Rev: Yuji Aihara 相原雄二
Title: Why am I a Christian?
I was neither born into a Christian family nor studied at a mission
school. So I would like to write two major reasons why I am living as a Christian today.
First, I am convinced that the teachings of the Bible are the most
rational. My lifelong quest is "what is the truth?" There are various
religions, life lessons, and philosophies in this world. If you believe in
and follow a religion life-long, and one day you realize that the foundation of that religion was false and shaky, you will have wasted your whole life, and if, on your physical death, your consciousness disappears, it would be irreparable.
When I was in my second year of high school in Japan, I went to
church for the first time to "search for the truth", and started reading
the Bible, which I had never seen before. At that time, I was thinking,
"Is the Bible really worthy of trust? Who wrote the Bible? How did the
Bible come about today?" I knew that everything that came out of the
human mind was finite, imperfect and confined in the limitation of the
wall of mere human intelligence. I started studying the Bible almost
every day. In those days books in Japanese about the Bible were
quite limited, so I studied English earnestly so that I could read
English books as well. I worked hard to learn English grammar and
words. So, by the end of high school, I was able to understand most
English literature by looking up a dictionary. Since becoming a Christian, I have also studied the biblical Greek, and Hebrew languages in which the Bible was first written (which I continue to do). As a result, I became more and more confident of the Bible, saying, "This is
certainly not a record that came only from the human mind, but behind it is the inspirational work of the eternal God."
For more than 1900 years, Jews, Greeks, Romans and Italians,
Egyptians, Syrians, and later Germans, British, French, Americans (and
many more) scholars around the world have studied and critiqued the
Bible, but no one has ever been able to deny its supernaturalness. It
is now published and read in at least 1,769 languages (print and digital)
around the world. There is no other "religious book" like this. One of
the reasons is that despite the truly diverse positions, ages, and
circumstances of the people who were used to write the Bible,
they all wrote, directly or indirectly, about one subject, the
Messiah-Christ. This fact amazes me every day. The Old and
New Testaments have a consistent message throughout them,
even though there are 66 different documents. Also, another fact
makes me even more confident of the divine inspiration of the
Bible, that is the fulfillment of the prophecies recorded in the
Bible which are happening now in human history.
Second, I am happy as a result of living according to the teachings of the Bible.
No matter how enthusiastic one is about religion, it would be
meaningless if his/her life does not bear a good fruit of life that
is full of peace and joy.
As a result of living according to the teachings of the Bible, I
have been and am happy today. I am enjoying my life. There is
peace and hope in the heart. Fortunately, I am blessed with good
health. I feel that I have abundantly received the grace and love
of God.
As a result of knowing the Bible, I was transformed from a lost
seeker to a person who lives with confidence in the truth, and to
a man who has a mission. Therefore, I chose to become a pastor
/ missionary, and it was a truly rewarding life. In Japan, as a
pastor I ministered in Osaka, Mito, Nagoya, and Sendai, and as a
first missionary from Japan, in the highlands of Papua New
Guinea. I lived in the midst of the Huli people, who were
described as "tribes that entered the 20th century directly from
the Neolithic era," and preached the gospel. Later, in the coastal
town of Lae, I was privileged to start a new church of multi-tribal
people. On completing my work in New Guinea, I came to the
United States in 1994 as a missionary to the Japanese speaking
people.
I will be joyfully preaching the Good News of His kingdom as
long as my health and life permits by the grace of God.