Mazie, I read your email communication with interest; I do not know whether you are a ‘dichotomist’ or ‘bichotomist’, I know I am a Multichotomist, a person with many Interests but I can recognize Religion and Politics from a crowd of 6.5 Billion faces of the world simply because they are my twin children, I would not need DNA Tests!
My comments on you communication has societal connections and hence I would like to make it public.
No Church can be ready-made Perfect, a Church is made to measure and is a continuously evolving necessary Organization imperfect it may be.
Its imperfection is because of its inherent constitution with fallible Man and the Organization’s decision-making process through mamonic democratic Arithmetic rather than by Spiritual Revelation, as is in many instances in Nagaland we see today. This is the greatest democratic black-hole necessarily of the Church.
Paul spent his longest missionary time -3 years at a stretch- raising the Church in Ephesus and even when he was away from it, he entrusted his most trusted disciple Timothy wholly to oversee the Church growth there. He wrote letters to Timothy from far away places of how to watch over the Church at Ephesus. He gave some of the finest set of instructions that should guide him in the election of a Bishop, a Deacon and an Elder of the Church. These universal Guidelines, the Churches in Nagaland often gloss over to the detriment of the effectiveness of the Church in the State.
Within 80 years, perhaps 90 or even a little more; of the 7 ‘Churches’ directly or indirectly Paul helped set up in then Asia Minor, the Church at Ephesus received the severest reprimands from no other than Christ himself. The Church is pure but its Workers are imperfect. Fallible Man often thinks he is doing a good job of serving God by killing the son of God.
To improve the Image of the Church in Nagaland and thus make it affect the Society and the Government, the Spirituality and wisdom of the Church Leaders are of tremendous importance. They need to be enlightened and not foolish ten Virgins, have wide world view, not narrow fanatic one. They need not be obliged to any, not even to any of their own dear Church Members, so that they would be obliged to the One and only One source of their Being. A courageous Church Leader is an indication of his high spirituality, a pliable Church Leader is an indication he could be purchased with “go to hell with your money”. Rich Church Leader is perhaps no Sin but his power to witness for change in the State is ineffectively poor. He is not needed in the changing the world, what an unfortunate thing!
‘Who elects the Church Leaders?’ is a very important question. They need to be elected for their spiritually mature qualities by spiritually discerning Members of their Church. A Church with a nice but immature Pastor is an indication an infantile Church. The Church Workers today need not necessarily be owners of Ph.D degrees alone. There appears to be a craze in the Church Workers today for these Medals. These are worldly Medals for display. Many Naga Christian leaders appear to pride in the English Letter appellation after their name obtainable from many Diphu or Chenai commercial institutions, instead of Spiritual qualifications.
By now, some may think, the Writer has digressed from big Issues to very small matters. Yes, but small things of very big Matters, are very important matters. It is because Nagas –Christians or not- having no time for lowly small things (“send the small children away, they said but He said that unless they become like these small children, they can in no wise enter into the Kingdom of God”) that they fail to select foundation on solid rock for their Church.
So long as the Leaders of the Church in Nagaland emphasize on things seen, on show, on desire for medals, on appearances than on inward value-contents, savor the needless, neglect the needy, fail to stand for justice, search for compromise with the mamon than stand for harsh truths; show no emphasis on Spiritual values, only nice pulpits sermons of precious Ring that does not fit the finger or costly shoe too loose for the feet, then the Kingdom of God will suffer in Nagaland for some time.
Unfortunately, the Church in Nagaland today is not sufficiently performing its Prophetic role, but when everything is said and done, at the end of the day, so to say, however the imperfect ‘Church’ is necessarily very GOOD. Leave aside Salvation of the Soul for a moment but the Church is the only force today, if I may say so, that keeps the no easy boisterous Naga social fabric in one Piece from cracking. And inadequate it may be but the hope of the Naga Society for civilized decency, propriety, progress and peace lies in the Church more than in the Office of the Chief Secretary’s or of the Chief Minister’s.
My comments on you communication has societal connections and hence I would like to make it public.
No Church can be ready-made Perfect, a Church is made to measure and is a continuously evolving necessary Organization imperfect it may be.
Its imperfection is because of its inherent constitution with fallible Man and the Organization’s decision-making process through mamonic democratic Arithmetic rather than by Spiritual Revelation, as is in many instances in Nagaland we see today. This is the greatest democratic black-hole necessarily of the Church.
Paul spent his longest missionary time -3 years at a stretch- raising the Church in Ephesus and even when he was away from it, he entrusted his most trusted disciple Timothy wholly to oversee the Church growth there. He wrote letters to Timothy from far away places of how to watch over the Church at Ephesus. He gave some of the finest set of instructions that should guide him in the election of a Bishop, a Deacon and an Elder of the Church. These universal Guidelines, the Churches in Nagaland often gloss over to the detriment of the effectiveness of the Church in the State.
Within 80 years, perhaps 90 or even a little more; of the 7 ‘Churches’ directly or indirectly Paul helped set up in then Asia Minor, the Church at Ephesus received the severest reprimands from no other than Christ himself. The Church is pure but its Workers are imperfect. Fallible Man often thinks he is doing a good job of serving God by killing the son of God.
To improve the Image of the Church in Nagaland and thus make it affect the Society and the Government, the Spirituality and wisdom of the Church Leaders are of tremendous importance. They need to be enlightened and not foolish ten Virgins, have wide world view, not narrow fanatic one. They need not be obliged to any, not even to any of their own dear Church Members, so that they would be obliged to the One and only One source of their Being. A courageous Church Leader is an indication of his high spirituality, a pliable Church Leader is an indication he could be purchased with “go to hell with your money”. Rich Church Leader is perhaps no Sin but his power to witness for change in the State is ineffectively poor. He is not needed in the changing the world, what an unfortunate thing!
‘Who elects the Church Leaders?’ is a very important question. They need to be elected for their spiritually mature qualities by spiritually discerning Members of their Church. A Church with a nice but immature Pastor is an indication an infantile Church. The Church Workers today need not necessarily be owners of Ph.D degrees alone. There appears to be a craze in the Church Workers today for these Medals. These are worldly Medals for display. Many Naga Christian leaders appear to pride in the English Letter appellation after their name obtainable from many Diphu or Chenai commercial institutions, instead of Spiritual qualifications.
By now, some may think, the Writer has digressed from big Issues to very small matters. Yes, but small things of very big Matters, are very important matters. It is because Nagas –Christians or not- having no time for lowly small things (“send the small children away, they said but He said that unless they become like these small children, they can in no wise enter into the Kingdom of God”) that they fail to select foundation on solid rock for their Church.
So long as the Leaders of the Church in Nagaland emphasize on things seen, on show, on desire for medals, on appearances than on inward value-contents, savor the needless, neglect the needy, fail to stand for justice, search for compromise with the mamon than stand for harsh truths; show no emphasis on Spiritual values, only nice pulpits sermons of precious Ring that does not fit the finger or costly shoe too loose for the feet, then the Kingdom of God will suffer in Nagaland for some time.
Unfortunately, the Church in Nagaland today is not sufficiently performing its Prophetic role, but when everything is said and done, at the end of the day, so to say, however the imperfect ‘Church’ is necessarily very GOOD. Leave aside Salvation of the Soul for a moment but the Church is the only force today, if I may say so, that keeps the no easy boisterous Naga social fabric in one Piece from cracking. And inadequate it may be but the hope of the Naga Society for civilized decency, propriety, progress and peace lies in the Church more than in the Office of the Chief Secretary’s or of the Chief Minister’s.
