Tuesday, 1 September 2009
Salvation is free. It's certainly not valueless or cheap. No, it's the opposite of that and it's paid for. But it is free in the sense that you don't have to pay for it. You only have to receive what Christ has already done. With a deal like that, why doesn't everyone receive it?
Today, we had a clinic scheduled in San Martin. It took several weeks to get it arranged since we did it the "right way." This means that (instead of just announcing our arrival and just showing up) a leader from our church went to this town and talked to the leaders there. They had a town meeting and agreed to receive our invitation for a clinic. The date, place, and time were set and a group from our church was put together to help with things. The doctor visit and the medicines were all going to be free.
Yesterday afternoon, we got a visit from the leader who had set things up and apparently the town no longer wanted our presence there. He explained that a couple of years ago, a group from our same church went to this town to "scout things out." They got information about population and spiritual climate of the area. They also had promised that a medical team would come in the future months. But it never happened. Therefore, apparently the people are very skeptical since they took the previous situation as a lie. Some believed that we would not show up this time either, or that if we showed up, we would start charging money. Therefore, the clinic was canceled. How could people so needy reject free help???
I think there are two lessons to learn here: Firstly, if you promise something as a representative of Christ, deliver. If not, it can severely hurt Christ's reputation and the reputation of those who bring the Gospel after you. Secondly, I think there is a parallel here to people receiving the Gospel. Many people still cannot get past the question of "But how can Salvation be free?" "Surely, I must DO or PAY something." That's why it's so simple, yet so impossible to be saved without the work of God. “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27). Every time a person receives the Gospel, it is truly a miracle.
On another note, we are once again disappointed and frankly embarrassed that we have had so much difficulty getting clinics set up on Tuesdays. This is not the first time that we have had a last minute cancelation on a Tuesday clinic. Our clinics on Wednesday through Saturday have been going very well. Please PRAY that God would bless us with some fruitful Tuesday clinics. Thanks.