Back To Home Page To Archives - Spring of Life - H. Roger Bothwell Of Rwanda and Real Christianity The news that continues to flow out of Rwanda is very disconcerting. We are now being informed that over 15% of the population was literally brutally hacked to death. Some individuals are now being arrested and brought to trial. Since we live in among evil these reports should not shock us. But what is shocking is that many of the individuals who are being implicated are Christians. Or should I rephrase that and say are individuals who call themselves Christians. We must be very careful at this point lest we condemn those who have been accused. There is a huge difference between accusation and guilt. We should stand with courage beside those accused until they have been convicted. If those convicted are Christians or people who call themselves Christians we must all drop to our knees and beg that God would give us new insight into the message we preach and the change or lack of change it brings into the lives of those who hear us. Our Jesus said to his disciples in John 13:35, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." How often have we instead gone as missionaries to such places as Rwanda and vigorously completed with missionaries of other denominations as if we were playing football. Instead of bringing ancient tribal groups together and with love healing centuries old wounds we just exacerbated the situation with more division. We taught that we had the truth and the others did not. Therefore we were God’s chosen and the others were not as if God’s acceptance of us depended upon our accepted doctrine. That would then be salvation by knowledge and scholarship instead of salvation by faith in the love and grace of Jesus. What happened in Rwanda is an indictment not against a few murderers but against all of us who have at any time used our church or our faith as a means of separating peoples and excluding peoples from the real message of Christianity. I'm Roger Bothwell and my address is hrb1@tiac.net or 151 Old Farm Rd. Leominster, MA 01453. Thank you for your support of our faith ministry. Past devotionals can be accessed at Archives