Bamboo as justification
Missionary Chad Mankins used bamboo and sticks to illustrate the concept of justification to the Tobo people of Papua New Guinea.
Chad is teaching through the book of Romans and since the Tobos do not have a word for justification in their language he demonstrated the meaning with two bamboo joints and some dirty sticks.
"At the end of chapter 3," Chad wrote, "we discussed the fact that our faith in Christ does not mean that we stop sinning and become perfect people in our daily lives on this earth. But it does mean that God says of us, or declares of us, that we are straight and righteous people now. …
"But the righteousness we have is that of our Lord Jesus Christ. When God sees us, He no longer sees our sinfulness, since Christ took care of the penalty for that when He died on the cross. Instead, He sees us as covered with the righteousness of His Son and our Savior."
Bamboo joints are hollow tubes with segments between the hollow spaces at top and bottom. Chad took two joints that were cut open at the top, and the bottoms were left on, so they formed two long cylinders like large cups that a small child could reach their arm into.
One bamboo joint was old, brown and caked with mud while the other was freshly cut and green. Chad had placed several dirty sticks in the dirty tube and pulled one out to show the believers what was inside. Then he took the dirty stick out of the dirty bamboo tube and put it into the clean one.
He asked, "Is the stick clean now?" The believers replied "No, the stick is still dirty."
Chad explained that the dirty sticks represented all people. Then he put some sticks into the clean joint, and left the rest in the dirty one.
As he explained the concept, the believers began to smile as understanding dawned. Christ's death made them clean and God sees their sin through the blood of Christ.
"We still sin even now, " declared one of the believers, "but God still took us out of Satan's joint and put us into Jesus' joint because of what He did for us!"
Pray for Chad as he explains righteousness and justification to the Tobos. Pray also that the Tobo believers will clearly understand their position in Christ.
Chad is teaching through the book of Romans and since the Tobos do not have a word for justification in their language he demonstrated the meaning with two bamboo joints and some dirty sticks.
"At the end of chapter 3," Chad wrote, "we discussed the fact that our faith in Christ does not mean that we stop sinning and become perfect people in our daily lives on this earth. But it does mean that God says of us, or declares of us, that we are straight and righteous people now. …
"But the righteousness we have is that of our Lord Jesus Christ. When God sees us, He no longer sees our sinfulness, since Christ took care of the penalty for that when He died on the cross. Instead, He sees us as covered with the righteousness of His Son and our Savior."
Bamboo joints are hollow tubes with segments between the hollow spaces at top and bottom. Chad took two joints that were cut open at the top, and the bottoms were left on, so they formed two long cylinders like large cups that a small child could reach their arm into.
One bamboo joint was old, brown and caked with mud while the other was freshly cut and green. Chad had placed several dirty sticks in the dirty tube and pulled one out to show the believers what was inside. Then he took the dirty stick out of the dirty bamboo tube and put it into the clean one.
He asked, "Is the stick clean now?" The believers replied "No, the stick is still dirty."
Chad explained that the dirty sticks represented all people. Then he put some sticks into the clean joint, and left the rest in the dirty one.
As he explained the concept, the believers began to smile as understanding dawned. Christ's death made them clean and God sees their sin through the blood of Christ.
"We still sin even now, " declared one of the believers, "but God still took us out of Satan's joint and put us into Jesus' joint because of what He did for us!"
Pray for Chad as he explains righteousness and justification to the Tobos. Pray also that the Tobo believers will clearly understand their position in Christ.