📖 Madhehebu Potofu na Dini za Ulimwengu — Sehemu ya 10: Kumshuhudia Mshiriki wa Dhehebu Potofu au Mtu wa Imani Nyingine📖 Cults & World Religions — Unit 10: Witnessing to a Cult Member or Person of Another Faith

Msingi: 1 Petro 3:15; Matendo 17:22-23; 1 Wakorintho 3:6-7; Mathayo 28:18-20 (SUV)Anchor: 1 Peter 3:15; Acts 17:22-23; 1 Corinthians 3:6-7; Matthew 28:18-20 (NKJV)

Kuyaunganisha Yote PamojaBringing It All Together

Tumetoka mbali. Tumejifunza kulitambua dhehebu potofu, kulipima fundisho lake kuanzia mzizi wake, na kuona jinsi Mashahidi wa Yehova na Wamormoni (Kanisa la Yesu Kristo la Watakatifu wa Siku za Mwisho), injili ya mafanikio, Uislamu na Imani ya Kibahai, Uhindu na Ubuddha, na dini ya jadi ya nchi yetu wenyewe, kila moja linavyoiacha injili ya Kristo. Lakini mafunzo hayo yote yana kusudi moja, nalo si kutufanya tuwe werevu, au kushinda mabishano, au kujiona bora kuliko wengine. Ni kutusaidia kuwapenda watu kiasi cha kutosha ili tuwaletee kweli. Sehemu hii ya mwisho inageuka kutoka kwenye kosa kwenda kwa mtu — kutoka kwa yale ambayo makundi haya yanafundisha hadi jinsi tunavyoweza kuwafikia wanaume na wanawake waliotekwa ndani yake. Kwa maana nyuma ya kila mfumo wa uongo kuna nafsi ambayo Kristo alikufa ili aiokoe, na lengo lote la kulielewa kosa ni kuweza, kwa hekima na upendo, kuielekeza nafsi hiyo Kwake.We have come a long way. We have learned to recognize a cult, to test its teaching at the root, and to see how the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Latter-day Saints, the prosperity gospel, Islam and the Bahá'í Faith, Hinduism and Buddhism, and the folk religion of our own land each depart from the gospel of Christ. But all of that learning has one purpose, and it is not to make us clever, or to win arguments, or to feel superior. It is to help us love people well enough to bring them the truth. This final unit turns from the error to the person — from what these groups teach to how we may reach the men and women caught in them. For behind every false system is a soul that Christ died to save, and the whole point of understanding the error is to be able, with wisdom and love, to point that soul to Him.

Mtu Huyo Si AduiThe Person Is Not the Enemy

Jambo la kwanza la kuamua, kabla hatujasema neno hata moja, ni kwamba mtu aliye mbele yetu si adui yetu. Shahidi wa Yehova aliye mlangoni, Mwislamu kazini, ndugu Mkatoliki, jirani anayemtembelea mganga wa kienyeji (curandero) — hawa si wapinzani wa kushindwa bali ni watu wa kuvutwa kwa Kristo. "Kushindana kwetu sisi si juu ya damu na nyama" (Waefeso 6:12); kifungo halisi ni cha kiroho, na mtu huyo ni mateka wake, si mwanzilishi wake. Kwa hiyo tunakuja kwa upendo, nasi tunaanza kwa kupiga magoti, kwa maana hakuna hoja iliyowahi kumwokoa mtu ye yote; ni Mungu peke yake afunguaye moyo. Nasi tunaulinda mwenendo wetu, tukikumbuka agizo la Paulo kwamba "mtumwa wa Bwana haimpasi kuwa mtu wa ugomvi; bali awe mpole kwa watu wote, awezaye kufundisha, mvumilivu, akiwaonya kwa unyenyekevu wale wanaoshindana nao; yamkini Mungu huenda akawapa toba" (2 Timotheo 2:24-25). Hatuko nje kujipatia ushindi juu ya mtu. Tunamsihi mateka awe huru.The first thing to settle, before a single word is spoken, is that the person in front of us is not our enemy. The Jehovah's Witness at the door, the Muslim at work, the Catholic relative, the neighbor who visits the curandero — these are not opponents to be defeated but people to be won. "We do not wrestle against flesh and blood" (Ephesians 6:12); the real bondage is spiritual, and the person is its captive, not its author. So we come in love, and we begin on our knees, for no argument ever saved anyone; only God opens a heart. And we watch our manner, remembering Paul's charge that "a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance" (2 Timothy 2:24-25). We are not out to score a victory over a person. We are pleading with a captive to be free.

