Christ, true conqueror
Faustino de Jesús Zamora Vargas
SUMMARY: The history of Cacique Hatuey, the first rebel against Spanish domination in Cuba, is relevant today as people judge Christians not by their piety but by their actions. The church's role is to witness, not conquer souls. Christians should focus on living a life of love, faithfulness, grace, and peace to show others the true face of Jesus.
The history of Cuba tells that the Indio Hatuey was the first rebel to rebel against Spanish domination at the end of the 15th century (1492-1500). Hatuey's rebellion was put down and he was condemned to be burned as a rebel and as a heretic. His heresy? He refused to accept a God that the Spanish tried to impose on him and that for Hatuey was the symbol of destruction, death, slavery and dispossession. They say that when Hatuey was ready to die, the priest Bartolomé de las Casas offered him Christ to "go live in heaven." Hatuey told him: "If you go to heaven with all the atrocities you have done to us, I don't want to be there!" And he was burned alive in an area of eastern Cuba that has been called Yara ever since.
The history of Cacique Hatuey is very topical. People refuse to "go to heaven" because they see fewer and fewer patterns in Christians that are worthy of imitation and desirability. The Christian is seldom valued for the appearances of piety and his biblical knowledge, but for what he does, for the life that he manifests naturally and without pretense as a child of God. The Christian is the target every day of the judgment of his fellow men in every way. If we promise heaven and say that we are heirs to the Kingdom and people judge us as unfit to deserve what we promise them in the name of Jesus, it is better to keep quiet and not testify.
They say that the words of Cacique Hatuey when he refused to go to heaven due to the inhuman testimony of the first Spanish Christians who came to America, were for Father las Casas a true inspiration to become since then a defender of those unhappy aborigines of our peoples and a chronicler of the atrocities committed by the conquering Christians.
The church of Christ is responsible for witnessing, not for conquering souls. The conqueror is Christ, the one who captivates hearts in such a way that he becomes irresistible to the broken soul. Every Christian is a stone in the spiritual edifice built on the Rock that is his son Jesus. Never promise others heaven if you are not sure that your faith and Christian life are founded on Christ, the Rock. Nobody will believe you. Show them a Christian life of love (to God and others), faithfulness, grace and peace and let the Spirit move human passions and show them the true face of Jesus.
God bless you!
The history of Cacique Hatuey is very topical. People refuse to "go to heaven" because they see fewer and fewer patterns in Christians that are worthy of imitation and desirability. The Christian is seldom valued for the appearances of piety and his biblical knowledge, but for what he does, for the life that he manifests naturally and without pretense as a child of God. The Christian is the target every day of the judgment of his fellow men in every way. If we promise heaven and say that we are heirs to the Kingdom and people judge us as unfit to deserve what we promise them in the name of Jesus, it is better to keep quiet and not testify.
They say that the words of Cacique Hatuey when he refused to go to heaven due to the inhuman testimony of the first Spanish Christians who came to America, were for Father las Casas a true inspiration to become since then a defender of those unhappy aborigines of our peoples and a chronicler of the atrocities committed by the conquering Christians.
The church of Christ is responsible for witnessing, not for conquering souls. The conqueror is Christ, the one who captivates hearts in such a way that he becomes irresistible to the broken soul. Every Christian is a stone in the spiritual edifice built on the Rock that is his son Jesus. Never promise others heaven if you are not sure that your faith and Christian life are founded on Christ, the Rock. Nobody will believe you. Show them a Christian life of love (to God and others), faithfulness, grace and peace and let the Spirit move human passions and show them the true face of Jesus.
God bless you!
