Galatians
1:8, 9
King
James Version
But
though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that
which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say
I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than ye have received,
let him be accursed.
Hitchhiking from Lusaka, Zambia, to Bulawayo, Southern
Rhodesia, I caught a ride in a little, old gray Hillman. The driver, a kindly
man old enough to be my father, stopped and offered me a ride as far as
Salisbury, now Harare, Zimbabwe. I accepted gratefully, tucked my suitcase in
the boot (trunk), and climbed into the front seat next to him. We exchanged the
usual pleasantries and spoke of our various occupations. I was selling
Christian books in the Copper belt region of Zambia to earn my way through
Helderberg College. I forget his actual occupation, but he was a leader in the
Jehovah’s Witnesses in Zambia.
After an hour or two we started down the escarpment into the
Zambezi River valley. Suddenly a great, tropical thunderstorm burst upon us.
Lightning flashed, thunder rolled, and the rain came down so heavily that we
couldn’t see beyond the bonnet (hood) emblem of the car. He found a spot on the
shoulder and pulled over to let the rain ease off.
While we sat there he started talking very earnestly about
the doctrines he held so dear. One of the topics he spoke about at length was
the eight New Testament verses that Protestant pastors use to support their
keeping Sunday, the Catholic holy day. I had been exposed to those verses
previously and countered with proofs he couldn’t contest that none of them
supported a change of the holy day to Sunday. Another was the Arian heresy that
Christ was merely a good man and not divine. Again I countered with Scriptural
evidence that indeed Christ is God.
We drove down and across the mighty Zambesi and on up the
escarpment on the other side. As we travelled he went through the major
doctrines of the Witnesses, and I very ably countered each one. I confess that
at the time I was not a believing Christian and was doing it purely for the joy
of intellectual debate. My knowledge of Scripture clearly matched his and was
probably better. My speech exhibited neither Christian love nor concern for his
soul. On the other hand, he was really pleading with me for my soul.
Eventually I had angered him beyond what any God fearing
person should ever do. Hours from Salisbury there was a Sinoia Hotel made for
travelers who would stop for the night or at least for some liquid refreshment
along their journey. The Hotel was well off the road, but he stopped along the
shoulder, got out, and took my suitcase and placed it firmly on the ground.
“You’re getting out here!” he commanded. I did.
The exuberance of besting a knowledgeable opponent lasted a
long time. But the shame and remorse of misrepresenting my gracious Savior has
lasted longer. The poor man did not understand the grace of Christ, and it
should have been my responsibility to convey this to him. Unfortunately at the
time I had no better understanding of grace than he did.
Thank You, Lord, for
Your limitless grace and love for all of us, JW’s included. May I not be
accursed because I teach “another gospel”!
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