Testimony shared at NCF Delhi camp, 2009

I’m more comfortable in writing; so, even as I am going to speak, I have written it down. Like any other young Naga’s fantasy, I dreamt of becoming a music star but I ended up becoming a medical Doctor. I went to Patkai Christian College, Dimapur and not Science College, Kohima for the sake of music in Patkai. I got into medical college but I wasn’t interested in it at first because somewhere along the way while preparing for medical entrance, I wanted to become a writer. In Patkai and medical college in Imphal, I was involved with the Evangelical Union. After completion of internship, I came to Delhi to work and prepare for PG entrance exam. I worked in Hindu Rao Hospital for one year in Orthopedics. That was the season when I actively engaged with the Evangelical Graduates Fellowship, North Delhi. Within six months, I learned more about God and the Bible than my seven and a half years in Patkai and medical college EU even though I attended a lot of Bible camps and served in the executive committees. It was a kind of re-conversion. Last year, I joined Jawaharlal Nehru University to specialize in Public Health. Now, I consider myself as a student of Public Health, Bible and Music- Music, not in performing or producing but in listening. Sharpening your hearing/developing your music appreciation can be very exciting. I also have not given up on writing as I blog about my other interests. I write about issues like abortion in Nagaland, The rising cost of health care, poems, songs, life experiences, prayers, short stories, book reviews, Bible and theology. Col. 1:17b says that in Christ, all things hold together; that Christ is the integrating centre of all things. The difference in my life is that I don’t see my areas of interest/different aspects of my life as separate entities, but a collective whole in Christ. In Christ, my personal life merges with my public life and the demarcating lines slowly disappeared. I could see Christ in my life from Mondays to Saturdays and not just on Sundays. Being a Christian student doesn’t only mean not cheating in the exams or not beat other people up; but being able to engage in the subject matter (economics, physics, sociology etc.) and discern what the God of the Bible has to say on it. I don’t see my profession as anything less divine than a degree from a theological seminary. It is about living in the society with its joys and sorrows and not living in a spiritual bubble. It is about being agents of change and participating in God’s mission of bringing his Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven. The second implication of Christ as the integrating centre is that it provides us a story to live in. The problem is when we pluck out select verses and run our lives on them, good however that may be. The whole Bible from Genesis to Revelations is the story within which we live, nothing less: That God created the world which was indeed ‘good…very good’ (Genesis 1). Among all creation, God called humankind to bear his image. The image of God signifies two things. First, it signifies our status in creation. We are the only creatures called to have a personal relationship with him, but also with the free will to reject him. Secondly, image of God also talks about our role in creation to be caretakers/stewards; to reflect God’s qualities in relation with our fellow human beings and the rest of creation. Man rebelled and sin entered and corrupted God’s good creation. The fall of man has three consequences: Adam and Eve blamed each other (broken relationship between man and man), the ground was cursed (broken relationship between man and rest of creation), and God banished them from his presence (broken relationship between man and God). But God planned our redemption. Through Israel and ultimately and definitely through Jesus Christ, God is in the process of redeeming all the three consequences of The Fall- reconciling all the three broken relationships. Therefore seen in this light, the Good News does not start with bad news of sin, but God’s good creation, and Salvation is more than the saving of the person but the entire creation (Romans). The fullness of the Redemption which is The Perfection, we do not yet see. We look forward to it with hope. This hope is not some pie in the sky which some seem to be content with, or playing harps in the clouds for eternity. The hope we have is that all tears will be wiped away; that all things that we did for the least of our fellow human being is remembered; that perfect justice is rewarded to those who cry now with no one to listen; when the lion will turn vegetarian and weapons of war will be beaten to agricultural tools; that Jesus will pat our back and say, “well done my faithful one”. And we will be reunited with all those who have gone ahead of us and death will die. The Perfection will be when the Kings come marching in with treasures from all nations as Isaiah envisioned. Those in Philosophy will bring in their deep insights; those in the Arts will bring in works of beauty that are too wonderful for words. Those who work with their hands will bring in the fruits of their harvest, etc, etc. And our joy will be complete. (The subjects that we study, the works that we do which consume the best of us are not things to keep us busy in the meantime while we wait for the ‘real thing’ somewhere after death. All these are part of God’s good creation and he’s redeeming All things unto himself). So, Christ is the integrating centre who has taken up his good world he created, corrupted with evil and has redeemed it the perfection of which we do not yet see. This is the story we live in; life in the in-betweens, between Kingdom come (inaugurated) and Kingdom Coming. John Stott calls this meta-narrative, “Foundations for Christian thinking”, the Christian Mind or Christian world view with which we are to think of anything and everything. When I understood this, it brought a deeper sense of my life’s purpose; my definition of success had to be re-defined; and so on. It unleashed a new breath of life to me. God willing, I plan to go back to Nagaland and work in areas where the need is huge. Nagaland is not only Kohima and Dimapur; there’s so much need. We must continuously pray for his strength in our weaknesses. My challenge to you is, “what does it mean to love God and love your neighbor?”

* MP3 lecture "Foundation for Christian thinking" by John Stott

* "The message of Mission" by Vinoth Ramachandra and Howard Peskett, ISPCK.

* "When the kings come marching in" by Richard J Mouw, Eerdmans

* Unofficial blog of NT Wright http://www.ntwrightpage.com/

* "Theology for the Community of God" by Stanley Grenz