Bitter Pills
The true meaning of Sacrifice
You can’t achieve anything in life without a small amount of sacrifice.
– Shakira
We have just gone through 40 days of fasting and prayers in Christendom as a spiritual/religious duty. These 40 days were meant to show that humankind recognises the great fast which the founder of the Christian faith underwent before he made the ultimate sacrifice which culminated in human salvation and freedom. A Christian sacrifice is a show of love which, beyond the fasting and prayers, is crowned with almsgiving.
There are those who make a show of fasting, and would like everyone else to know that they are into it. This attitude does not fit into the principle of fasting which Christ himself espoused to his followers: Do not wear long looks, ragged clothes, and shout empty prayers in street corners to let everyone know you are fasting and praying.
So what really is the purpose of these things – prayer, fasting and almsgiving? We wish we could fulfill our obligations to God and man. They all entail elements of sacrifice. Sacrifice has been defined as the voluntary surrender of something valuable to the sacrificer – such as time, possession (money), or comfort – for a higher purpose, greater good, or out of love and devotion. It is present in all religions, beginning with ancient religions where animal and human sacrifices were accepted as acts of expiation for our human failings. It involves giving up something that is much cherished to achieve a more important goal, to embrace a nobler value, or to benefit others. It is seen as an act or series of actions which shifts focus from personal gain to selfless service.
The question is often asked: Can there be sacrifice without a purpose? Or can there be sacrifice that is without pain? If truth must be told, any sacrifice that the sacrificer does not feel pain is not a true sacrifice. And any sacrificial act that is forced, that is, not voluntary, and is a product of long plodding and pleading, outside the pastoral act of sensitization for a cause, is not strictly speaking an act of sacrifice.
If there is no self-conviction and the coercive pastor prods a wealthy worshipper to part with millions for his church or empire, there can’t be any true benefit for the giver. Besides, the giver who parts with 1% of his profit has not done more than the average worshipper who parts with 5% of their income (not profit). A percentage taken out of profit is a mere altruistic giving. Givers must therefore make a distinction between real sacrifice and a showy demonstration of generosity. It is historically an act of offering something valuable often in some religions, a slaughtered animal (in Islam and Judaism) to God to show devotion, gratitude, or to gain atonement for sins. In the two religions, it represents a substitute to bear the curse of sin. In Christianity, it culminates in Jesus’s atonement for the sins of rebellious man.
Today, the word, ‘sacrifice’, which is derived from the Latin, ‘sacrificium’, literally meaning, to make sacred, has been misconstrued to mean any exhibitionist donation of funds for publicity by individuals and government. Such acts which are not sacrificial are termed dividends of democracy in politics. The misconception is so grave that sometimes being allowed to breath fresh unpolluted air is termed a kind of sacrifice by some government leaders. Some of them who claim to be Christians do not even revert themselves to the scriptures they pretend they know too well.
In the Epistle of Paul to the Romans, Chapter 12:1, he says very clearly, ‘Therefore, I urge you brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship’ (NIV). How often do humans, Christians, make their bodies the living sacrifice for others? Some of the spiritual fathers and pastors do this, but as Christ said at the last supper, not all of them (his apostles) are clean. Many of us offer lip services to others and to the word of God. We want to be seen as good, especially when we carry with us the title of religious men, and speak with the tongues of angels.
Again, I must say that sacrificing means we must extinguish ourselves, our personalities as we offer our time, our money, comfort, and show love to the people. Building or buying mansions in every important city, buying private jets, showing off our wealth and forcing others to contribute to the maintenance of these odious facades do not generate any sense of sacrifice or humility in the service of humanity. Many of us fear hell but we do not love humanity nor love God enough.
A poem by Rabia al Basri captures my engagement with my Creator which I have paraphrased thus: O, Lord, if I worship You from fear of hell, cast me into hell/if I worship You from my desire for Paradise, deny me Paradise/but if I worship You for Your own sake, deny me not Your Eternal Beauty.
It should be a good prayer for Christians to pray if they really love God and believe in Him. Our worship should be because we love Him not because we expect a reward. The reward will come if we worship Him in spirit and in truth.
