Christ, the True Conqueror
The Lord make his face to shine on you, and be gracious to you. — Numbers 6:25
But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts; and always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, with humility and fear. — 1 Peter 3:15
Author
Faustino de Jesús Zamora Vargas
Summary: Hatuey rejected the promise of heaven after seeing the violence of those who called themselves Christians. His response spurred Bartolomé de las Casas to defend Indigenous people. Today, our witness can also draw others closer to Jesus or drive them away: outward piety and biblical knowledge are not enough if our lives contradict them. The church is called to bear witness, not to conquer souls; Christ is the one who captivates hearts. So let us ground our faith in him and show, without pretense, love for God and others, faithfulness, grace, and peace, allowing the Spirit to work.
The history of Cuba tells us that the Indigenous man Hatuey was the first rebel to rise up against Spanish domination at the end of the fifteenth century (1492–1500). Hatuey’s rebellion was crushed, and he was sentenced to die at the stake as a rebel and a heretic.
His heresy? He refused to accept a God whom the Spaniards tried to impose on him and who, to Hatuey, symbolized destruction, death, slavery, and dispossession. They say that when Hatuey was about to die, the priest Bartolomé de las Casas offered him Christ so that he could “go and live in heaven.” Hatuey told him, “If you are going to heaven after all the atrocities you have committed against 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 story of Chief Hatuey is very relevant today. People refuse to “go to heaven” because they see fewer and fewer examples among Christians worthy of imitation and admiration. Christians are now seldom judged by their outward appearance of piety or their biblical knowledge, but rather by what they do, by the life they display naturally and without pretense as children of God. Every day, Christians are subject to the judgment of their fellow human beings in every respect. If we promise heaven and say that we are heirs to the Kingdom, yet people judge us unfit to deserve what we promise them in Jesus’ name, it is better to be silent and not bear witness.
It is said that Chief Hatuey’s words, when he refused to go to heaven because of the inhumane conduct of the first Spanish Christians who came to America, truly inspired Father Las Casas to become, from then on, a defender of those unfortunate Indigenous people of our lands and a chronicler of the atrocities committed by the Christian conquerors.
The church of Christ is responsible for bearing witness, not for conquering souls. Christ is the conqueror, the one who captivates hearts so completely that he becomes irresistible to the broken soul. Every Christian is a stone in the spiritual building built upon the Rock, who is his son Jesus. Never promise others heaven if you are not sure that your faith and your Christian life are founded upon Christ, the Rock. No one will believe you. Show them a Christian life of love (for God and for others), faithfulness, grace, and peace, and let the Spirit move human hearts and show them the true face of Jesus.
God bless you!