Love that overcomes religious barriers

It is the most controversial, heart wrenching story ever told. Max the main actor is a young university graduate doing business for his girlfriend’s father, a business tycoon. Max finds himself in a mishap in the Coast during a business trip. Of all the people that could help him, Yusuf an under privileged stranger with a sick son saves Max and nurses him until he recovers. Max on the other hand cannot get Yusuf and his family out of his mind when he returns to Nairobi. So great is his compulsion to help Yusuf’s family that he dares risk losing his gorgeous well to do girlfriend, best-friend, job and his family all for the sake of Christ.

‘The Distant Boat’ is a movie like no other. Apart from the local phenomenal actors, remarkable aesthetics and locally enriched sound tracks, it has quite a unique attribute. It is not just a movie to sit back and enjoy; in addition to this, its main purpose is to take the church back to the drawing board-the church’s role in The Great Commission.

Let’s take a walk down history lane and examine the roles the old church used to play. Missionaries from the west came with the gospel of Christ and in addition to that, they established schools and health facilities wherever they went. In a nutshell, they were concerned about under privileged communities enough to make a positive difference in their lives.

Those were the days when the church truly understood and identified with the apple of Christ’s eye; those who have not heard and accepted His gospel. This is the reason why He called the church the salt of the earth. Think of what salt does, it flavours, preserves and enables growth. This is exactly what the old church did. It flavoured, preserved and caused growth. Wherever missionaries and the old religious leaders went, the communities developed spiritually, socially, economically, physically and psychologically.

Let us now fast forward to what the current church has become today. If it is not about increasing their congregations at whatever cost, disregarding God’s commandments especially the one on committing adultery to deluding innocent people in get rich quick schemes. It stands out clearly that the current church has stepped away from the path that Christ had set for them to follow.

I could spend the next moments ranting and raving about the fall of the current church but that will not change a thing. That is why I am glad to tell you that from now henceforth things will never be the same again. This revolutionary change that is about to take the Kenyan Church by a storm is driven by ‘The Distant Boat’ movie which will reposition the church back to its rightful place.  It will do this by sending relevant messages to the church which comprises of a myriad of groups including religious leaders, young professionals, businessmen and the family.

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Beginning with religious leaders, they are nowadays known to sing in tune to the needs of relevant members of their congregation in a bid to avoid disturbing the waters, living a good life and being caught up in the formalities of Christian practices. What happened to the deep love the old church had for the communities? Didn’t Christ come for the lost? So how is it that the ‘found’ continuously dwell with one another instead of taking time to show genuine love to a stranger or a non-Christian?

Another vital group is the young professionals. Considering their priorities, some of the top things on their minds are likely to be: getting a dream job, house, relationship and the latest technological gadgets. Looking at the question the Distant Boat raises (what is the role of the youth in spreading the gospel to the unreached?), isn’t this group best suited to reach out to the underprivileged?

With their bursting energy, overflowing ideas and eagerness to explore the world, I doubt if there is a group that could reach out to the underprivileged as this group would. Although I wonder if they stop to ask themselves what God expects from them. If He were to tell them to drop everything to serve Him and trust Him to provide for them, would they consider this request seriously?

How about the businessmen? Do not get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with businessmen making profit, however, what are they doing with those businesses to develop marginalized communities? Do they seriously consider creating avenues through their businesses to reach out to the under-privileged?

What about the final group, families? A common trend in the 90’s was the unmentioned deal struck between parents and their children. Parents did whatever they could to raise fees to educate their children then children presented their end of the deal by supporting their parents during their old age. I have a feeling this trend is diminishing. Getting back to the main issue here, what would happen if an exceptionally bright, educated young professional told his/her parents that he/she wanted to dedicate their lives to reaching out to the underprivileged? You can imagine the utter shock parents would be in.

All these questions are answered in the Distant Boat. Yes the church and remember it is just not a structure, it is the people, need to go back to the drawing board for them to yield to God’s call. It’s time for the church to reach out to the lost, because this is the core element that drove Christ’s actions. The question is, who is going to do this task? It is the responsibility of every Christian to love his neighbor and make a positive difference in their lives.