"Little Christian-boy"

There are people who take and don’t give. We meet them almost everytime. Those are people who use their advantages against other people, use their relatives to achieve their goals, or simply don’t help, when everybody works hard. They rather sit in the corner and wait until the work is done and then they start to use the products. How can we call those people?

My dad was always good at speaking less, but able to say his negative feelings in a few words, when he had hard times. One of the cases was his brother, who fit to higher showed definition. My father went angry at that time, however, with cool easy look he said about him: „He is such a little Christian-boy.“

He used the word a little Christian-boy, because he knew about his angriness and prejudices about the christianity and he imagined some Christians as people who take, but don’t give. We won’t discuss, whether it was right to call his brother such a word, or whether we could speak about us like he did – for us, the important thing is a word “Little Christian-boy“.

I am glad, that we can have such a beautiful idiom, because we can find the whole group of those little Christian-boys, sadly, even belong us, servans of Christ.  We are not comfortable with people who say those things, but think: Are they right? Did anyone of us take without giving?

It is not about giving and recieving love. We are counted in everything God prepared for us. In our role in his great plan. One of my friends once told me: “When Jesus returned to the Father, he commanded to his disciples to spread his word. He has such intentions with us, too. People won’t know God if nobody tells them. We cannot just sit and wait until something happens. God counts with us, he has no plan B.“

I also acted as a little Christian-boy. Not only once happened that there was some work to do at home, everybody was busy, except me sitting on the armchair and enjoying the comfort of doing nothing. I am ashamed now, but when I think about it, lots of us avoid “job“. It is not just about sharing the gospel, but about every service for God, which we sometimes don’t want to do, becuase we are too lasy or ashamed.

Another friend of mine, who heard this idiom told me: “I imagine a little Christian-boy as a man who lives with his Sunday service and does not care about anything else.“

These all were examples of behaviour, which we could briefly call “little Christian-boy.“ I dare you to think: Are we similiar with anything of this? Do we want to change this? Will we take Christ’s cross and will be search for our faults?

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.“

Romans 12:1-2

Two shirts

He [John the Babtist] answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.

Luke 3:11

Ever since I became a Christian and started to be interested in the bible, I saw this verse as some comandment of sharing with each other. I guess, if you put the bible into the hands of unbeliever, even he would get it that way. Recent events made me think about this verse deeper.

My good Christian friend experienced very often deep spiritual crisis. It always took him a very long time to get through it. In those very crisises I heard him saying: “I don’t know how and I cannot get through it, but I wish I could sacrifice to people, give them all I have got, help them.“

If we look at Luke 3:11 again and think about it: Who has two shirts – who has an abundance – let him give what he has in addition to one, who has nothing. There is no “Who has nothing, let him give it all away.“ God himself wants us to be generous, love other neighbours – but only if we have an abundance. We cannot force a homeless to give somebody his only one coat (and it is sometimes everything he owns). Same way, as Christian experiencing a living relationship with God, i tis very generous when we pray for others – but we also need to pray for ourselves. We need to have the solid stand in Christ, later we can help with construction in another place. How we can help somebody, when we cannot even solve our own problems?

On the first look this encouragements seems a little bit selfish: “Care only about yourself, and then about other people.“ But I think it is not selfish, only practical. Even the old proverb says “To love other people you need to love yourself first.“ Same way with other things. I tis nice when you give money, but we cannot give our money away in order to make debts.

So whoever is dressed, let him give what he has in addition. And whoever is fed, let him give away the rest of his meal.