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| Downtown Monroe along the river |
To his credit and freedom Singh appears to have been disconnected from Western materialism, as Jesus was before the West was existent. Charles Moore, in the Introduction to Sadhu Sindar Singh: The Essential Writings, writes:
"After three months in England Singh went to the United States, where, as in England, he addressed many larger audiences. The relentless chase after wealth he found among all the hurried and hassled "Christians" disturbed him tremendously. He would often say to the people, "Christ would say, 'Come unto me all you that are gold-laden, and I will give you rest.'" (24)
As culturally scandalous and materially illogical as this sounds, riches are a heavy weight that squeeze the soul, holding it captive and pressured. Like a rich man I once met who had sold his soul to the money god and lost not only his soul but his wife and children as well.
Singh traveled throughout Europe speaking to massive crowds (early 20th century). Moore writes:
"More than anything else, however, it was Sundar Singh's simple faith and authentic practice of Christ's teachings - something utterly out of sync with Western materialistic intellectualism - that his audiences found so compelling." (24)
BTW - "Singh refused to accept money, even when he needed it, and when someone forced a gift on him he gave it away." (Ib.)
Are you kidding me? Someone who actually loved Jesus more than money? Is that possible?
Singh's intuition was that "while Western Christianity might be rich in organization, theology, doctrine, and tradition, it was poor in spirit and sorely needed recentering on the foundation from which it had strayed: the living Christ." (26)
