a man standing behind me with one item while my cart was filled to the brim with "stuff." I so badly wanted to ignore him but the Holy Spirit wouldn't allow such self-indulgence. I asked him if he'd like to go ahead of me since he had only one item, a pack of diapers. He humbly accepted and proceeded to talk about the state of our economy and how hard it was to make ends meet. I agreed and began to share the hope I have in Jesus. He readily agreed much to my pleasant surprise. He proceeded to tell me how he had come to realize thru a series of unfortunate events that the Lord was the only one who could save him from his life of abuse.
If I had had my way, I would have missed our rich exchange of testimonies. Instead the Holy Spirit taught me a glorious lesson I'll not soon forget. As the gentlemen walked away with his purchase I saw two young children gather at his side. So much at stake. So little time. How can we make a difference if we continue to put people in their appropriate boxes while we remain safely tucked away inside ours? Lord, have mercy! Holy Spirit, teach us how to truly die to self.
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