We ask people all the time, "Are you ok?" “Is your family ok?” "Is everything alright?" We are genuinely concerned about the welfare of the other person. True concern, however, causes one to ask the deeper questions. It forces us to enter into a conversation on uneasy ground. Debora Patta is renowned, because of her ability to ask interviewees the probing questions that often times bring those she interviews to tears. They never expected her to ask "That" question.
I know – myself as an example- we oftentimes don't like to ask the hard questions. We rarely enter into conversation with someone where we don't feel comfortable. Yet, here is the place where a person is most vulnerable, wondering and waiting for help: why do I feel empty? What’s point of going on day after day in the same meaningless way? Where can I find a sense of purpose and a reason to go on? Here is a place where they are searching for answers. Here is a place where they often times feel lost. Hard questions demand hard answers. Hard answers lead to a right way of living.
Traveling to Mozambique recently, I realized that we need to ask the right question, like “ARE YOU BACKSLIDING?”
Are you "backsliding"? Here's a question we would almost never ask somebody. And what an incredible question it is. "Are You Backsliding?" It's not a question to condemn another. It's a question to ponder. As God's elected ministers of the Gospel, children of God,, many would not want to ask their congregants this question, as it might offend. How many, however, might still be saved today if only someone had asked them this simple question, while there was still time to correct their path?
"Are you backsliding?" "Are you getting too close to danger?" "Are you too far from the church?" "Is your heart right with the Lord?" "Is something wrong?" "Why have you been missing so much church lately?" It's a tough question to ask, but we need to ask it. I am sure the question like this should be asked because we are brother’s keepers (Gen 4:1-16). It is time the church to wake up and serve other.
Thank you my brother in Christ
The Rev. Emmanuel Solomon Surwumwe
St Marks, UPCSA,
St Marks, UPCSA,
P.O. Box 27945,
Yeoville, 2143
Tel 0116481115
Tel 0116481115
Cell +27823643139
It's a tough question to ask. But I agree that is MUST be asked. The brotherhood of Christ is there to support us when we are weak and losing hope. And we as followers of Jesus when help others when the need arises. Brilliant!
ReplyDeleteIf a Christian attends two churches and is at one with the Lord, would this shared allegiance constitute backsliding?
ReplyDelete