The Big Boss

A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. And he said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves. Luke 22:24-27 

I was watching a TV commercial the other night talking about how to recognize the big boss. It says the big boss wears a big wrist watch, rides a big car, lives in a big mansion, and … just does everything big!

How do we deal with a scripture like the above in the body of Christ today? This is one of our greatest challenges in the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement. Our pastors and bishops have become lords and masters. People who are supposed to be servants now have a retinue of aides serving them. They go about with bodyguards, travel with security escorts, and are accorded rock star welcome everywhere. I know this can be explained as giving honour to whom it is due. Uhmm, ... so who is the honour due? I wonder how Peter was honoured? ... and Paul? (Pls read Acts 10:25-26; Acts 14:13-15; Rev. 22:8-9)

How did we fall this low? How have we become so much like the world in our orientation, mindset and attitude? Today, the pastor sits on the best chair in the church. In fact, his chair is specially designed and must be different from the others on the altar. He rides the best car. He lives in the biggest mansion. The pastor is the Boss! That is it! That is the message we are giving out.

To make matters worse, we now call him daddy. And daddy must be honoured, respected and served. Our problems become complicated. We have transposed our culture into the kingdom instead of allowing our culture to be transformed by the word of God. We have rendered the word of God of no use by our tradition.

But look at the verdict of Jesus: But not so with you!

Can we become biblical in our mentality? Can we return to the scriptures in the conduct of our dealings and affairs? Can we pull down all these human structures we have built to subjugate the word of God? Can we beat a retreat from competing with the world in a race we can never win, and to which God has never called us? And … can we tell our bosses that the Church has only one Lord and Master, and it’s not the pastor?

“Back to Sender”

I’m often appalled by this line of prayer from some of our prayer meetings and gatherings. Why are we so revengeful? Why are we so unbiblical in our reasoning? Definitely, that idea is not a New Testament one. Only in the Old Testament were they instructed to return eye for eye. In the NT, Jesus asked us to turn the other cheek, not to return back to sender. 

 

The great Indian Statesman, Mahatma Gandhi, said: An eye for an eye makes the whole world go blind. And that is coming from a Hindu.  Jesus was dying on the Cross, and yet prayed: Father forgive them, for they know not what they do. Stephen, while being stoned to death, still managed to say a word of prayer for his killers: Do not lay this sin to their charge.

Many of us have shut the door of salvation to many potential heaven bound sinners through our revengeful prayer. Thank God Saul of Tarsus didn’t live in our days. We would have killed him a thousand times. How do you know if that person sending the arrow is not a candidate of the kingdom? God has promised that no weapon formed against us shall prosper.  I would rather pray that evil arrow should catch fire and be destroyed than praying for it to return back to the sender. Even David, operating under the Old Covenant is godlier than some of us. Twice he had opportunities to strike dead his greatest persecutor, and twice he refrained from doing so. He was more justified under the Old Covenant to kill him, yet he allowed divine prerogative to have its way. No wonder God called him a man after his heart.

 

The good news is that it’s not all our prayers that God answers. Many of our prayers are only “feel good” prayers. They don’t go beyond our mouth; because they are so rooted in unbelief and so contrary to the scriptures.

Friends, we are New Testament believers! Let’s adjust our mentality to comply with the new order. New wine in old wineskin will not work. That is why it appears Christianity is not working. We are presenting the wrong teachings to the people. And many get frustrated when they don’t get the kind of result they are expecting which God never promised in the first instance. God never said he would kill all your enemies. Even in the OT He only said they shall be as nothing. In other words, they will be so helpless over you because He would render them ineffective. So why bothering yourself over nothing? Like they say: Much ado over nothing!

God has said: Vengeance is mine, I will repay. Why not allow God to be God over your situation? Why taking laws into your own hands? Yes, I know the scripture in the NT says: it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you (2 Thess 1:6). So God knows what to do; and He will do it, when the right times come.

Little Minds

John 9:13-16


They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, "He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see." Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath." But others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?" And there was a division among them.

Some people get unnecessarily sidetracked by little things.

Jesus did a good work but because it was on a Sabbath, the pharisees couldn't see it.

How often we missed some great things because of our small minds!

We get so engrossed in the fact they've not crossed the t and dot the i.

And that was Jesus cross with the pharisees.

Cf. Matt 7:1-5

They are quick to see others' faults, what they've not done right.

When you get so engrossed with little matters you will miss out the great things God is doing. You will fail to see the greatness of God in the lives of people. You will fail to see how far God has brought them. You will fail to acknowledge the great works God has done in their lives.

Look for the Big Picture.

Learn to put things in their proper perspective.

John 9:24

So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, "Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner."

Oh Common! How could you be so audacious? How could you be so authoritative? What if you were wrong?

