How should we think, feel and act concerning the Hui?
It is important to think correct things. It is equally important to feel correct feelings. When we think correct thoughts, and feel correct feelings we are creating an atmosphere in which we will say correct words and take correct actions. There are many, sometimes juxtaposing, ways that we should think, feel and act concerning the Hui.
The Christian ought to have a very deep reservoir for mixed emotions, thoughts and actions.
Not many years ago, I stood over my disciple’s coffin. I looked down at my friend. I felt the deepest pain that I had ever felt. I felt as if my heart were going to burst. I could not stop the tears from pouring out of my eyes. At the exact same time. I felt a surety that is unimagined. I had an overwhelming hope as I stood there looking at him. He had believed in Christ just months before his death. The images of Christ conquering death, Hell and the grave flashed in my mind as I looked at his still body. I can honestly say it was the saddest and most joy-filled moment of my life. My sadness, a rightly-felt grievance over the victory of sin. My joy, a rightly-felt celebration at the victory over sin.
The Lord’s supper is another example. We come to the table. We are sickened by the fact that 2000 years ago an innocent man was stripped, beaten, spit upon and tortured to death. This is right. We should not allow the light of the empty tomb to cover the darkness of the bloodstained cross. We are broken by the fact that our sin had anything to do with the world’s most unjust display of violence. We are grieved by the fact that he screamed out in loneliness as he died that we might stand united as we live.
At the same time, while eyes brim with sadness our hearts brim with joy. The tomb is only three days away. The stone rolls away. He comes out, death’s stinger in hand. The conqueror, the victor over the grave. The murderer of death. Our King. Our Lord. The resurrected savior. And we cannot help but rejoice at the first fruits of the resurrection, the promise of our restoration with God himself. We cannot allow the shadow of the cross to dim the radiance of the resurrection.
It is good to feel both of these things. If we do not fully feel the magnitude of sin, we can never fully rejoice at the miracle of forgiveness. This said, our feelings concerning the Hui should be similar.
We should feel hopeful about their future situation
The Hui are a people who have a future hope. God, in his sovereignty, has predestined that there will one day be Hui worshipping Jesus before the throne. When we think of the Hui we should have a sort of relaxed restfulness in our soul. They will be reached. We can sleep at night. We can take time to rest, to play, to exercise, etc. God is sovereign and the Hui will be reached in his time by his power in his way. We should feel joy for the Hui, we should feel confident about the Hui and we should feel hope for the Hui.
We should feel broken about their present situation
The Hui are 15 million people who have no present hope. They have not heard the gospel. One Hui person dies every 5 minutes. By the time you read this article one more Hui soul will have left the world and plunged into eternal damnation with no second chances. This is heart breaking. We should feel broken for the Hui. We should have a real urgency which reflects our care for every last Hui soul. We should live sacrificially for the Hui, we should weep in prayer for the Hui and we should mourn for the Hui.
How about right now?
I write this article in order to encourage you and others to think and feel rightly about the Hui. I urge you as a believer in Christ to look into your heart and genuinely ask yourself about the last time that you, like Jesus, wept for the lost. Are these distant facts or are these emotion-causing facts? Do they affect your mind or your whole person?
Next time you’re thinking about the Hui, attempt to think about them with your heart. Feel peace from God knowing that they are a people, soon to be reached. At the same time, meditate on the fact that the Hui have been pouring into Hell for centuries now and grieve this fact.
When we have come to the point where we can truly grieve their present hopelessness but also genuinely rejoice at their future hope, we know that we are thinking correctly about the Hui. When we are thinking correctly about the Hui, we will act correctly toward the Hui. I am convinced that a main reason for the lack of workers among the unreached peoples of the world is because people have yet to learn how to think and feel rightly concerning the lost.
Either their future joy takes away from their urgency, or their hopeless-grief causes them to simply ignore the unreached. I challenge you to feel all of the truths of the Word and to let them direct your actions rightly for the glory of God among the nations.