The Hugging Saint
January 21, 2007
By: Sellers S. Crain, Jr.
Most folks know that a hug given by the right person at the right time is a comforting thing. However, while it may have the ability to heal the savage beast, I have never known one to physically heal anyone. That was until I recently learned of a woman called "The Hugging Saint". She lived in India and was raised poor in one of the many villages that dot the landscape. The report I heard on her was that from a very early age she broke with her strict Hindu culture and began hugging people. The locals began to spread rumors about her that her hugs could heal a person. Over time her fame spread and people from all over the world with all kinds of diseases travel to India to feel her healing touch. It will cost you though. Her hugs do not come free. I doubt that her hugs are worth any more than yours. I think it is kind of sad that people would feel compelled to travel half way around the world and spend so much money just to get a hug.
While the term "saint" is used generally to describe a good person, one who gives of self to others, and is most often presumed to be religious, that is not the proper use of the word. The word Biblically comes from the word "sanctified," which means "cleansed" or "set apart for a holy purpose". While there are rules governing the canonization of saints in some religions, the New Testament calls every Christian a saint. Paul, in writing to the Christians at Rome said, "to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" (1:7). To the Christians in Corinth he wrote, "To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours" (1 Corinthians 1:2). He addressed his second letter "To the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in Achaia" (2 Corinthians 1:1). Paul wrote to the church at Philippi and addressed his letter "To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi with the bishops and the deacons" (Philippians 1:1). Sometimes people say, "I am not a saint". If you are a Christian you are a saint. If you are not a saint you are not a Christian.
Certainly, I mean no disrespect, but this little lady in India is not a saint because she is not a Christian. As far as I know she is still a Hindu, a worshipper of idols, and not of the true God. She may be a good person. She may do some good with her hugs because some of the people feel she is healing them, and some of them say they feel so much better afterward. However, she is not a saint.
What does it take to be a saint? Since Paul said the Christians at Corinth were "called to be saints", what did they do to receive that title? When Paul preached in Corinth in the house of a man named Justus, the historian Luke wrote that "Many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized" (Acts 18:8), and among them was Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue. In order to be sanctified, cleansed and set apart for God's purpose, these people heard the gospel of Christ, they believed the message that Christ died for their sins, (1 Corinthians 15:1-4), and they were baptized into Christ. The way to become a saint has not changed. If you are not a saint, you ought to be.
Brotherly,
Sellers
