People to Learn From

Tikal was probably my favorite part of the trip. Tikal is a city of Mayan ruins reconstructed by local archeological universities and organizations. As we walked through the dirt paths, lush jungle and silence followed us everywhere. The sites were beautifully reconstructed and the parts the archeologists were able to be preserved were fascinating to touch and look at. However, my heart breaks as I realize all of the temples built were for a god other than the One True God-Christ. That women, men, and even children were sacrificed to some pagan god or some king who had no power other than the fear or happy feelings they instilled in people. Furthermore, the temples built by hand, with each piece chiseled away to make the perfect stone to fit in the perfect place, was made by the lost people for the imperfect god. The real perfect God did not exist to them.
I was sitting on top of the biggest temple in the park, overlooking hundreds of miles in every direction and I could not help but ask God why He put us in charge of something so beautiful and created us able to enjoy all of this? We always try to find a way to leave God out of creation and our everyday life. Why? Perhaps is it the constant desire to be our own gods. For the Mayans, I believe it was because there was a constant threat of “believe or stray from the rest of the people- you die” or “my family must live and therefore I will do, say, or believe whatever it is that furthers my family’s existence”. These people care about the betterment of their families and community not themselves as individuals. The proof is in the fact that the Mayan temples were built, sacrifices were made, and people to this day are still following most of the same traditions. There is hardly any mistake in the way of life that they live- or so they think. I desire 2 things. One, that the Mayan culture would continue their desire and passion to put family and community first but with God as the center of it. And Second, that the people and cultures around the world would to start to consider the value of family and community and implement that into their lives. None of this “all for one and one for Me”. God desires to be in your life. How then if a person has “me and me alone” mentality is there any room for God? The Mayan’s are off in their spiritual walk and maturity but the family and community aspect is dead on. Is there not something all nations can learn from each other? How is it that a culture that worships “gods” made of sticks, ash, fake gold etc. have the correct aspect of family first, me second and we, as Christians (knowing good and well that we are to put others first instead of ourselves), fall short of that many times over but profess that we believe and live out the commands of the Bible? The Mayan communities daily live out what they believe- good or bad. Funny, that we try so hard to reach the non-Christians and teach them our ways when, in this instance, we should learn from them- (I quote Alan Hunt) “To live out what we profess to believe”.