Sikiliza Kwanza, na UulizeListen First, and Ask

Sehemu kubwa ya ushuhuda wetu hushindwa si kwa sababu tunasema mambo yasiyo sahihi bali kwa sababu tunayasema mapema mno, na hatusikilizi kamwe. Paulo alipofika Athene, mji uliojaa sanamu na falsafa za uongo, hakuanza kwa kukemea; alitembea kati yao, akatazama kwa makini yale waliyoyaamini, akapata mahali pa kuunganika nao — madhabahu kwa mungu asiyejulikana — na kuanzia hapo akamhubiri Kristo na ufufuo (Matendo 17:22-23). Mfuate yeye. Muulize mtu kile anachokiamini hasa, na usikilize hadi ukielewe, si picha potofu yake. Uliza maswali ya kweli: Unaamini nini kuhusu Yesu? Unatumaini kupatanishwa na Mungu kwa njia gani? Nini hutokea unapoogopa, au unapotenda dhambi? Maswali hufungua mlango ambao madai hufunga kwa kishindo. Yanaonyesha heshima, yanamfanya mtu afikiri, na yanakuwezesha kujibu kile kilichopo kweli badala ya msimamo ambao hakuna mtu anayeushikilia. Swali zuri, likiulizwa kwa upole, mara nyingi hufanya zaidi kuliko saa nzima ya mabishano.Much of our witness fails not because we say wrong things but because we say them too soon, and never listen. When Paul came to Athens, a city full of idols and false philosophy, he did not open with a rebuke; he walked among them, looked carefully at what they believed, and found a point of contact — an altar to an unknown god — and from there he preached Christ and the resurrection (Acts 17:22-23). Follow him. Ask the person what they actually believe, and listen until you understand it, not the caricature of it. Ask honest questions: What do you believe about Jesus? How do you hope to be right with God? What happens when you are afraid, or when you sin? Questions open a door that assertions slam shut. They show respect, they make the person think, and they let you answer what is really there rather than a position no one holds. A good question, gently asked, often does more than an hour of argument.

Shikilia Jambo Kuu Liwe Jambo KuuKeep the Main Thing the Main Thing

Mazungumzo yanapokuja, yaweke kwenye jambo moja lililo muhimu kuliko yote. Kozi hii yote imezunguka maswali mawili — Yesu Kristo ni nani, na mtu huokolewaje — na hayo ndiyo maswali mawili ya kuweka mbele ya kila nafsi, ya imani yo yote. Ni rahisi kuvutwa kando na kuingia katika mambo mia ya pembeni: tarehe iliyoshindwa kutimia, jambo fulani la historia, dai la kisayansi, fumbo la kifalsafa. Baadhi ya hayo yana nafasi yake, na huenda yakaondoa kizuizi. Lakini hayo ni jukwaa la ujenzi, si jengo lenyewe. Rudi kwa Yesu siku zote: Yeye ni nani, Mwana wa Mungu wa milele aliyekuja katika mwili, na amefanya nini, akifa kwa ajili ya dhambi zetu na kufufuka tena, na zawadi ya bure ya haki inayopokelewa kwa imani. Paulo, akiukabili mji wenye werevu kuliko yote wa zama zake, aliazimu hivi: "Kwa maana naliazimu nisijue neno lo lote kwenu ila Yesu Kristo, naye amesulibiwa" (1 Wakorintho 2:2). Liazimu nawe. Ukishinda mabishano na kumpoteza Kristo, umepoteza kila kitu.When the conversation comes, keep it on the one thing that matters most. This whole course has turned on two questions — who is Jesus Christ, and how is a person saved — and those are the two questions to hold before any soul, of any faith. It is easy to be drawn off into a hundred side-issues: a date that failed, a point of history, a scientific claim, a philosophical puzzle. Some of these have their place, and may clear away an obstacle. But they are the scaffolding, not the building. Always come back to Jesus: who He is, the eternal Son of God in the flesh, and what He has done, dying for our sins and rising again, and the free gift of righteousness received by faith. Paul, facing the cleverest city of his age, made his resolve: "I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:2). Make it yours. Win the argument and lose the Christ, and you have lost everything.

