중국에서 온 편지...
중국 훈춘지역으로 여름방학 1달간 선교를 떠났던 현열이가 백두산에서 기념촬영한 모습
이번 여름방학기간 동안 7월 중순에서 8월 중순까지 중국 훈춘지역에서 선교를 마치고 서울에 도착한 현열이는 지난 한 달간의 경험이 그에게 너무나 소중한 것을 가르쳐 주었다고 했다. 그러면서 이러한 기회를 갖게한 부모님께 감사한다고 말했다. 그가 거기있는 동안 간간히 온 e-mail들을 보고 나는 중국이 e-mail을 검열한다는 데 혀를 둘렀다. 그는 검열을 피하기 위해서 기독교적인 단어는 모든 변형된 글자를 사용했다. '나의 마음에서'를 'From my heart '대신에 'From my h3art' 로 쓴 것이 대표적인 예다. 그리고 우리가 쉽게 볼수 있는 YouTube가 그곳에서는 접속이 안된다는 사실도 충격이었다. 아래는 그가 보내온 편지에 일부인데 그가 느꼈던 일들을 선교보고 형식으로 친한 친구나 친척들에게 기도를 부탁한 내용들이다.
From my h3art...
As I was going through the B1ble study on the Laborers in the Vineyard (M@tthew 20:1-16), G*d revealed such an interesting perspective to me. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the text, the p@rable is about a landowner who hires workers to work in his vineyard. He hires people with the promise to pay them all one denarius at the day's end, period. He hires people at all different hours of the day, some from the start of the day and some at the last possible hour. When it comes time for them to get paid, there is dissension amongst the laborers. Everyone, regardless of how many hours worked, gets a denarius as promised. The earliest workers begin to lodge complaints against the landowner. They argue that since they worked more than everyone else, especially those that had comeat the eleventh hour, they should be paid more.
At first, I agreed with them. Everything that we learn in society points to the notion deserving fairness. If you work 6 hours and get paid 3 dollars and then I work 12, I better get at least 6. If not, I have the right to complain. However, this view changed when I read verse 3:
"And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace."
By hiring these people, the landowner basically rescued these people from their idleness. They were not working, thus, not making money, and essentially doing nothing with their lives. However, the landowner gave these people purpose in their lives as well as a reward for their efforts. I can't help but think about my own life. So often, I complain to G*d about the unfairness in my life, so much so that I forget the life that He's saved me from and the new life that He's given me.
Needless to say, more often than not, I am just like the complainers in the parable. Think about this. Wouldn't it be something if, instead of being angry that they got the same amount as the latecomers, the complainers REJ0ICED in the fact that the the latecomers too received the opportunity to make something of their day? on a more personal level, wouldn't it be something if instead of complaining that I'm not getting the same bl3ssings that that other person is getting, I pr@ised G*d for giving that other person those bl3ssings? How different would our world look? To really bring it back home:
PHIL.TWO.THREE: Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.