A dangerous hook

We all must have heard about the Fables of Aesop in which a father and a son, travelling on a donkey, change their paradigm according to remarks of other people that they ran into.

In our spiritual journey, especially in ministry, we have to come across people who come from multifaceted churches and preaching contexts. Each would say their own opinion. We have to listen to all of it. We can consider if it is a beneficial advice.

But it is not true in most cases. In most people’s comments and criticism, there’s a dangerous hook that says, “you will be one among us only if you follow this..” If we get caught in that trap, then we will become simpletons to nod to every opinion others say.

This trap followed Christ relentlessly from the very beginning of his ministry till the end in cross. “We shall accept you as our Messiah, only if you come down from the cross,” challenges fired away before him. During the days of his ministry, a group kept menacing him, “show us signs..” All the more, Satan’s trial also began with the same hook, “if you are the Son of God..”

Like the Early Apostles, it is not a fault to transform as a Jew to acquire a Jew, and as a Roman to acquire a Roman. This nature of bending should be present in a child of God. This is different. They bent only for God not for their own benefit!

But it is totally different to become a puppet in one’s hand and losing ourselves to them! There are millions of churches and thousands of preaching in this world. We cannot put on thousands of guises for them. A child of God must know where to stoop and where to stand upright.

It is good to adapt for a change for a good cause. If we are stubborn in such cases, that means our ‘self’ is dominating there. We should never stoop for unwanted, inappropriate causes. If we do so, there also ‘self’ exploits.