Bible Study: Acts 18, 9 to 18 and John
16, 20 to 23.
Yesterday I came across a letter with the title, “Your Land or
Your Blood” on social media. The letter is a direct threat to all Christians in
this country and especially Christians in the south. The letter makes reference
to the issue of the herdsmen and the proposed grazing bill. I consider this
letter as an attempt to bolster fear and intimidation in the minds of
Christians as well as fill their hearts with a demonic spirit of hate against a
certain group of persons.
To live with hatred for one’s fellow humans is to live with
bitterness. To hate is to put yourself in a prison whereby everyone else
becomes your warder. To hate is to deny your faith in Christ Jesus and his
power to save. Should we Christians, begin to hate others because of their threats,
it means we have stopped being Christians and this would mean converting to a
religion of hate even while we still address ourselves as Christians.
Our religion is not a religion of hate, we do not consider
non-Christians or converts away from the faith as people condemned, we see them
just as Jesus Christ saw the world as a whole when he came to die for us. “For
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him
should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world,
not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” John
3, 16 to 17. We cannot hate sinners because God himself did not hate sinners,
he reached out with love for their repentance. The parable of the lost sheep
and the lost coin are pointers to this fact. The good shepherd, Jesus leaves
the ninety nine and goes in search of the lost one and when he finds it, he
carries gently on his back to the fold.
Many argue that if we do not take up arms to fight, our religion
would soon be exterminated but make bold to say this is far from the truth. Go
through the entire scriptures, there was never a war against God’s children
that did not involve God himself either fighting on their behalf to give them
victory or purposely allowing their enemies to defeat them so as to send a
direct message to them about their unfaithfulness (that is, the worship of
other gods). Whenever the children of Israel left the true God to serve the
Baals, they were severely punished with a defeat and when they repented, they
enjoyed peace and protection once again.
The greatest threat to Christianity today is not Fulani herdsmen
or Boko haram or some religion from some part of the country. No! The greatest
threat against Christianity today is Christians themselves. We have long left
the worship of God for the worship of money. Money has become to us what Baals
were to the people of Israel, our ancestors in the faith. We argue about the
authenticity of the moral authority of the Bible and the Church. We have allowed
immorality turn our heads upside down. Listen to songs produced by Christians
who are supposed to the former Choir leaders in our churches. Even see how we
dress, see what we teach our children.
Go to our Churches, we now have miracle centres where fake
pastors display acrobatics to get our attention. Churches have become entertainment
centres, disco halls and night clubs. Our pastors are so carried away with
money that they no longer preach sin as sin. For them, the only sin is poverty.
They have too much money, they fly private jets and drive on the latest cars in
the world.
We are only Christians by name, but pagans in reality! If another
religion takes over, it is not going to be an end of Christianity but an end of
paganism because Christianity itself has long died in this country.
We are the authors of our own undoing! What is happening to us
today is not God abandoning his children, it is rather the case of the children
suffering what the Prodigal son suffered when he left home! We must return
home, we must return to our morals, we must return to our senses, we must
return to the truth and God knows how to protect and fight for us.
Yes, God alone knows how to fight for his own; those who are truly
his own! There were battles that the children of Israel won even without
raising a single finger to fight. There were times, God put confusion in the
enemy camp and they started fighting themselves and destroyed themselves to
death while his children just watched. Who says, God is no longer capable of
doing that in this country today?
Just look at today’s first reading, see what God said to St.
Paul: “Do not be afraid. Go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with
you. No one will attack you and harm you, for I have many people in this city.”
Acts 18, 9. Guess what happened when Paul was arrested? See how the enemies
fought each other like children. What a disgrace.
Dear friends, let us take the pains to be true to our faith and
repent. God is the king of all the earth. He alone can protect us. If arms and
ammunition can save, why are there still wars in the world? Isn’t it a shame
that we no longer believe in the power of God but are canvassing for Christians
to take up arms to fight? Doesn’t it show how much faith we have lost in God
even when we call our churches miracle centres?
Have we forgotten the words of Jesus even in today’s Gospel
passage “whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.” John 16, 23.
Do we think prayers are not as effective anymore even when our pastors charge
huge sums of money just to pray or as consultation fees? Is it the case that we
know what we are doing?
Let us pray: Lord Jesus, help me to be true to you. Amen
God bless you. Good morning. Be
Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you.
Fr. Abu Evaristus.
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