We need to be careful how we make judgment!

Cf. 1 Samuel 16:7

But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart."

That they don't look like you does not make them less than you, or inferior to you.

Luke 16:15

And he said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

My Frustrations with the Pentecostal Enterprise

To set the record straight, I am a Pentecostal. I believe in the ideals of the Pentecostal movement. I believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. I believe the supernatural is still very much with us. I believe in healing, miracles and the likes. I am a believer but I get frustrated with so many of the Pentecostal practices I see around!

Why have we reduced God to a vending machine? Where you slot in your coins and out come a “miracle;” where you use God to meet your needs, kill your enemies, and so on; where prayers become a tool to satisfy your carnal lust; where the anointing oil is turned to a magical commodity; where handkerchief becomes a magician wand; where speaking in tongue becomes a language to whip your enemy; where prayer meetings have become a cry to God to “bless me, kill my enemies and make me number one.” And the list goes on and on.

What is actually the essence of the Pentecostal experience? Is it just about the signs and blunders being peddled around? Is it about all the drama we see in Pentecostal gatherings these days? Is it all the entertainment we witness in many a Pentecostal service today? Is it all about making pledges and vows to compel an unwilling God to act?

Would God reduce the personality of His third person only to a subject of so much ridicule and charade we see in our days? Would this kind of entertainment have wowed the three thousand that came to know Christ on the day of Pentecost? Are we not doing more harm than good to the cause of Christ? Why have we become environmental nuisance through our incessant noise and pollution? Why are there so much proliferations and duplications? Why have we become objects of ridicule among the unbelievers? Why would there be three different churches at every level of a two-storey building? At times two different churches sharing the same floor! What’s wrong with us for God’s sake? Why can’t we get our acts right?

Where is the evidence of changed lives that accompanied encounter with Christ? Why have our people become more worldly in their orientation? Why have we become increasingly greedy in attempt to show that we are the “king’s kid or kingdom citizens?” Would Jesus have suffered so much only to make us to be worldly focused and lascivious?

Is our spirituality measured only by all these acquisitions and flamboyance? Where are all the sacrifices, self-denials and cross carrying that Jesus demanded of would be followers? Why have we become a selfish bunch who only wants to be blessed so that we can consume it on our lusts? Why have all our prayers become transactional? (See earlier post on this blog).

Is this all that Christianity offer? Is this all there is about the Pentecostal experience? Is it just to feel good, live big and enjoy life? If we continue this way, what are we going to handover to the upcoming generations? Is this the way the apostles of Christ that passed the Gospel to us lived?

Honestly speaking, I’m fed up!

Is the “man of God” only about collecting envelopes and enjoying “bow the knees” everywhere he goes? Why have we become traditional and cultural lords over God’s heritage? How do you correct your daddy or papa when it is so obvious he’s going the way of Judas?

For God’s sake, which version of the Holy Bible are we reading? Is it King Solomon version or the Gospel of Judas?

What I see around has a great potential to make the church goes into extinction than any Buhari may want to do as some people want us to believe. What is going to kill the church is not external. It is intrinsic. It is right with us. What I see around has a close resemblance to the picture the Lord painted of the Laodicean church which thinks she’s so rich and increased with goods whereas she’s wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked (Rev. 3:17).

Sincerely, the church needs a new orientation—a paradigm shift! This mess gotta stop! We cannot afford to continue like this and expect our world to be any different. In fact, we are fast becoming more worldly than the world. The dancing style I see in church these days is not any different from the world. I had to unfriend a sister from my Facebook page a moment ago. We cannot continue like this. Can somebody call “us” to order pleeeeeease! 

Lord, save your church!

A Hireling or a Shepherd?

Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?” John 6:5, (NASB)

Pastors, what thoughts come to your mind when you see people coming to the church in droves?

Is it: How do we feed them or how do we fleece them?

Is it how do we meet their needs or how do we melt their pockets?

Your answers to these questions determine your actions to the people.

Every pastor needs to meet the people asking how do I help this people today, how can I be a greater blessing to them, how do I leave them better than they have come.

The questions you ask determine the answers you receive.

If you are asking how to fleece them, a thousand ideas will come to your mind which you will interpret as revelations from God.

Most of what we call revelations from God are responses from our subconscious mind, as a result of what we have programmed in our minds or what we have seen other men of God do.

Why do we have a habit of always taking from the people these days whereas Jesus was always giving to them? From whom have we learnt our pattern for ministry?

Are you a hireling or a shepherd?

Inadequate Theology: The Bane of (African) Pentecostalism

Nothing kills like half-truth. Antibiotics are known to constitute lethal weapon against bacteria which cause infections and diseases in humans and animals. 

