信耶稣得水牛

This is an analogy for a Christmas message I heard from Pastor Jason Lim from Gospel Light Christian Church on Christmas 2016. Just to paraphrase:

There is a church in a small village in China with a relatively small population of Christians. One particular Sunday, they noticed that their attendance exponentially rose. So the Pastor decided to investigate and surveyed the new found believers. When he asked them what had attracted them to come to this church, they told him, "Well, it was promised to us that if we believe in Jesus, we will get a water buffalo (水牛)。".

Perplexed by this, he continued to probe deeper who has given them such a ridiculous promise. The new believers pointed him to a banner that hangs outside of the church door, and it reads, "信耶稣得水牛".

After examining the banner, now he know what is the root of the problem. The words on the banner are actually stuck to the canvas using coloured cardboard paper. During a torrential rain, some of the Strokes of the Chinese Characters fell off. The banner actually reads, "信耶稣得永生". 2 strokes fell off from the Characters "永生" (Eternal Life) and became "水牛" (Water Buffalo).

The new believers based their faith on a promise that if they believe in Jesus, they will get a water buffalo. The water buffalo represents our felt needs, material wants and personal ambitions. Many churches are actually (without realizing), teaching 信耶稣得水牛， instead of 信耶稣得永生。