Liache Neno Lifanye KaziLet the Word Do the Work

Hatujaachwa tutegemee ufasaha wetu wenyewe, kwa maana tunabeba silaha iliyo hai. "Neno la Mungu li hai, tena lina nguvu, tena lina ukali kuliko upanga uwao wote ukatao kuwili" (Waebrania 4:12); Maandiko yaweza kumhekimisha mtu "hata apate wokovu kwa imani iliyo katika Kristo Yesu" (2 Timotheo 3:15). Kwa hiyo fungua Biblia pamoja na watu. Usiwaambie tu inavyosema; waonyeshe, na waache waisome kwa macho yao wenyewe. Wengi waliofundishwa mfumo wa uongo hawajawahi kamwe kuona wenyewe kile ambacho Maandiko yanafundisha waziwazi kuhusu uungu wa Kristo, au neema, au kazi iliyokamilika ya msalaba. Roho wa Mungu hufanya kazi kupitia Neno alilolivuvia, na mstari mmoja ambao mtu ameuona mwenyewe unaweza kuchoma pale ambapo hoja zetu hudunda tu na kurudi. Hatuhitaji kuwa na akili za ajabu. Tunahitaji kuwaleta watu kwenye Kitabu, na kumtumaini Mwandishi wake.We are not left to our own eloquence, for we carry a living weapon. "The word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword" (Hebrews 4:12); the Scriptures are able to make a person "wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 3:15). So open the Bible with people. Do not merely tell them what it says; show them, and let them read it with their own eyes. Many who have been taught a false system have never actually seen what Scripture plainly teaches about the deity of Christ, or grace, or the finished work of the cross. The Spirit of God works through the Word He inspired, and a verse seen for oneself can pierce where our arguments only bounce off. We do not need to be brilliant. We need to bring people to the Book, and trust its Author.

Uwe Mvumilivu; Mungu Ndiye AkuzayeBe Patient; God Gives the Increase

Tunapaswa pia kupatana na muda. Ni wachache sana wanaoingizwa katika ufalme kwa mabishano ya mchana mmoja; wengi huja polepole, kadiri kweli inavyopenya dhidi ya mafundisho ya maisha yote, familia, na hofu. Mkumbuke Nabeel Qureshi, aliyeshindana kwa miaka mingi kabla ya kumsujudia Kristo, na akahesabu gharama katika kila hatua. Sehemu yetu si kulazimisha uamuzi wala kumshinikiza mtu aombe sala, bali kupanda na kutia maji kwa uaminifu, na kumwachia Mungu mavuno: "Mimi nilipanda, Apolo akatia maji; bali Mungu akakuza. Basi, apandaye si kitu, wala atiaye maji, bali Mungu akuzaye" (1 Wakorintho 3:6-7). Hatuwezi kufungua moyo; ni Roho peke yake awezaye, kwa maana "mwanadamu wa tabia ya asili hayakubali mambo ya Roho wa Mungu" (1 Wakorintho 2:14), na "Hakuna mtu awezaye kuja kwangu, asipovutwa na Baba aliyenipeleka" (Yohana 6:44). Jambo hili hutuweka huru na kukata tamaa na pia na kiburi. Sisi si Mwokozi; sisi ni shahidi tu anayemwelekeza Yeye.We must also make peace with time. Very few are argued into the kingdom in an afternoon; most come slowly, as the truth works its way in against a lifetime of teaching, family, and fear. Remember Nabeel Qureshi, who wrestled for years before he bowed to Christ, and counted the cost every step. Our part is not to force a decision or to manipulate a prayer, but to sow and to water faithfully, and to leave the harvest to God: "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase" (1 Corinthians 3:6-7). We cannot open a heart; only the Spirit can, for "the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God" (1 Corinthians 2:14), and "no one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him" (John 6:44). This frees us from despair and from pride alike. We are not the Savior; we are only a witness pointing to Him.