In fact, the discovery of penicillin was a major breakthrough in the fight against diseases caused by bacteria. However, when the full dose is not taken and for the right period of time, it poses a serious threat. Since it is not potent enough to destroy the bacteria, they in turn are able to now master the drug and so develop resistance to the drug such that subsequent intake of the same drug will have no effect on the particular bacteria. That is why your doctor always insists you take the full dose and to complete the dosage.

Two events that have marked the face of Christianity in the recent history are the Reformation spearheaded by Martin Luther in the sixteenth century and Pentecostalism at the turn of the twentieth century. But for these two interventions, Christianity would be dead or probably half alive today. 

Without any doubt, Pentecostalism has brought a lot of vibrancy, fervency and dynamism to Christianity. Its entrance to the church equation has brought great blessing to the work of Christ. One could say that Pentecostalism is one major thing that delivered the church in Africa from the grip of traditionalism and syncretism.

What is so great about Pentecostalism? It is the rediscovery of the charismata—the gifts of the Holy Spirit. At the time when traditional Christianity told us to forget about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and that they’ve gone with the exit of the last apostle, like a mighty wind reminiscent of the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit shook the church like a tornado in a black church on Azusa Street in 1906. 

With that resurgence, new fire came. Men and women began to go into the territories of the world with new fire and zeal. 

However, Pentecostalism in this part of the world has become notorious for scriptural recklessness. The major reason for this is insufficient theology. Pentecostal ministers have taken to a far extreme the pharisaical notion that being with Jesus (Acts 4:13) is all that one needs to be a minister and a substitute for proper theological education. And this is telling on the kind of doctrines being propounded by many a preacher in our fold. 

Our God is a God of continuity. That is why though the Old Testament has been fulfilled in Christ, it is still kept for us today. That is why our Bible isn’t just New Testament alone. 

Seminary may be regarded as synonymous with cemetery; there are still a lot of treasures we can mine from its grave. Nothing can substitute for a sound theological education. Yet this is what is lacking in modern Pentecostalism. The ways scriptures are broken in many Pentecostal preaching is too terrible to bear for many who are theologically inclined. Doctrines are propounded based on the understanding of the founder/pastor alone. There is no correlation with any authority anywhere. The senior pastor or the General Overseer has the final say on any doctrinal issue. There is no room for any robust debate or rubbing of minds on any issue. Once the senior pastor “receives” it, it is final. There is no recourse to church history. The kind of interactions we see among the church leaders in Acts 15 is lacking in our fold today. Yet, that was a Pentecostal church. 

This is the missing link in Pentecostalism in Africa today. That is why doctrines are different from one Pentecostal church to another. This explains why one church may believe so much in feet washing based on the “revelation” given to the pastor while another may not want to have anything to do with such. Even churches set up their own seminaries or bible colleges to teach or reinforce their own doctrines or what they believe only. As Haris (2010) noted, preaching and teaching are the result of a lack of critical theological methods and critical biblical exegetical skills. 

This is the difference with a sound theology. It helps us to take cognizant of previous revelations by the Holy Spirit. The dictionary defines theology as “an organized method of interpreting spiritual works and beliefs into practical form.” It helps us to know how the previous generations have come to understand the same truth we are battling with. It broadens our perspective, giving us an idea of the previous move of God in the generations past so as to avoid the pitfalls that drown many of our fore runners. Sound biblical hermeneutics helps us to know how the original recipients of a particular epistle understood, and then interpreted it. 

Many church leaders need to take a cue from the great apostle Paul. In spite of his numerous revelations, he still takes time to check with those ahead of him on the veracity of his preaching. 

And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain. Gal 2:2

God always builds on previous revelations. That was why Paul instructed the Colossians to look for the epistle he wrote to the Laodiceans and vice versa (Col. 4:16). Good theology helps us to bridge the historical gap between us and the previous generations. 

Every church leader needs to accept the maxim that there’s nothing new under the heaven. That revelation that is so novel to you has been received a thousand times by many men and women of God in the past. How did they manage it? How did they interpret it? How did they apply it? That is what sound biblical theology does. It gives you a proper perspective. Some doctrines that were roundly condemned as heresies are being widely touted by many in our fold today as new revelation, and preached with so much vigor. May the Lord deliver His church from small minds!

Here is my offer: Agreed, not many could afford to go back to school or proper seminary for a thorough learning but everyone can bring the seminary home. Through personal study, online courses, seminars, conferences, every minister can be thoroughly furnished for the good works of teaching and preaching. To be ignorant in the age of information is an unpardonable offence. 

Ref:

Harris, A. L. (2010): For Such a Time as This: Re-Imaging Practical Theology for Independent Pentecostal Churches. The Asbury Theological Seminary Series 1. Lexington, KY: Emeth Press.