A wise man once said, "when purpose is not known abuse is inevitable." One of the most abused concepts of the supernatural in the church and the world alike, is "faith." Just as the subject of discussion states, the faith of the believer is not just what we use to get things, but the life we live.
Why are we talking about 'things' here? It is because of the experience of deprivation that have taken hold of the minds of people, most especially the blacks. Our perception about the kingdom experience and with God is all about what to get from Him.
Little wonder we have the level of hypocrisy, iniquity and all forms of ridiculous acts skyrocketing in the body of Christ. Spiritual leaders now leave the place "faith as a lifestyle" and concentrate on "faith as an instrument" to bamboozle the gullible's in Church to gain fame and to perpetually keep the people in bondage.
Until we as individuals would desist from 'gain' and what to get from God we would never experience the wonder working power of God in our lives. Because the power of Jesus is in the lifestyle of faith and not in the acquisition of things.
Why the predominance of this mindset of "faith as an instrument?"
1. It is because of the experience of deprivation of the basic needs of life such as, food, clothing and shelter.
2. It is because of the faulty understanding and concept of success.
3. It is because of the preaching of the gospel through human philosophy and wisdom that actually bring people to Church.
This perpetual search for gains and rewards from God would only produce a people that are weak in character, in attitude and timid in expressing the goodness and power of God.
From my observation, I have come to discover that the same underlying features that describes us as a people in the world is also the same in the church. For example, the subject of laziness in Africa, even in government and church organizations. How do I know this? Anywhere laziness rules, there is bound to be a people who look for short-cuts to succeed. You will wonder why we don't pay attention to 'process' and development as we look at these considerations. With the massive concentration of mineral deposits in our nation, we should be among the most distinguished across the globe.
But on the contrary, we are still among the poorest. This is borne out of laziness in terms of creating efficient systems and structures in production processes, rather we have chosen the short-cut of dependence on foreign products. Also, with the high level concentration of churches in our nations most especially among the blacks, we ought not to be afraid of Christians becoming government leaders, we ought not be afraid of doing business with Christians, just to mention a few. Why? We prefer to leverage churches as prayer-platforms to get 'material things' from God rather than for our development in order to express the nature and power of God for the world to glorify Jesus.
At this juncture, I would like to present the most profitable dimension of faith, not as an instrument, but as the life we live. Just as it is recorded in scriptures, "Now it is evident that no person is justified (declared righteous and brought into right standing with God) through the Law, for the Scripture says, The man in right standing with God [the just, the righteous] shall live by and out of faith and he who through and by faith is declared righteous and in right standing with God shall live."
Faith as the 'life we live', involves 'process', commitment, transformed perception, vision, and several other factors. As I conclude, let your desire be to live the life of faith and not just the use of faith for "things." Thank you for reading this article. I remain your friend and strategist.
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