Friday, January 3, 2014

Live by the truth and not by assumptions. Part 1


I was on the plane traveling to the UK on a business trip just a couple of  days before Christmas a couple of years ago. I sat close to a middle aged man who sounded very excited about the fact that Christmas was only a few days away, and he was going to celebrate with his wife and three kids. At a point inflight, we started talking about Christmas and he said something that caught my attention. He was actually narrating the story about the birth of Jesus. He spoke passionately about the 'three wise men', and how they visited Jesus. At that point, I interrupted sharply but politely and said, "Sir, did you just say the three wise men visited Jesus?" He answered boldly,  "yes, the three wise men from the east gave baby Jesus Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh."

I tried explaining to him that the bible didn't  say anything about the three wise men (I'm sure you probably have the same expression the man had on his face on yours right now but wait and let me explain). I said "Sir, have you ever read this portion of the bible your self?" He answered with a harsh tone: "what do you mean by that? I'm well over 50 years old and you are asking if I have read that portion of the Bible. Even a child in kindergarten know the three wise men." He felt insulted by the question I asked him. I apologized immediately and made him understand my intention wasn't to be rude but if I came across as being rude in my communication, I asked him to pardon me.

I kept to myself for a while but I was restless within me because I was concerned he had believed a lie for 50 long years and must have taught his children accordingly. It dawned on me that age necessarily doesn't equal accurate knowledge. I sat there thinking about how to approach this 50 year old man with an explanation of the truth without getting him upset again.  I thought about what will happen when he finds out he was wrong and he had believed a lie all these years?

Just before landing into the UK, I made up my mind to show him the truth from the bible. I said, "Sir, I hope you're not upset with me anymore?" He answered, "it's ok now". Then I said, "Sir, if I show you from the bible the wise men are not three in number, will it make any difference to you?" He replied angrily, "go ahead and show me". I quickly pulled out my phone and asked him  to read from Matthew 2:1. He opened his eyes, removed his glasses and read the verse a couple of times to be sure he saw what he just saw. He was shocked to see for the first time the bible never had the information as three wise men but wise men from the east. What about you? What are you thinking now? I think you should verify by looking into your own bible. Assumptions can mislead you.

To be continued...

1 comment:

  1. Great narration!!!.... u got me hooked till the end. You'd definitely make an excellent story teller. I'm totally sharing this on fb!

    What you said about assumptions is absolutely true. It's only a deep desire for the truth and relentless pursuit of knowledge that can liberate us from the urge to "assume" things we do not understand. It's particularly risky when it's got to do with our faith

    Can't wait for part 2!

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