21st OTS graduation ceremony
Morung Express News
Dimapur | May 29
“Today corruption in every area of life has percolated from the top down to the remotest villages of Indo-Myanmar,” were the words of Rev. Dr. Tuisem Shishak speaking at the 21st graduation ceremony of Oriental Theological Seminary (OTS). 26 graduated from the seminary with 23 receiving their MDiv, 2 MTh and 1 MMin degrees.
Rev. Dr. Shishak, Principal Emeritus of Patkai Christian College, in his allocution at the ceremony held at the Rengma Baptist Church, Dimapur made an ardent appeal for Christians throughout the Naga-inhabited region of Indo-Myanmar to confess sins and “renew their covenant with the Lord so they can stand their ground in Christ against all the corrupt powers in Naga society.”
Quoting Max Mueller’s “The truth must be repeated as long as some do not believe”, he expressed fear that the Naga society today has failed on all fronts, while adding, “my generation” has contributed to it. Stating that the politicians, bureaucrats, national workers and professionals have just as much contributed to the present scenario, he added that even the church leaders are already affected by today’s social, moral and spiritual decay. According to him, 144 years following the introduction of Christianity more and more Nagas are heading back into the darkness of sin and heathenism.
Nagaland with its high Christian populace “must be like heaven… but is it?” he posed. Citing Patkai Christian College as an instance, he held that 90 percent of the over 1400 students would be Baptists while most of the faculty and staff profess to be Christians. “… But on Sunday morning, less than 1/3rd of them attend the worship service.”
Maintaining there is more to Christianity than building expensive churches, still, he added that the church with all its worldliness is the only hope. “What we need today is another reformation in the church; the Naga church must regain its first love for Jesus Christ… Only the revived church can challenge the corruption and competing powers in our society.”
Citing Ezekiel 22:30, he said, “OTS graduates, the Lord God is looking for men and women who would build up the wall and stand in the gap on behalf of the land so he would not have to destroy it, while adding, “We cannot afford not to accept positively the Lord’s challenge.”
He further called upon Christians in Nagaland to prepare to face the onslaught of “Hindutva ideology being subtly exported to the north-east from New Delhi behind the façade of ‘Act East’.”
“Winning souls for Christ is the duty of every responsible Christian, but so is the task of saving minds for Christ. No theological college or seminary can afford to ignore the life of the mind, which defends the faith already accepted in the heart, the faith once delivered to the saints.”
