Monday, October 23, 2006

Clanging Cymbals, Resounding Gongs

Reverend Philip Ming's straightforward message set me thinking. He talked about love which I thought I knew about & practised to some decent extent, but realised that I hardly, at least of late.

He spoke about a superbly skilled medical doctor who replaced a not-so-qualified one in a remote African village. Whilst in the past, the villagers came in throngs to be healed of all kinds of diseases and sicknesses, with each passing day, fewer villagers came and when the week was over, no one showed up. He was perplexed and sought to know why. A reverend who initially politely told him he didn't know, finally said this to him: "When the villagers looked into the soul of the former "doctor" and missionary, they saw that it was full of love, and that made them want to come into his presence. When they looked into your soul, they found nothing."

Love was the difference, and still is. I had better re-read 1 Corinthians 13.

Over the weekend, I reprimanded my elder daughter several times, including a huge whack on the palm with the cane. It was over some bad habits, deemed unacceptable in my eyes. Did God wallop me for being impatient and a hypocrite? Well, I don't recall.

Last week, I gave my wife a hard time by initially refusing to join her in her company's upcoming annual function because I deemed it irrelevant and a sheer waste of time. Just because I hate noisy places where drinking and merry-making are the order of the day. Well, isn't this just the perfect opportunity for her non-God-knowing-and-fearing colleagues to experience a little of Jesus' love that's supposed to be in me?

Last weekend, I raised my voice at my father because I felt he was insensitive towards our kind intentions. So, who's being insensitive here, Mr Righteous?

For the last one year since joining a VWO as regional head of IT, I was so absorbed in transforming the "laid-back" state of IT there that an under-performing staff member has been given countless lectures to shape up. Well, can't I do so with a little bit more love, no matter how difficult it is?

Whatever happened to "love is patient, love is kind ... it does not boast, it is not proud, ... not easily angered"?

Superbly skilled but lacking in love - that's me.
Recipient of love and mercy, but don't know how to be compassionate - uh, that's me too.
A master who doesn't know how to treat his slaves well - sounds like me.
The unmerciful servant - uh oh, this is bad.
A clanging cymbal, a resounding gong - enough, time to wake up.

Good intentions, we all have, but they are not good enough in the eyes of God, if we do so without the one all-important ingredient -- God's love. Or, in other words, with just God's love and nothing else, we would have done extremely well because it's all about Him and absolutely nothing about us. That's what differentiates glory that goes to God and those that rests with us.

A little more love and more humility, please.

Thomas

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