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Today, the name Osama Bin Laden is synonymous with
evil. But when I was growing up in the 1960s, Ho Chi
Minh, the Communist ruler of North Vietnam, possessed
the name that epitomized evil. I had no idea who or what
Ho Chi Minh was, but I knew he had to be wicked since so
many Americans were dying trying to frustrate his
designs. Much later, I read up on Ho and found out that,
perhaps, he wasn’t as evil as I once thought.
Nevertheless, Ho led a misguided life and brought
danger, misery, and death to many millions of people.
But there's a specific and significant lesson we can learn
from Ho's life, a lesson crucial to our continued spiritual
journey.

When Ho was a young man (born 1890), his country,
Vietnam, was under the heavy handed rule of the French
Empire. Ho, or Nguyen Tat Thanh as he was first known,
witnessed and experienced grievous injustice, poverty,
and suffering as he grew to maturity. He left Vietnam in
1911, circling the globe as a kitchen worker on an ocean
liner. He lived a while in New York City and London
before settling down in Paris in 1919, where he worked as
a photographer’s assistant. In Paris, he came under the
influence of the writings of the Communist leader, Lenin,
who inspired him and gave him a vision of the future.
Lenin’s writings, especially the pamphlet on Colonialism,
gave Ho the explanations he sought. He saw in Lenin’s
philosophy the answer to the question of the origin of evil
and the solution to the world’s problems. He was young
and inflamed with passion for this new cause,
Communism. He gave impassioned speeches in France
and found his voice as a writer, publishing eloquent and
emotional articles and essays. Without returning to
Vietnam, he became one it’s most famous authors
throughout the 1920s and into the 1930s. His heartfelt
arguments inspired a host of Vietnamese, including the
great general, Vo Nguyen Giap. (Giap was the victor of
1954’s battle with the French at Dien Bien Phu, and the
architect of 1968’s Tet Offensive against the Americans.)
Ho soon went to Moscow, where he was schooled in
Communist training camps before becoming an agent of
the Comintern, the international organization designed by
Lenin and Stalin to spread the cause of Communism
worldwide. (Joe McCarthy aside, there was an
international Communist conspiracy!). In Moscow, Ho
learned his lessons well and, upon returning to Vietnam,
developed a disciplined and efficient organization, the
Viet Minh. Through this organization, Ho took power in
Vietnam in 1945 at the conclusion of World War II. The
rest of the story is better known. Ho led the Viet Minh to
victory over the French in 1954, culminating at the great
battle at Dien Bien Phu. He then led the North
Vietnamese (with Soviet and Chinese assistance) on the
road to victory over the United States before dying in
1969. This is a brief overview of Ho Chi Minh's life. But
what is it about this life that teaches us a spiritual lesson?

Ho believed wholeheartedly in his cause. He was full of passion and dedication and skill as a writer,
organizer, teacher, and leader. He became a great man in world history. There’s only one blight on his
record. Ho Chi Minh was dead wrong. Despite his passion and fervor, the cause he served,
Communism, turned out to be completely false. The false cause, Communism, made a mockery of Ho’s
dedication and effort, indeed made a mockery of his entire life. Communism, from it’s early years in 1917
when it gained control in Russia, through 1949 when it took over China, to it’s disillusion in 1989-1991,
accomplished nothing except the spread of misery, sorrow, and death to untold millions. As an economic
theory it was completely unfounded, guaranteeing a low standard of living for those who lived under it. It
produced despotic leaders who used murder and mayhem as a policy tool at an unprecedented level. It
is estimated that Stalin and Mao, the two greatest of the Communist rulers, were responsible for over 100
million deaths, a number that exceeds even the 62 million of World War II for which Adolf Hitler was
directly or indirectly responsible. Communism is one of the ugliest blots on the record of the entire history
of the world.

But Ho was a “man of faith”, a man who believed fervently in his cause. Isn't that what we are told these
days, to be a "person of faith"? Aren't people of "faith" held up as shining examples and role models?
But what if we have "faith" in something that is completely unfounded and wrong? For instance,
Christianity and Islam can't both be right. So if you are a person of faith in the one that's right, good. But
if you have faith in the one that is wrong, that's bad.

Apply this to the beginnings of our Christian lives. Most of us were saved when we were young. But what
version of Christianity were we taught? We might have gotten a completely wrong idea of the truth about
Christianity. (I did.) We may have been taught a watered down or sugar coated version of the Truth. We
may have been taught that Christianity would make us successful and happy and solve all our problems
in one fell swoop. We may have passionately believed this and been full of faith and ardor about our new
found faith in Jesus Christ. But what if we were wrong? What if we had the wrong idea? What if the
ideas we believed in didn't line up with the Apostle Paul? What if we served a false cause all these years?

We've got to have the courage to admit mistakes, move on, and get it right. We can't let our lives go on
like Ho Chi Minh, and serve a lie all of our lives. Some of us, many of us, have been on the wrong track.
We've got to look to the Bible and the Apostle Paul to get on the right track. Eternity is at stake! It's that
important! Let's get to the task! So please go now to the "Step One" button!