WHY I'VE BEEN SAD

Lately I’ve been saddened by something going on around me. It’s not new, in fact it’s been going on for decades. But the sadness came because I’ve concerned myself with things I stopped concerning myself with a long time ago i.e the matters of the modern Churches in Nigeria. I stopped worrying about these things a long time ago because it brings so much sadness, but once in a while I can’t escape it.

What really worries me is the amount of opulence, sophistication and excellence they display in the face of the extreme poverty and squalor we see every day. It worries me that while they spend hundreds of thousands of dollars buying planes, booking five-star hotels and acquiring the latest LED lights and stages, there are millions of people in their churches and in the country jobless and almost hopeless. Most of these people only need a little skills acquisition training and start up money; All for less than a Hundred dollars. We have people dying of malaria and other easily curable diseases that could be helped with less than 10 dollars. Even if these Pastors and the congregants who support them financially do not want to abandon the structures they put up. If they feel like they want to hold worship services with all the trappings of a Daft Punk Coachella concert (after all, it’s their money and they can do whatever they want with it), why can’t they think of helping these people alongside their plans to build monuments and empires? Its very worrisome.  How can they be so comfortable living large and driving past these same poor people in their Rolls Royce, Lamborghinis and Benzes? What’s more? These Churches actually believe they’re doing the right thing. They actually believe that they are propagating the Gospel and “making the Kingdom attractive” by taking care of themselves and their business empires.

But God has a way of balancing things out, he began to show me two things that led to a radical conclusion. The first thing he showed me was that not all “Mega-Churches” are like this. There are many Churches around the world doing great things for the poor and downtrodden; Clothing them, providing food, shelter, medical services and education. Some of them publicise it, others don’t, but they do exist. In Nigeria, there are a few "big" Churches that do this work very commendably, and many “smaller” assemblies that do it as well.

The second thing that I found out is that there are so many organizations and individuals who have taken it upon themselves to render help. Of course it’s not enough; these are issues that can only be eradicated by governmental structures and real economic stability and growth (not those numbers the Central Bank of Nigeria and their cronies put out that mean nothing to regular people). But these organisations exist and they are doing the best they can.  They are people from all works of life and faiths; Christians, Muslims, African religion adherents, atheists and agnostics etc. all doing their bit to help their fellow man and love their neighbors.

This brought me to this sobering conclusion, the Lord is not sitting around waiting for the Church to establish his Kingdom. He is moving right along, working with as many as are willing to work with him to make this world a better place. There’s something Dr C. Baxter Kruger says that has stuck with me; when we see people moved with compassion towards the poor, the ecosystem, or the sick; when we are moved with love for our spouses and our children; when we find ourselves enjoying play or music or art. All those feelings emanate from Christ. He is the one who fills the ecologist with a passion for preserving the earth. He is the one who inspires the philanthropist and the doctors to have a deep sadness when they see pain and suffering, he is the source of my desire to see minds transformed and souls find healing from their brokenness. None of these things originate from us. Jesus is filling us with his compassion. Whether they be Muslims, atheists, agnostics and so on, any good we display is of God and is for the propagation of his Kingdom.

So, while I still feel sad about these Churches with clearly misplaced priorities(in my opinion), I am quite confident that the Father, Son and Spirit are constantly working in all humanity to bring Peace and Justice to the World and I look forward to the full and final renewal of all things. 

The Ministry of Reconciliation

“Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall see God”

I believe there is a basic philosophy that underlies the faith of everyone who confesses to be a believer in Jesus (at least it should). It is a thought that derives itself from the person and work of Jesus himself. In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul tells us that the Cross is Gods way of causing reconciliation between humanity and himself. It is his way of removing every roadblock and mindsets that caused us to see God as our enemy. He then goes further to state that we have been given the message of reconciliation; to plead to the world that they be reconciled to God.  What that means is that we tell the world, God has no grudges against us and he has put to death the obstacles of fellowship with him on the Cross. Now it’s up to us to live in this reality and come to terms with this truth

But I believe there is more to our ministry of reconciliation than just the mended relationship between God and Man. The Cross also brings to an end enmity between men. Ephesians states it succinctly, he has taken down the wall of division; We are now one new man in Christ (Ephesians 2: 13-14). We are no longer enemies of each other and so as children of the Kingdom, it is our prerogative to seek reconciliation and peace in all circumstances. That means we seek the way of peace, reconciliation and forgiveness in all aspects of our lives. That includes in the work place while practicing our vocation and in our personal relationships.

