Last Saturday I was helping to teach an English class along
with a friend of mine. Although there are 40 or 50 students divided into four
classes, our class had only two women in it. They were both Hindus from Nepal.
One married and one single.
We were two Christian men from the United States,
one single and the other married.
One of the exercises to stretch them in their English
ability was to answer the following question. “What are five of the most
important decisions you will make in your life?”
We began by throwing out ideas and making one master list of
the responses.
The married lady chimed in the first response, “Tell the
truth.” This was followed quickly by, “Be peaceful.” The younger single girl
who is interested in citizenship in the United States then said, “Be loyal to
your new country” and “Be disciplined.” This was good stuff. But I must say, it wasn’t
what I expected. They were talking about values and morals. I counted those as
things foundational to making the bigger decisions.
The single guy and I began to make our suggestions. “What
career you will choose.”
“Who you will marry.”
To this the married Nepali lady said, “That only applies to
you, I am already married,” as if outside of her experience the question didn’t
really matter.
“If you should get
married,” the single American man chimed in.
“How many children you should have,” I said to blank stares.
We two American Christians were talking about major events, -
not values. I started to see how different our two sets of worldviews were.
What I counted as important wasn’t necessarily to them.
The topic turned to religion.
“Do not believe in superstition, that the old people are
believing,” said the single girl. She used the illustration of a black cat
crossing your path.
The married lady said, “Pray to God. All gods are the same,
names different but one god.”
Feeling the need to speak up for my faith, I said, “For me
as a Christian, having a relationship with Jesus Christ is the most important
decision I can make in my life.”
Both the ladies smiled and said, “Yes, you’re a Christian.” They
laughed as if to say, “We knew that was coming.” The married one repeated,
“Many names but the same God.” The single man tried to explain that there is
only one God and He is Jesus, but somehow that got waylaid and didn’t go
anywhere.
After making a list of 17 items, we decided to vote. Each one of us voted for five. Then we listed the five with the most votes. This is our list. (Not listed in order of importance, just the highest vote getters.)
The five
most important decisions a person can make in their lifetime:
- Tell the truth (3 votes)
- Respect everyone (3 votes)
- Who you will marry (3 votes)
- What you believe. Your worldview. (3 votes)
- To follow Jesus Christ. (2 votes J)
I think the young single girl who was dead set against superstition ended up agreeing that what we believe is an important decision.
