Jesus of the Gospels 2: His Parables

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One of the most recognizable and yet probably most misunderstood tools of Jesus Christ’s ministry was his use of parables. These were stories he told as he went from town to town, and some of them he definitely told more than once as we mentioned in the previous post on the life of a typical prophet of his day.

The fact that most of these parables had some moral underpinning seemed to have led people to simply label Jesus a “universal teacher” of timeless truths. Much as we like to find nice teaching themes from these parables for our Sunday sermons, we may be surprised that a large chunk of the parable (but not all of them) were meant not as stories of morality, but rather stories of judgment on Israel for its failure to be the light onto the world that Yawheh had called it to be, and also a means to tell Israel that he now was the means of the fulfillment of that responsibility.

Israel As a Light Onto The World

One of the callings that Israel knew and believed of itself was that God had called it to be the light onto the world. This is captured mainly by the prophet Isaiah, and was very dominant in the mindset of Jews at the time of Jesus

“Yea, He saith, ‘It is too light a thing for you to be My servant, to establish the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the scions of Israel, and I shall submit you as a light unto the nations, to be My salvation until the end of the earth’ (Isaiah, 49:6)

“I the LORD have called unto you in righteousness, and have taken hold of your hand, and submitted you as the people’s covenant, as a light unto the nations” (Isaiah, 42:6)

“And unto your light, nations shall walk, and kings unto the brightness of your rising” (Isaiah, 60:3)

This is clearly the context within which Jesus was speaking in Mt 5:14-16. Jesus Christ was not referring to the people as individuals standing before him when he spoke in the famous “Sermon on the Mount” about their light not shining for the world to see. He was talking to them as a corporate, as Israel. Our tendency to read everything with individualistic eyes (and the lack of a different word for plural “you” in English) means we’ve taken Jesus wrongly to mean Kofi as an individual is supposed to be the light of the world. But alas, the man had bigger fish to fry.

Therefore it was in Israel that salvation to the world was to be found (Jn 4:22). It was in them that the world’s hope rested. It was in them that the nations may see light. But here was a people darkened rather, having returned from exile with the prophecies of Isaiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Zechariah etc constantly replaying in their heads about how God was going to re-establish his kingdom and judge all their enemies, yet continuously living under the yoke of the Roman empire’s hardship. Coupled with extreme economic situations, injustice and gross inequality reigned between the rich and the poor. As for the temple and its priest, there wasn’t much to be said for a priesthood which was more interested in tithing and taxing the people, than in ways of ensuring justice and mercy among God’s own people (hmm, doesn’t this sound familiar?). The fact that the high priest was appointed via politicking and bribery and not from the descendants of Aaron anymore was even more depressing. In the midst of all this were those who believed God will save Israel if the “righteous ones” bunched together and fought the enemy by the sword, and so there was a lot of tension, banditry and violence underneath the supposed calm of the day.

Enter Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ enters the fray, declaring that indeed the kingdom of God that was prophesied by the prophets has indeed arrived, but in a shape and form that was different from what they expected. He declared that it had arrived in and through him i.e. he was their Messiah, and yet he sought to expand the beneficiaries of that kingdom to include all those that society had cast away in addition e.g. those considered “sinners” like the gentiles (Mt 7:25-30) and even their Roman centurions that suppress Israel (Lk 7:1-10), the sick, tax collectors (Zacchaeus in Lk 19:1-10) , those considered poor and enslaved by poverty (Mt 18:21-35) and so on. Alongside declaring that the kingdom of God had come, he also declared that Israel had failed in its job to be the light to the world (and in whom salvation should have been found) and therefore he himself was taking up the vocation of Israel.

But he couldn’t tell this bitter truth to the Israelites straight in the face, or else his ministry would not have even lasted the 3 years that it did before he’d have gotten stoned or arrested somehow. So he had to employ parables as a means of disguising his message, so that it’s only upon further reflection would you have understood what he actually meant, by which time he’d probably moved to the next town. They were his way of planting unknown seeds in the mind of the Jewish people, until he is vindicated and those who had heard him see the wisdom and truth of it. And this is why he ended some of his sayings (not only parables) with “He who has an ear, let him hear” and why he says to his disciples

“The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them … This is why I speak to them in parables: Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand” (Mt 13:11-13)

Oh this subversive king of ours.

To Some Parables

Note that most of such “subversive” parables began with “the kingdom of God/heaven is like …” . This should tell us that he was talking about something specific, not giving nice stories of “motivational speaking” or moralistic teaching.

So let’s look at some of the parables and see what we will find.

The Parable of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast (Mt 13:31-35; Mk 4:30-32; Lk 3:18-21)

Jesus likens his kingdom to that of a mustard seed. Though it is small, it will grow and spread across the world, and all men and women will benefit from it (signified by birds perching on its branches). Again he likens it to the yeast, where only a small amount is able to work itself into the dough unnoticed, until it takes over. In the above, Christ is showing how his kingdom will slowly but surely spread through Israel and across the world, and become a light to the world that Israel had failed to achieve.

