My boss, a Brahmin, had his education in Madras. He grew up there. After medical education, He set up practice as a surgical gastroenterologist at Koothattukulam and later moved to Kochi. In 1993, I joined his unit as junior doctor. Once, during a casual conversation, he said, “while in Madras, I had great regard for Christianity as a religion, but when I saw the Christians after coming to Kerala, I was thoroughly disappointed.” That sentence, so true and realistic, set me thinking. These days, the feuding factions of the Malankara Church are creating mayhem at Kolencherry bringing disgrace and bad light to Christian faith. The traditional feud is about gaining control over some churches and about who the head of the parent Church is. Christ, who is supposed to be the head, is conveniently forgotten. The moot question is: are churches actually required for prayer? Christ, during his ministry, often withdrew into the wilderness to pray. His most painful prayer was made in the garden of Gethsemane. The ongoing feud is about gaining control of churches which are financially well-endowed. In fact, wasn’t it Christ who told his disciples, ‘When you pray, go into a room by yourself, shut the door and pray’? (Math 6:6). Why are the so-called ‘faithful’ clamoring over churches? It is to control the finances of these churches. ‘You cannot serve God and Mammon,’ said Christ (Math 6:24). Christians have made their faith one of public display and even nuisance. Feasts’ of saints are ‘celebrated’ by taking out processions on public roads, causing inconvenience to the public. The concept of saints as ‘mediators’ between man and God holds no water, as Christ is that one and only mediator. Few of these faithful who take part in these processions are invariably inebriated. Various ‘denominations’ cling onto totally unnecessary rituals. Curtains are drawn across altars separating priests from the congregation. Burning frankincense and clanging bells make ‘worship’ dramatic. The moment the curtain in the temple of Jerusalem tore in two at Christ’s death, the curtain’s significance ceased. Rituals only serve to lead worshippers away from God. Idols and other external ‘aids’ are unnecessary; even the lone cross that hangs at the altar is redundant. The cross is supposed to hang in the heart of every Christian. Christianity is known for its policy of conversion, which has been a contentious issue in a country like India where so many faiths co-exist. Christians have no business to call practices and deities of other faiths non-existent or pagan. They need not worship them, but can respect them. Christians are called upon not to convert people, but to spread the gospel by thought, word and deed. The ideal would be for a non-Christians to embrace Christianity after seeing a real Christian as example. Christians undertake ‘fasts’ in right earnest. The very people who take to the streets in the above said feud are the ones who observe the 40-day and other versions of ‘fast’. True fast is mentioned in Isaiah 58: “To loosen the chains of injustice, to untie the cords of the yolk, to set the oppressed free, to break every yolk, to share food with the hungry, to provide the poor wanderer with shelter, to clothe the naked.” To ‘fast’ for 40 days and then to gulp down litres of alcohol and consume all that walk and fly on the 41st is not fasting. Christians have surely ceased to be the salt and light of the world as they were called to be (Math 5:13-16). Christians need to do just two things to be true followers of Christ (Math:22 37-40): 1. Love your God with all your soul, with all your mind.2.Love your neighbour as yourself. One cannot exist without the other. Every law and prophet depend on these two. Christians really need not do anything else other than these two. All else is unnecessary. The modern-day Christians live in such a way that they seem to ask: ‘Christ, who?’ (The writer is a senior specialist, Lakeshore Hospital, Kochi).
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