Last night while driving home from evangelism, I picked up a 25-year old Venda man who needed a lift. He had a good job and education. After some conversation, I asked him if he attended church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Venda man: Yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seth: If a man came to your church and wanted to go to Heaven, what would your pastor tell him?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Venda man: My pastor would pray with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seth: That is important, but is there anything else that your pastor would tell him?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Man: Like what?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seth: OK, what if my friend Nyiko came to you and said, \u201cI want to go to Heaven.\u201d What would you tell him?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Man: He should pray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seth: Do you think you will go to Heaven?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Man: Yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seth: How do you know?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Man [speaking in Venda]: Ndo dzhia \u201csinner\u2019s prayer.\u201d [Lit. I took the \u201csinner\u2019s prayer.\u201d Spoken sacramentally as if this action brought grace.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seth: What are you forgetting?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Man: I don\u2019t understand you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seth: Today before we picked you up, we had already picked up 4 other different people and asked them the same question. 3 of the 4 said they were Christians, and they all gave answers similar to yours. But they all forgot this one great Thing. What did they forget? Now, I will tell you, but when I tell you, you will immediately say, \u2018Oh, I knew that!\u2019 But for some reason you didn\u2019t think of it before I told you. If you can\u2019t think of it before I told you, it means you are lost. You are in darkness. You are not born again. You are a goat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Would you like one last chance? What did you forget? You forgot Christ, His Cross, His blood, His keeping the law, His praying for His people, His promise to come back on a white horse. You thought nothing of God\u2019s Son. And this is proof that you are lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Man [surprised as he is about to get out of the vehicle]: Where is your church?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His line that he \u201ctook the sinner\u2019s prayer\u201d was instructive and sad. Though I am now hearing from time to time, \u201cI received Jesus Christ,\u201d my experience and conversations lead me to believe that most Tsongas and Vendas and Shonas trust some kind of sacrament to deliver grace to them like a sinner\u2019s prayer and African traditional voodoo charms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Last night while driving home from evangelism, I picked up a 25-year old Venda man who needed a lift. He had a good job and education. After some conversation, I asked him if he attended church. Venda man: Yes. Seth: … Continue reading