Toa Sababu, kwa Upole na kwa HeshimaGive a Reason, with Gentleness and Respect

Maandiko yanatupa, katika mstari mmoja, wajibu wetu pamoja na mwenendo wetu: "Siku zote mwe tayari kumjibu kila mtu awaulizaye sababu ya tumaini lililo ndani yenu, kwa upole na kwa hofu" (1 Petro 3:15) — yaani, kwa upole na kwa heshima. Tunapaswa kuwa tayari, kujua kwa nini tunaamini na kuweza kulisema; lakini jinsi tunavyosema ni muhimu kama kile tunachosema. Kweli iliyotupwa kama jiwe huumiza; kweli ile ile ikitolewa kwa upendo inaweza kuponya. Na maisha yetu hayapaswi kupingana na maneno yetu: watu tunaotumaini kuwavuta wanatutazama, na maisha ya upole, uaminifu, na furaha huipamba injili tunayoihubiri na kuifanya iaminike. Mwisho, hatufanyi kazi hii peke yetu. Sisi si askari wa peke yao bali viungo vya mwili mmoja, na lengo si tu kushinda mabishano bali kumleta mtu kwa Kristo na ndani ya kanisa Lake, ambako anaweza kufundishwa, kupendwa, na kutunzwa. Mlete kwenye ushirika wa watu wa Mungu, na uliache kanisa zima likusaidie kumpenda hadi afike nyumbani.Scripture gives us, in a single verse, both our duty and our manner: "always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear" (1 Peter 3:15) — that is, with gentleness and respect. We are to be ready, to know why we believe and to be able to say it; but the how matters as much as the what. A truth flung like a stone wounds; the same truth offered in love can heal. And our lives must not contradict our words: the people we hope to win are watching us, and a gentle, honest, joyful life adorns the gospel we preach and makes it believable. Finally, we do not do this alone. We are not lone soldiers but members of a body, and the goal is not merely to win an argument but to bring a person to Christ and into His church, where they can be taught, loved, and kept. Bring them to the fellowship of God's people, and let the whole church help you love them home.

Upekee wa KristoThe Uniqueness of Christ

Na hivyo tunafika mwisho wa kozi, na kwenye kweli moja ambayo imesimama bila kutikisika katika kila sehemu yake. Tumewachunguza washindani wakuu — Mnara wa Mlinzi (Watch Tower) na Wamormoni, wahubiri wa mafanikio, Uislamu na Imani ya Kibahai, hekima ya India na amani ya Buddha, nguvu za madhabahu ya jadi, na nyongeza za Roma — na baada ya hayo yote, Kristo anasimama peke yake, tofauti na mtu mwingine ye yote aliyewahi kuishi. Hakuna mwanzilishi mwingine wa imani yo yote aliyekuwa Mungu aliyekuja katika mwili; wao walikuwa manabii, walimu, wenye hekima, na wajumbe, lakini Yeye ni Mwana wa milele. Hakuna mwingine aliyeishi maisha yasiyo na dhambi. Hakuna mwingine aliyekufa kwa ajili ya wafuasi wake — wengine waliua, au walipigana vita, au waliwafundisha watu jinsi ya kujiokoa wenyewe, lakini ni Yesu peke yake aliyesulibiwa mahali pa wenye dhambi, akichukua hatia yao. Na hakuna mwingine aliyefufuka. Kaburi la Muhammad huko Madina lina mwili wake ndani; majivu ya Buddha yaligawanywa kati ya wafuasi wake; kaburi la Joseph Smith liko Illinois — lakini kaburi la Yesu ni tupu, na Yeye yu hai. Yeye si mwalimu wa njia tu; Yeye alisema, "Mimi ndimi njia, na kweli, na uzima; mtu haji kwa Baba, ila kwa njia ya mimi" (Yohana 14:6). Na "hapana jina jingine chini ya mbingu walilopewa wanadamu litupasalo sisi kuokolewa kwalo" (Matendo 4:12). Hii ndiyo sababu tunaweza kwenda kwa mtu ye yote, wa imani yo yote, bila hofu na bila dharau: si kwa sababu sisi tuko sahihi na wao wamekosea, bali kwa sababu Yesu Kristo amefufuka kutoka kwa wafu na ni Bwana wa wote, na Yeye aweza kuwaokoa kabisa wote wanaomjia Mungu kwa Yeye. Basi, nendeni, mkawaambie.And so we come to the end of the course, and to the one truth that has stood unshaken through every unit of it. We have surveyed the great rivals — the Watch Tower and the Latter-day Saints, the prosperity preachers, Islam and the Bahá'í Faith, the wisdom of India and the peace of the Buddha, the powers of the folk altar, and the additions of Rome — and after all of it, Christ stands alone, like no other figure who has ever lived. No other founder of any faith was God come in the flesh; they were prophets, teachers, sages, and messengers, but He is the eternal Son. No other lived a sinless life. No other died for his followers — others killed, or fought, or taught men how to save themselves, but only Jesus was crucified in the place of sinners, bearing their guilt. And no other rose. The tomb of Muhammad in Medina is occupied; the ashes of the Buddha were divided among his followers; the grave of Joseph Smith lies in Illinois — but the tomb of Jesus is empty, and He lives. He is not a teacher of the way; He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6). And "there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). This is why we may go to anyone, of any faith, without fear and without contempt: not because we are right and they are wrong, but because Jesus Christ is risen from the dead and is Lord of all, and He is able to save to the uttermost all who come to God through Him. Go, then, and tell them.

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