This is obviously easier said than done. Take me for instance, I am a lawyer by profession, it’s not exactly a profession that thrives on peace and reconciliation.  As a matter of fact, our Court system is called the adversarial system. On the surface, it might seem like a tall order to seek reconciliation when a dispute has reached the stage of going to Court. But I’ve come to discover that the Gospel has so affected me that I always seek avenues to resolve issues out of court; thereby avoiding the name calling and casting of aspersions that usually accompany a matter taken to trial. Even when my client is not particularly keen on it, I try to persuade and convince them that it would be more beneficial for them to tow the line of peace.

Thankfully, every time I get a settlement done, things have worked out pretty well. Even when it doesn’t seem so at first, sticking to the path of peace has mostly paid off. Of course, there are times when peace cannot be sought, then I do what I do to represent my client and ensure they get their rights up held. 

I believe this is the call of everyone who confesses Christ as King. He is the Prince of Peace afterall

THE WORKING OF ALL THINGS

It's Friday. How has our week been? Hectic, blissful, stressful, successful, full of failures or a mixture of everything? Maybe you didn’t hit the goals you set out for yourself or you didn’t get the things you were expecting. Perhaps you have been disappointed in business. Something or somebody did not respond the way you were expecting. It could be regrets, you wish you had done something earlier or that you had refused to do something.

All these things are unavoidable symptoms of human life. I wish I could tell you that as a believer you are immune to mistakes or that life wont rub you the wrong way sometimes, but I’d be lying. That is not what Jesus promised (he promised a life of peace and victory in spite of circumstances). What I can tell you is that you are not at a disadvantage. Consider the promise of Romans 8: 28

“We are confident that God is able to orchestrate everything to create something good and beautiful when we love him and accept his invitation to live according to his plan”

The Voice Translation

In other words, God works all circumstances in your life to create a beautiful outcome. Everything is working together for your good. Everything is going to come out just right as God intends for you. Every mistake, disappointment and mishap are being shaped to result in a glorious destiny. God doesn’t create disasters and darkness, but he has a way of making it work out for the best

Let’s not shy away from a condition that was attached to this passage. Two things: Love God and accept to live according to his plan. This might seem like onerous conditions but a deeper look will reveal the loving heart of our father

Love God

The Old Testament law is summed up in two main instructions; the first one being Love God, with all your heart, all your soul and with all your strength. But do we really love God, can we really boast that we have given him our all? That’s where the good news comes in

We love because he first loved us

1 John 4:19

The key to loving God and just loving in general is a keen awareness of God’s love for us. We respond to God’s love by loving him in return

Living according to his plan

Another onerous looking one, just ask any regular Christian, the will of God is the most ambiguous thing ever. There’s the good will, the permissive will and then there’s the perfect will of God; You have to figure which of your decisions and desires is which. Your choice of wife might not be God’s perfect will for you. She might not even be his will at all. Or she could be his permissive will. God’s perfect will could be for you to go into full time ministry. But he can permit you having a career in fashion. Throw all that balderdash aside and just rest. God is not looking for mind readers, he’s not in a relationship where you have to decipher whether he’s happy or not by his body language. He’s not into being ambiguous or hiding himself. He is the God who constantly wants to be known. Every time the will of God is mentioned in the New Testament, it is always referring to God’s desire to make us conformed to the image of Christ. It is his will that all humanity be an expression of the life of Christ. It is that simple. That we all in our unique way are Christlike I.e. loving and living loved. Just go to the next verse in the passage Romans 8 and you’ll see it, he has predestined us to be conformed to the image of his Son. Living according to his plan is simply acknowledging this desire of God and living in the consciousness that there is a transformation agenda at play. And what’s better than being conformed to the image of Jesus? He lived a great life and is now seated at the right hand of the Father.

