"I also learned from Nelson that we are hosting seven lepers every Sunday, plus two men who have done the thing that is permanently unforgiven by the local gods...We seem to be the chuch for the Lost of Cause, which is not so far afield from what Jesus himself was operating in his time." (pp.212)
11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
- Matthew 11:9-13 (Bible NIV)
It is also super disappointing to see that Mr. Price is a big hypocrite. A man who knows the Bible inside and out and preaches it and knows that the second most important commandment is to love ones neighbor as thyself, he cant love Tata Ndu. would be considered 'sick' in the means of Christianity since he is not 'saved', yet Nathan holds bitterness and that stops him from acting like Jesus and helping the sick and loving him as himself. Makes me pretty mad.
DISAGREEEEEEEE. To consider the fact that his whole purpose of these actions are to ask for forgiveness due to the mental disorder caused by the war, so instead of raging at his acts, I give sympathy. His desire to make up for his guilt and sins, even though they're considered to be wrong to the outside world, means that he still cares about how God judges him. So instead of hating his act, i can only say “God Bless him”, hope he fill in the gaps in his heart earlier to save others from the misery caused by him.
ReplyDeleteYeah maybe and I agree that we should feel sympathy for his circumstance of dealing with the war, and his whole shell shock issue, but look at his actions. He's trying too hard to 'save the lost' and is pushing so hard his religion on them, when clearly a message from the author is trying to get the point across that whats right for some people is not for others, or at least the way you approach it. The africans have their way of life, and Westerners have their own way, too. We need to realize and respect each's differences. Remember how Nathan and Leah first approached gardening in the beginning? Mama Tataba TOLD them their method wouldnt work there in africa the way it did in America. and it didn't.
ReplyDeleteThats just an example to back up my statement.
Nathan needs to realize and respect the differences of people, and instead of pushing religion on them, try to instead simply show the love of Christ in hopes that they will accept it over time. He needs to trust in jesus's timing rather than trying to force his own.