It Only Takes One: The Maasai Story

When we drove through Busia, Uganda after debrief, a few people from the team took Pastor Moses out to dinner and he told us the greatest story.  He was at a crusade with Maasai warriors (and African tribe known for jumping incredibly high.)  At the crusade they of course showed the extremely cheesy “Jesus Movie.” Yet however much I dislike this film and the way it portrays Jesus, this story just goes to show the impact it has on certain people and how God uses all means.

As the Maasai watched the film they laughed and cried.  Hearing the story of Jesus’ love is one thing, but when they saw it depicted on the screen, it became very real to them.  Essentially, as they watched, they fell in love with Jesus.  They cheered when he raised the girl from the dead, they cried at the parable of the good Samaritan and watched in awe as Jesus gave sight to the blind.  All was going well, that is until the Roman Centurion took Jesus from the Garden of Gethsemane.  As Jesus was being drug away, one of the Maasai warriors stood up, enraged, screamed his war cry, and with perfect accuracy, threw his spear straight through the Roman’s chest, and thus, the movie screen.  Then all the warriors jumped up and charged the screen, determined to save Jesus, and a riot ensued until the pastor calmed them down.  He explained to them that it was only a film, that it had actually happened thousands of years ago and wasn’t actually happening in front of them.  These particular Maasai had never seen a movie before and thought everything was quite real.  The pastor then advised Moses not to show that movie again, it got the warriors too worked up… a sentiment I don’t necessarily share.  After all, though I don’t particularly care for the film, if it got them so excited for the Kingdom of God that they were prepared to fight for it… shouldn’t that be a desired result?  Minus the attempted murder of the Roman, or course.

When he told us this story, we died laughing, and laugh every time we remember it.  I mean, what a thing to happen! The image of the warrior with spear in hand gives me the giggles every time.  Yet recently, I have been thinking about the story from the warrior’s point of view, and it turns out that laughter isn’t my initial response any longer.  

While I don’t pretend to know exactly what was going through that man’s head, I can imagine a bit.  I imagine that revelation moment in his life, the one where Christ becomes real, when He is more than just a man in a book who did good things.  I can imagine it because I remember mine.  When I came to know, really know Christ, it was as though a spot-light was switched on.  A flood of emotions filled me: love, thanksgiving, joy, excitement, and passion.  This warrior had probably never really been told about the love of Jesus, at least not in a way that got through to him.  As he watched this film, he finally got it!  Jesus was REAL to him! So real, in fact, that when he saw someone try to harm Jesus, he was prepared without a moment’s hesitation to fight for his Savior.   That love, that passion… it is truly amazing.  I am shocked and my response is no longer laughter.  As I lay in bed at night, thinking about this man, I begin to tear up, not only because of the love and passion that one man displayed, but because of the love and passion that the church often fails to display.  

I think of that warrior and his passion for Christ, the same passion many of us experience when we come to know Christ.  Not that faith is about emotions, but through everything, I believe there is a burning passion for the Kingdom, one given and fed by the Holy Spirit working within us.  I think of Deuteronomy 6:5, 

God desires our heart, our passion, everything in us to be devoted to Him.  There is a flame burning in each of us after we come to know Christ, but I dare say that many of our flames are being smothered until they are barely a flicker.  They become smothered by religion, by our selfish desires, by things of this world and so much more.  Many flames, many passions, have been replaced by ritual and obligation, even within the church.  Not in everyone, and the passion isn’t gone… it is still there, we just need to fan the flame a bit, to uncover it again.

Another thing that really strikes me about this warrior is that is only took the one.  Just one man stood up for what he believed in, for what was right.  How many of the other Maasai’s were moved?  How many had come to know Jesus?  Yet only one stood… it only took the one to get them all fighting for Jesus, whether it was because of their love for Him, because they were moved to fight against an injustice, or perhaps they were simply led by a passionate leader.  Whatever the reason, after that one man took a stand, the rest followed.  What if the one had not stood?  What if he had looked around him and, not wanting to be different or look strange or be judged, hadn’t stood up.  Would any of them fought?  If that one warrior hadn’t stood up for what he believed in, for what was right, who would have?

I think about this Maasai warrior and I get really worked up, excited about his passion, excited that he stood when no one else did, excited to see others fighting the injustice they perceive in the world, just plain excited!  Perhaps I am looking far too deeply into a simple story about a warrior.  Regardless, I feel God stirring something in me.  He is fanning a flame, a flame of passion in me, the flame fueled by my love for him and the resulting righteous anger at the injustice around me, the oppression of the weak, the oppression of “religion.”  He is fanning the flame to start a fire… I just don’t yet know what He intends to burn.