…the argument of politics and the secular world being dirty doesn’t hold water. Didn’t the Bible tell us we are the light of the world? Is light not given to dissipating darkness? If the secular world is the darkness and the believer is the light, then in my mind God has provided solution to the problem of darkness.
Unfortunately, the modern day church has almost completely forgotten about her role and responsibility in National Transformation.
Most believers and the clergy almost always seek to detach the church from the society for which she was established. As a pastor and a student of the Bible, it is still a mystery to me where the modern church derives her theology of total separation of the church and the society.
Reading and studying the Bible on a daily basis for the past 30 years, I see a totally different worldview. I see a God who is absolutely interested in the day to day running of the world, including governments. I see a God who would not allow Himself to be isolated from His creation. Ps. 24:1 proudly proclaims it that “the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.”
Notice that in the above scripture, God is not even saying the earth is man’s, even though man has been entrusted with temporarily running and managing it. The glory of the earth must belong to the Lord, because the earth is the Lord’s. Everything any man does on earth must be to give glory to God. Whether it is in government or in commerce. From this scripture, how could we possibly say God and the church should not have a role to play in managing the affairs of the earth which He created for His own glory?
The story of God’s interaction with the children of Israel in the Old Testament teaches us one vivid lesson, which is that God rules in the affairs of men. How could we say after that, that God and Church does not have a role to play in the day to day running of nations?
I would not spend too much time presenting my case from the Old Testament. For many will say, that was the old dispensation. I would rather present my arguments from the new dispensation on why Christians and the church must not only be involved in the running of their nations, but must be in the vanguard of it.
In my country Nigeria, Christians are prone to complaining about why God is not giving the nation godly leaders. On the other hand, what a paradoxical and hypocritical question that is. Paradoxical and hypocritical because on one hand this same church teaches her members to refrain from politics because it is a dirty game. But when Muslims and unbelievers take over the same government, we begin to complain about why there are no Christians, or godly people, in power.
If we are going to teach our people not to go into politics because it is dirty, then who is going to clean it up? Are there angels in charge of that kind of job? I am at times tempted to think that the real reason behind the church holding back her members from active involvement in the day to day running of a nation is probably not because of care for the souls of the parishioners. The real reason might be the unwillingness of church leadership to let go of their most promising members.
As far as I’m concerned, the argument of politics and the secular world being dirty doesn’t hold water. Didn’t the Bible tell us we are the light of the world? Is light not given to dissipating darkness? If the secular world is the darkness and the believer is the light, then in my mind God has provided solution to the problem of darkness. That solution is the church and the believers.
“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” – Matthew 5:14-16
If the church, which is the light of the world, is reluctant to go engage the darkness of the world, what are the other means we could then use to overcome that darkness? Would God send angels to do that? It won’t happen!
We sometimes live in hope, thinking God would raise people, that He could even use stones to accomplish his will; beautiful. But why should God be looking for stones when there are millions of Christians sitting down on the pews in the church? There is no justification yet for God to raise up stones, when we have men in abundance who could be used by God to destroy the darkness in their nation. The only thing we need is to change their mindsets and send them forth.
The church worldwide needs to reconsider her stand and her role in the transformation of nations.
“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavour, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” – Matthew 5:13-16
From the above scripture, there are some lessons that we need to examine more closely.
1. YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD:
Jesus who is the author and the builder of the church specifically gives us our identity, purpose and vision, when he says YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. I don’t think by this Jesus is trying to impress us with a metaphor. I think he actually meant what he said. We are here to fix the problems of the darkness of the world. Anywhere darkness is hidden, believers are supposed to go after it, chasing it away from all its hideouts. Bringing light and illumination to the sons of men.
2. A TOWN BUILT ON A HILL CANNOT BE HIDDEN:
If the church and the believers are truly who they profess to be, there is no way they could be hidden in any country or nation. They are supposed to be the most vocal, outspoken, visible, group of people in the whole nation.
The illustration Jesus uses here is perfect for the lesson he wanted to pass across. Jesus himself is the hill upon which the church and the believers stand, hence he is so sure of his ability to manifest, to raise and to promote those who stand on him. Therefore in every sphere of life, in any given society or nation, the church must be the most conspicuous body in the land.
