‘I love you bro!’

If they “needed a bigger boat” in the movie “JAWS,” Filipinos are going to need more than just prayers to change hearts, turn people around and share their faith, especially “Christians,” whether Catholic or “Born Again.”

Early this year I was invited to be a panelist at an event that officially launched the “National Bible Day” in the Philippines. In order for that to happen, none other than Senator Manny Pacquiao had to sponsor a bill to make matters formal and official. At the said event, one of the questions asked was: What are the challenges for Christians in the workplace? The general response was about being left out of the crowd or being shunned because “you don’t drink,” “you don’t party” or “you’re too “holy.” The other response was the difficulty or lack of opportunity to share the faith or evangelize people.

When it was my turn, I simply shared my observation over the fact that my friends from the LGBT community have all come out of the closet a long time ago, but many “Christians” remain in their cabinets! It has nothing to do with intimidation at the workplace or in public. They simply don’t want to go public about their faith or just want to play it safe!

Last Wednesday, I was again invited to be a speaker at the ABS-CBN Fellowship where Christian believers gather, sing praise and pray and listen to the word. It struck me that people were praying for the entire Lopez family and the officials of the network, but none of them were around, first because nobody dared to invite them. “Not within my pay grade,” one said. “How do you invite such high ranking bosses like Mr. Gabby Lopez?” another asked. Its usually the case where employees and believers all stumble over themselves primarily intimidated if not scared to take such a “bold,” even unimaginable move like inviting them to a fellowship and to feel the love and respect through the prayers offered for them. That is really what the invitation would be all about. It is an expression of love and an invitation to experience the blessings of God. To be fair, others just stop inviting because those invited always promise to attend but never do. After a while you just don’t want to make people tell a lie or hurt your feelings just to be polite to you.

As I spoke to former colleagues, I shared the message “Never Give Up.” Many of us face challenges and often the most challenging and frustrating ones involve relationships made more complicated because we love the people in it. The worst thing you could do is to walk out or walk away or turn your back on them. It could be a wife or husband gone bad, gone sick. It could be a loved one with a drug or alcohol dependency. You might have a child who is an underachiever or “lost”. One participant was stressed out loving and giving financial support presumably to family members who never showed appreciation or motivation to help themselves.

Someone asked: How do you do it? My answer was certainly inspired by the Holy Spirit because even I was blown away. You have to have so much love in you to overcome all the frustration, the hurt, the disappointment and the attacks of the devil. If you don’t have that amount of love, then you must have a deep and abiding faith in God. Faith that leads you to obey God because you truly believe he is in control, he will see you through and because you love God maybe much more than you currently love others. I had more faith than I had love, but that faith was enough to make me obey, stand my ground, and sacrificially believe in God’s faithfulness and I always came out the “Victor, not the Victim.”

Those of us who have gone through or currently face such challenging relational issues are familiar with the “attacks of the devil” because the devil is not going to just let you win against him, and he is not just going to give up his captives or his trophies. But there are millions of testimonies of people who did not give up on a loved one whether they were sick, “lost” or physically “missing.” All of them have a common thread; we did not give up.

Later in the evening, the presiding Pastor – a very young and chic guy named Nolan Galido read a modern version of 1Corinthians: 13 which is the definitive biblical definition of what Love is and we were all reminded that real Love is selfless, serving and sacrificial. But you know what – It all starts with expressing our “Love.”

My last slide in my presentation was a graphic rendition of: “I LOVE YOU – BRO” I shared a story about big, rough, burly men who were featured in a TV show about illegal street races. These were tough men who were highly aggressive and even more competitive. They put lives, cars and money on the line every time they raced. But what I found totally different from the scene was when the cars were lined up seconds before going full throttle, teammates would simply reach over – do a half hug and always say: I Love you Bro! And you know they meant it.

That is what’s missing in today’s Pinoy reality. The sincere expression of love, concern and care for others, whether they are the good, the bad or the Pasaways! Deep down it is what we all want and need, but there is so much counterfeit versions of love out there that it takes so much time to figure out what is genuine. That’s why you need to stand your ground – Don’t give up the territory – and express the love like it might be the last time you ever get to say it to someone! I LOVE YOU BRO!

*      *      *

E-mail: [email protected]