True Devotion

It's an event I always forget, being too close to the Christmas and New Year festivities, and it springs up to you while you're wearing out the holiday hues--the Feast of the Black Nazarene. Every year it gets bigger and bigger, so big that in the past few years it shuts down the city. Twitter-verse say that the "devotion" of the people is truly awe-inspiring, you could call it an affair of biblical proportions. And yes, I get goosebumps watching it.


Truth rather than tradition

But tradition doesn't always mean it's the truth. I believe we share the same authoritative book, the Bible.

Ten Commandments (Exodus chapter 20 verses 4-6, quoted from the Catholic Bible - http://www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=2&bible_chapter=20

4 'You shall not make yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything in heaven above or on earth beneath or in the waters under the earth.
5 'You shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God and I punish a parent's fault in the children, the grandchildren, and the great-grandchildren among those who hate me;
6 but I act with faithful love towards thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Another quotation from Isaiah 44 - http://www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=29&bible_chapter=44

8 Have no fear, do not be afraid: have I not told you and revealed it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God except me? There is no Rock; I know of none.
9 The makers of idols are all nothingness; the works they delight in serve no purpose. And these are the witness against them: they see nothing, they know nothing; and so they will be put to shame.
10 Who ever fashioned a god or cast an image without hope of gain?
11 Watch how all its devotees will be put to shame, and the men who made it too, who are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forward and feel both fear and shame!

From these two verses, it is clear that God, our God, abhors the worship of idols and carven images.


Disciples rather than devotees

Instead of worshiping representations of God, God wants us to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. No substitutes. Jesus is looking for more than devotees, He is looking for disciples who would follow Him daily, not once a year ... Disciples who would follow Him after the big party, even if it boils down to just you going against the flow of the world. Jesus is looking for disciples. "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Mt 4:19).


Symbols rather than objects of worship

You might say that, "The statues are there to remind us of God," or as I have heard many times from the clergy, "It is not meant to be worshiped, it's the masses who worship it." On the latter, as shepherds of God's flock, we are responsible to lead and teach our sheep to know what is right. On the former, yes, we may have different symbols of faith, but again, let them only be symbols, and not an object of worship.

At the seminary, I made a paper on the Devotion to the Black Nazarene on our Asian Theology class. And what I found out is that what makes the Black Nazarene so popular among many is that the suffering image of Christ carrying the cross resonates with many of us in a people whose majority is still living in poverty. But more than that, I hope this image will remind us of the work of atonement Christ did for us. He died and paid for our sins (instead of us receiving the punishment of eternal separation from God), so that we can have life. Far be it that we forget the work of Christ on the cross. But the story doesn't end there. Jesus conquered sin and death and He was raised to life and is living today. Jesus' story is like our story as a nation, our story doesn't end in hopeless despair, but in faith, I believe we shall rise above it.


Love and respect rather than condemnation

I saw on Facebook how one person who posted a Bible verse (about how God hates idolatry) got lambasted for his "inappropriate" comment in the observance of this event.

For the student of God's Word and the follower of Christ, we are accountable. God told to Ezekiel that as God's representatives in behalf of the people, that as watchmen we are accountable to sound the alarm and to warn the people of God's judgment:

But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require from the watchman’s hand. - Ezekiel 33:6

Yes, we are accountable, we are responsible. But truth and love should be sides of the same coin. We should not lose sight of the purpose of proclaiming the truth, not to win an argument, but to lead a person to a right relationship with Christ. After all, (1) we are all sinners, and everyone is eligible to receive God's grace and forgiveness, and (2) rarely do you win friends by trying to win an argument, how much more trying to win an argument over social media and the masses, that doesn't happen. We are also not to shut up, but participate in a healthy dialog.

I believe the best way to be heard is through relationship and our testimony. You don't win masses, you win individuals. I think you respect others' belief by not always talking, but listening to what they have to say. Loving the individual, even when you two have opposing views. That doesn't prevent you from praying for them, and grabbing every opportunity to love them and show them the kindness of the Lord. Jesus' did command to love those who are opposed to you.