Friends, don’t let’s dance around this. Jesus is not mincing words in declaring his intentions. His words are quite clear. Let’s take him by his words. I don’t think he is playing dices with us. I believe he meant what he said. I don’t think God is a liar, neither could Jesus be a deceiver. If he says we are supposed to be on top, then let’s go for the top. If he says we are supposed to be visible then let’s go after the visibility. If he says we are the light, then let’s go after the darkness without any ambiguity about it.
3. PEOPLE DON’T LIGHT A LAMP AND PUT IT UNDER A BUSHEL:
Jesus had earlier told us who the light is. The light is the church and the believers. He is trying to tell us that from his own part, he has done all he needed to do for us, he already lit the light and he did not put us under a bushel. To prove to us that he is not planning to do that and he is by no means going to do that, he said it is never done. He says anyone who lights a candle will never put it under a bushel; it is not done!
For Jesus to come to be the light in us, it’s not for us to be hidden any longer, it is not done! He himself is the light of the word. Oh boy! How he lights the world! Now friends, that light has come into us with an intention, what other intention could it be? None other, than for us to be like him. To beam our light to the whole nation where we are planted just like he did to the whole world. Just in case we might have some doubt, he gave us a stern instruction, don’t you even think about hiding, nobody does that. Nobody lights a light and hides it and God is not going to be the first one to begin to do that.
In Jesus’ own words “Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.”
4. WHEN PEOPLE LIGHT A LAMP, THEY PUT IT ON A LAMPSTAND:
This is an intentional act of ambiguity. I think the church worldwide has not been intentional enough in displaying her light, her advantages, her values, etc. We kind of misplaced the message of humility and used that message to sideline the purpose of the church. When the lamp is put on a lamp stand, it is for the benefit of others. It is for the purpose of service. It is for the purpose of defeating darkness.
Whereas the message of Christian humility and modesty teaches against self-promotion and the pursuit of self-interest, his message of light is not in the same vein. They are totally different messages. We should not in the name of humility and modesty put the lamp under a bushel. No! We should for the interest of the light’s calling not shy away from prominence, visibility and ambiguity. The good ideals of humility should not sideline the purpose of the light, which is to give visibility to people, destroy darkness and serve others.
5. THE LAMP IS TO GIVE LIGHT TO EVERYONE IN THE HOUSE:
The purpose of every church and every believer is to find ways and means to give light to everyone in the house or in the nation. We know that people in our nation belong to different people groups. They belong to different religions, professions, organisations and social strata. Yet, the light must be in all those places. Who is to bring it there? The church and the believers of course! In my opinion, believers are supposed to be in mosques bringing light, in discotheque bringing light there, and everywhere else where there is darkness. They are supposed to be after the service of bringing light to everyone in the nation.
6. LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE BEFORE OTHERS:
I like to take the words of Jesus quite literally. The way I would see this injunction personally, is that I must make my works and my values visible to all others. It is actually expedient for every believer to intentionally look for platforms, avenues and opportunities where he or she wants to make his light shine before others.
The same responsibility is given to the church, which has the responsibility of making her light shine before all others in the community and in the nation. This are the kind of things we should be teaching believers in our churches. It is my belief that we must as a church desist from the domestic gospel of self-satisfaction into the gospel of the Kingdom.
Instead of concentrating most of our teachings on individual needs, it is high time we begin to focus on God’s needs.
7. LET OTHERS SEE YOUR GOOD DEEDS AND GLORIFY YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN:
Many Christians don’t just know how to use this instruction from Jesus. They remember that on one hand Jesus told us that when we do our charity, our left hand shouldn’t know what our right hand is doing, but here we are with Jesus himself calling us to make men see our good works. In my observation, most Christians just settle for the easy part, well we will just be modest and not let our left hand see what our right hand is doing.
We have used that argument as the reason why nobody knows of our good works. In the real sense there is no controversy in these two statements. We are told not to allow our left hand to know what our right hand is doing in the sense that we should not blow our own trumpets for personal gain and glory. But when your intentions are that others might glorify your father in heaven, then you have got to blow those trumpets of the good works you did. The difference is in the motives. If the motive is to shine God’s light and dissipate darkness, if the motive is to bring service to others, if the motive is to release the glory of God, that others might glorify him, then bring out those trumpets!
Sunday Adelaja is a Nigeria born leader, transformation strategist, pastor and innovator. He is based in Kiev, Ukraine. He can be contacted at sundayadelajablog@gmail.com.
END
Be the first to comment