by Tom Wacaster
Traveling late at night is a normal part of our mission efforts here in India. Seldom do we get back into Kakinada and me into bed before 11:00 PM. The advantage of late night travel is the absence of traffic. With the exception of what they call their “national highway” system, the streets are narrow and not designed to handle the massive traffic of buses, cars, motorcycles, bicycles, and foot traffic. Add to this the bold and daring driving habits of some of the Indian drivers and it is a sure recipe for disaster. I could write a book on the foolishness of some of the drivers. I have often told Nehemiah that some of the drivers over here must simply be tired of living.
I have shared with you on a number of occasions the fact that the overwhelming majority of Indians are of the Hindu persuasion. As with many religions, there are those dedicated devotees and the not-so-dedicated devotees. Sadly, the same could be said about members of the Lord’s church; but that is a subject for another time. September is the month for the Hindu festival week. In years past I have been in India during this time, but I was fortunate to miss it this year due to the time frame of my mission trip. Let me mention one more important item and then I will get to the point of this article. When Paul passed through the city of Athens on his way to Jerusalem, Luke tells us that while he was waiting for Timothy and Silas, “his spirit was provoked within him as he beheld the city full of idols” (Acts 17:16). Since I started coming to India ten years ago I have come to appreciate those words of Luke, and can relate to the feeling Paul must have had on that occasion. The cities and villages are “full of idols.” Not only do the Hindus go to great lengths to carve out and build grotesque idol images, but their expenditure on the temples to house those idols are elaborate and ornate. Some of the Hindu temples are several stories high and dwarf the other buildings in the town and/or village. Many smaller temples are located on street corners, where the worshippers can gather late in the evening or during the day to offer up their praise to a piece of wood carved out to fit the vain imagination of their hearts. More often than not, the evening worshippers provide lights for their temple god, and when we pass one such temple I can see into the area where the idol sits, adorned with flowers, and what appears to be precious stones and decorative carvings. The idols are even provided a seat on which to sit while the devotees bow at its feet in a vain attempt to gain some blessing. Almost without exception, these temples are well lighted, and often attended by what appears to be a temple guardian of some kind.
We were returning home from an evening service in Burugu lanka, and passing through one of the smaller towns along the way, one of these temples caught my eye. I had, no doubt, seen this temple a number of times since our preaching appointments over the years had taken us through this place on a number of occasions. What caught my eye was the fact that this temple sat in darkness. There were no lights glowing, and both temple and idol sat in darkness. There were no lights in the temple, something out of the ordinary. I am not suggesting that this was the only temple without lights, nor am I implying that the lights in this or any other Hindu temple burn 24/7. What I am pointing out is that on this occasion, what I observed is representative of the spiritual inadequacy of not only the temple, but the idol that sits in that temple. There is no light in the temple; in fact, there are no lights in any of the thousands, perhaps millions of temples that adorn this country or any country, regardless of the religion.
One of the blessings of Christianity is that it enlightens the mind. Jesus declared, “I am the light of the world” (John 9:5). On another occasion He proclaimed, “I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness” (John 12:46). Unfortunately, “men loved darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). It is only through the knowledge of Jesus that men can ever hope to be free (John 8:32-34), ever hope to be happy, or ever hope to find purpose and fulfillment in their lives. Before Jesus came into this world, men sat in darkness. When our Lord descended from heaven, “The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up” (Matt. 4:16). Rejection of the light of God’s word will spell disaster for any person and/or nation. It makes no difference how sincere, how committed, or how enthusiastic a person might be, when men change “the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things” (Rom. 1:23) there will not be any light in the temple of their false gods and vain imagination. Unfortunately our once mighty and powerful nation began the trek away from God more than 60 years ago, and the temples of higher education, science and political acclaim have replaced the true temple of God, the church of Christ. Like the idolatrous nations that now fill the dust bins of history, the United States will soon learn what others have learned: There is no light in their temple!