Thots On Romania Trip

I suppose my father in law put it best – I “haven’t had a thought in a while.”  (Smile).

Just got back from Romania and what a trip that was.  I fell in love with the pastor and his family (with whom I stayed), the people we visited, and Romanians in general.  Leaving was surprisingly difficult.  Nothing like my time in Korea, where after a year, the US was where my heart was – no sorrows at all about leaving.  

The trip was to get a vision for a partnership with a local Romanian church.  As I try to digest all I saw and experienced regarding the ministry of the pastor and the churches he oversees, that vision may become clear.  I preached 11 times in 9 places over four days.  It was hectic to say the least, but God was good in every instance.

A partnership might involve a return trip occasionally (once or twice a year) to help with specific projects (i.e., VBS, Backyard Bible Club, evangelism training, a building project, or something else as the Lord leads).  It is cost prohibitive for my church to handle alone, so if a partnership should ensue, it will have to be on the Associational level.

What I wanted to have a “thought about” today is the commonalities of Romanians and Americans.  The spiritual darkness in Romania is perceived to be darker in Romania than the US – but I don’t think so.  Darkness is darkness, and Satan’s power is no stronger in one place than another.  The faith of the believers can be one difference, yes.  But don’t you believe for a moment that Romanian believers are weaker in their faith than Americans.  Neither believe that the US is more welcoming to faith than Romania.  

Let me explain.  In Romania, the Greek Orthodox church is the national religion.  They are pretty intolerant of Baptists and other denominations, but they claim Christianity.  We know it is not Biblical Christianity they practice, but it is not atheism or humanism that grips their country (like here in the US).  Both are spiritually dark, and the number of Bible-believing Christians in both countries is small.  If the US keeps going as it is heading, it won’t be too long before those numbers (percentages) are the same.  Romanians are turning to the Lord according to the Bible, and reaching children (which will affect the next generation).  Secular humanists are reaching Americans (which also will affect the next generation).  

The forms of godliness that the Romanian people practice as part of Greek Orthodoxy creates a faith in traditions and rituals more than a faith in the authority of Scripture and creates a religion rather than a relationship.  The US is full of people who are only one generation further removed from a relationship with Jesus – they have abandoned the emptiness of the religious rituals and turned to secular humanism.  We have Catholics who enjoy their religion – but they are increasingly abandoning their “faith” for the pleasures of materialism through secular humanism and capitalism.  If Bible-believing Christians don’t stand up for their faith here in America – or Romania – then the tide will continue to turn against us, persecution will increase, and the light will be extinguished.

What does that mean to you and me?  It means that we must, at all costs, share our faith with others who are trusting something other than the blood of Christ for hope of heaven.  Some trust their genetic relationships to get them to heaven.  Some trust their rituals of baptism, church membership, practice of the Lord’s Supper, confession, or some other thing to “cleanse them” and make them fit for heaven.  Some trust that their good works will outweigh their bad works making a “just God” have to let them in to heaven.  Others (in Romania and the US) really believe that we cannot KNOW for sure that we are going to heaven.  It is a shame, and it is a deadly darkness which we Christians must counter as the light of the world.  We must show them the light – telling and proclaiming the truth.  We must catch the fire and start giving our lives for the Kingdom.

Will you tell someone how to get to heaven this week?