Now that you have acknowledged that its all about God’s love and his plan to make us better people. Rest assured that God is going to take your life circumstances and use them as building blocks for your good.

The Most Resistant to the idea of a better God

Do you know which set of people are the hardest to convince that God is actually good and much better than they think? No, it’s not the consummate “sinners” who have spent their lives in debauchery; doing whatever feels right to them; it’s not the prostitute, who has sold her (or his) body over and over again, neither is it the Tax Collectors of this world; people who sold their souls out to be used by the rich and powerful to be instruments of abuse.

In my experience I find the most difficult people to convince of the goodness of God and thus, the least likely people to experience repentance are the self-righteous. The reason is simple, they are not aware that anything is wrong with their way of life. They have it all figured out, they don’t need saving or they have already been saved and now it’s their turn to play their part in the maintenance of their salvation. That is exactly what the passage above is talking about. The pharisees were quite content with their spiritual prowess; they were obsessively obedient to the law, they fasted quite regularly and they prayed fervently. They were also well versed in the Hebrew scripture. They were confident in their ability to obey God and they were damn sure that They were doing just fine. Theirs was the path to take. As a result, they had painted God in their image (as we all do); God was stern, unmoving and definitely unforgiving of certain things. He caused, or at least allowed sickness, poverty and death to fall upon those who were disobedient to his commands. And this was not a problem for them, because they had it figured out. They obeyed the rules, they were exempt from punishment, unlike the prostitutes and sinners that Jesus was constantly hanging around

This was the main problem the pharisees had with Jesus; he represented a God they couldn’t accept. 

A God that loved everybody and embraced them regardless of their deeds or misdeeds. A God that enjoined people to love their enemies and pray for their oppressors. It was impossible, this would shatter the whole basis of their existence, it would require a major shift in the thing they believed in the most; themselves. Hence Jesus’ remark in John 9: 39-41

"39.Jesus said,^a “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

40Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”

41Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains."

They could not admit that they were blind, they thought they saw most clearly. They did not need Jesus to enlighten them because they were the most enlightened. They did not need the riches of Christ, they were spiritually rich. With people like these, you can only love them and pray that one day God opens their eyes. There is no amount of demonstration or preaching that can convince them. It is too jarring, too world changing for them to accept.  Because it means that their efforts don’t move God. It would mean that people will “get off” with their sins and thy don’t get to gloat at those putrid sinners as they are roasted over the fires of hell.

On the other hand, ragamuffins (to borrow a term from Brennan Manning) rejoice at the news of God’s unconditional love, we rejoice at the prospect of someone else; God in the person of Jesus, stepping in to rescue us from our bondage to sex, money and power. The prospect that Jesus will actually come into our hearts and live his life out through us is quite acceptable and in fact relieving to us. You see we too, like the pharisees, have a very flawed view of God. Most times, it is identical to that of the pharisees. The only difference is, unlike the self-righteous, we lack the will power to live by the rules. Some of us are constantly trying and failing at obeying all the rules, while the vast majority have just given up on it. We had resigned to the fact that we were going to hell, or that Gods favour would not be on us as much as the super spiritual, hardworking and diligent guys. Hence, we are keenly aware of our blindness, of our bankruptcy and of our need for a savior (at least subconsciously). So when we are informed of the good news of a compassionate, loving, heart transforming sacrificial and self-giving God, we rejoice and accept this wholeheartedly. This is why Jesus says the prostitutes and the tax collectors rushed into the Kingdom of God while the Pharisees stood by and criticized.

However, the scariest part of it is this, we all are self-righteous in some way or the other. We all have aspects of our lives that we are so good at, we have forgotten that it is a gift from God. We all have areas where we are so self-confident, we don’t think we need God or he is at best an addendum to our general awesomeness. Watch out for those areas, glorify God and always remember that it is Christ who works in you, to do and will his good pleasure. Don’t be a pharisee.