Thepfulhouvi Solo
I always want to reach the Sunday morning service in time and I mean ‘in time’ means at least some 5 minutes or so before 9:30 am.
I have an old watch purchased when I first joined college 58 years ago; it still gives me time very accurately; ruefully however, every often Sundays, I reach the church only in the nick of time. Of course that suits me quite well; for my Wife and I are most comfortable at the back of the pews in the big church. The service starts with the singing of any 2 selected songs of the hymn book, one after another and people in the congregation take various parts of the music automatically spontaneously and a harmonious rendition results, followed by a prayer from an entrusted untrained common lay man or lay woman of good standing in the Church.
I listen to the prayers; and almost always I find them most touching, edifying, fulfilling and lifting to the spirit. The words flow out freely, honestly in reality from the deepest, humblest recesses of the Soul in soft voice. They are lowly and contrite, pleading God in reverence in the words of an undeserving person in overflowing gratitude. The prayer covers many things: the sick, the invalid old, the luckless, the suffering, the participants, Workers and the leaders, the church, of the village, of the tribe, of the state and the government; sometimes it is for the remembrance of the suffering Christians in other States of India today for their Faith.
The prayers that come from the trained, the formally qualified, on the other hand, are most often correct, formal, ecclesiastical and the language from the pool of church vocabulary already familiar to most congregations, than realistic or personal to the hearers. It has a dry appeal mostly.
Today Christians in the church in Nagaland are most nicely dressed, of good spirit, are nice and good, sprite and happy, courteous and generous in giving, and a willing heart to do his or her mite for the church. Many wealthy contractors are enormous donors voluntarily without any expectations of any in return from the church.
A Church however is known not much for its congregation than for its leaders and its workers. The reputation of the Church rests mostly on its Leaders and Workers than with the lay congregation. And it happens there are Ananias and Safiras in modern Christian church in Nagaland as there were Anania, Safira and unfairness in some of the 7 stewards in the first Christian fellowship in Jerusalem immediately after the death of Jesus.
There were erroneous doctrinaires in some of the leaders initially of the church at Jerusalem till, notoriously opposed to the church at first but later converted to a courageous and fearless Paul, confronted Peter, Barnabas and the other Jews “in the public” for their wrong attitudes and conceptions.
The church or its organization is a very powerful body even while in mammon’s world and there is great potential danger in this power. Those who use the power of the church as their own personal power or rent the power of the church for their Interest, are in danger of damnation as those who use the power of the church for the glory of its founder, have blessings even in this Mammon’s World.
The Individual believer continually needs renewal in Christ; the church also must continually seek for renewal.
