100,000 Bibles

My son recently returned from Greece. He was with some 200 youth from many different nations who were there to “Give away” bibles.  They invested 10 days giving away Modern-day Greek bibles. They receive resistance to their work, but what was interesting was the type of resistance they experienced the most was not expected.

 

One of the local churches sent out a warning to their members that there were “Heretics” in their area and to avoid contact with them. So those who considered the youth giving away bibles, heretics, would not receive a free bible. Many people who did take them threw them in the garbage. It was even reported that a local priest got very angry at one of the teams giving out bibles and their work. Another group while on their way to a small village with a load of bibles to give a way had their car pulled over by the police who were investigating their intentions. One of the team members in the car was a Greek citizen and explained what they were doing and the incident did not result in any legal issues.

The real resistance

Most of the resistance came from the idea that the bibles were “Free”. The majority of the people did not want to accept them without paying for them. Their culture apparently would not allow them to receive a “Free” gift from a total stranger. So the teams passing out the free bibles decided to hang them on their doors in bags during the mid day siestas. This seemed to work wonderfully since they gave away over 100,000 bibles and CD’s.

The idea of receiving something without paying for it, meaning a gift, is very challenging to the human soul. Our human ego fights against it as adults. Children are not this way. They have an innocence that allows them to receive a gift without thinking about paying it back. I believe that is why Jesus likened the Kingdom of God to children's innocence. The idea of receiving a gift without even the thought of paying it back is at the heart of “Grace.”

I personally struggle with receiving something from someone without earning it or paying for it. It seems to me to be the “Right thing to do”, but it is hard. To get without giving is foreign to all our culture teaches us. Yet, Christ himself came to do just that. He gives us life and answered prayers without having to pay him back. Answered prayers are based on “Grace” not commerce. We cannot buy them through our actions, our worship or our gift giving.

My ego had rather pay for something and keep the relationship clean and square. You don’t owe me and I don’t owe you, but what this also does is isolates us from each other. It prevents the real and most important thing from happening, intimacy. Intimacy scares the average person including me.

God’s Grace must do its work in our hearts before we can do his work. Before we can give without expecting in return we must learn to be "Given to".  When we “Learn to receive” we remove our human ego out of the way and let our “Life-giving” spirit rule. We become less afraid of being used or abused by others who may have given gifts to us in the past with strings attached.

You can only give much when you know you have received much, freely!

So the next time someone gives you a gift, try “Not” to return it by doing something in return. Smile and say,  "Thank you" with a grateful heart.

“Learn to receive freely and so learn to give freely.”

This is to “Be Life Giving.”

Alex Anderson