The fellow sitting on the edge of his hospital bed caught my attention. I did not go pay him a visit in the first instance, but struck a conversation with him on my way out.
He was an indigenous Australian. He greeted me friendly, but as soon as he saw the Bible in my hand, he made it clear that he would not have anything to do with me. He almost immediately became aggressive.
“You’re hiding behind the cross whilst doing the most atrocious things possible.”
I let him talk, and my heart started bleeding for someone rejecting the Gospel because of the hypocrisy and injustice of people who were supposed to bring the light of the Gospel, but instead brought more darkness and pain.
He told of young boys who tried to commit suicide after the indecent interference of clergymen. And of baby skeletons dug up under the floorboards of a nunnery where he grew up.
“No, I am happy with what the spirits of my forefathers tell me. Go away with your religion!”
He had apparently tried to convince people high up in the denomination of the Mission Station about the injustice done, but got nothing other than the assurance that God would deal with the perpetrators.
No justice!
He is still hurting. Other people are still hurting. The clergymen are probably still hurting as they have to run from their past. The Gospel message is hurting. I am hurting. And the heart of the Saviour is bleeding.
I wanted to lend a helping hand to find justice. The angry man wouldn’t let me, and asked me to go.
How many people are hurting because of the blasphemous hypocrisy of so-called pastors! Even the ones who are enriching themselves on the back of those who suffer pain whilst trusting those with the Bible in their hands to help them!
God of justice, have mercy on us all! Help us to be true to You and the message of Christ!
Give grace to those who are hurting because of shepherds with hearts of wolves.
Give us the spiritual gumption to stand up for justice.
Give us the resolve to live the Gospel before we try to preach it to others.
Ultimate Standards 