The Parable of the Lost Son (aka the Prodigal Son) (Lk 15:11-32)

This is one of the most popular parables in Christendom, typically used to show how the God loves us in that even in our sins he’s waiting to receive us into his kingdom. Well that is all nice and good, and an appropriate use of the parable. However, I suggest to you that that’s not what the Jews would have heard Jesus talking about. Since the Reformation, our eyes have been accustomed to only see the gospel to be about how God forgives us of our sins so we can go to heaven, but that’s only half the pie (and not derived from a Jewish worldview but from a Gentile one). Could it be then that in this parable, the elder son is Israel, and the younger son is the Gentiles, and that Jesus Christ is talking about how God was willing to make the Gentiles acceptable in his kingdom so that both Jews and Gentiles may benefit from the promises of Abraham as God planned? I’ll leave you to think a bit more about this one yourself.

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet (Mt 22:1-14)

Again he starts off with “the kingdom of heaven is like …” here, and tells his story of the banquet. Knowing their belief in the kingdom to come, the Jews would hear Jesus saying that God was having a party for his son (the Messiah), and had sent out invitations to “those who had been invited to the banquet” i.e. Israel and its leaders. When Israel rejects it, Jesus shows how God intends to punish them for the disobedience and wickedness to him and his servants he has sent by his statement in verse 7 (which NT scholars point to as the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, and which “rapture” fanatics cannot simply accept in good conscience). The banquet is then open to everyone (including all the misfits as discussed before above), and yet God again filters that as well by those who are “properly dressed”.

The Parable of the Tenants (Mt 21:33-45; Mk 12:1-12; Lk 20:9-19)

This is probably the most provocative of all parables and most plain of all Jesus Christ’s parables he spoke to the people. The books of the prophets was replete with so many symbolic pictures of Israel as a vineyard (Ps 80:8–16, Isa 5:1–7, Jer 2:21, Ezek 15:1–8, 17:5–10, 19:10–14, and Hos 10:1). It was bound to be obvious this time round that the “tenants” was a reference to the priest and Pharisees, the messengers were the prophets of Israel, the son was himself and the coming judgment of the “landowner” aka God was what happened to them “in this generation” (Mt 23:34) i.e the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.

More than Meets the Eye

Nicholas Thomas Wright in Jesus and the Victory of God has this to say about Jesus’s parables.

“The parables, therefore, are not simply ‘teaching’, with each parable making one and only one moral or ‘religions’ point. Such a theory is totally anachronistic … The parables were therefore essentially secretive. Jesus was not a ‘universal teacher’ of timeless truths, but the starter of a movement which was to grow like an unobserved seed turning into a plant before anyone realized.” (N.T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God)

And of the more overt Parable of the Tenants, this is what he says

“The parable which breaks this rule is Mt 21:33-46, but Jesus told it plainly because the time had come to abandon the earlier secrecy and force a showdown. Historically speaking, the parable belongs precisely with the action in the Temple, the moment when Jesus at last acted in a way that the authorities could not ignore.” (N.T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God).

Therefore the parables was the means by which Jesus Christ both declared the arrival of the kingdom of God, and in addition made known the fact that in him was salvation now to be found, and not in Israel. This meant that he was replacing the position of Israel as the giver of light and telling them that loyalty to the old symbols that held Israel together (cleanliness and food laws, the Temple and its priests, the Torah etc) were no longer the basis on which one will be considered fit to inherit the kingdom any longer. And therefore when Jesus says in John 15 that he is the true vine, he is being clear in stating that the old vine (i.e. Israel) is no longer “true”, and that in him only can the Jews (and by extension the world) find their expected salvation, not in the “old vine” of Israel.

It was all subversion, subversion, subversion. But the parables was the means by which he could say what he wanted to a hostile people, and still be able to get away with it until people REALLY stopped to think further.

Rediscovering His Parables

Again, this theme of analysis doesn’t apply to each and every parable, but does indeed apply to a large majority. But  Jesus continues to amaze me as I rediscover the tools of his trade, but more importantly as I also discover my own (and I’m sure many people’s) ignorance of what these “nice” stories were all about. NT Wright himself quoted a friend thus,

“As an American friend of mine put it, most Western churchgoers treat the gospels as the optional chips and dip at the start of the evening. They are the cocktail nibbles. Only after that do we sit down at table for the red meat of Pauline theology”

Indeed our inordinate attention to Paul’s letters (which were written to explain some angles of the gospel, but not to state the gospel message itself) has blinded us to a lot. Mathew, Mark, Luke and John is where the real meat is. Let’s not drown the monumental impact of Jesus’s life, message and his kingdom with our haste to preach a Jesus that is acceptable to everyone (and that can be used to support every “personal” individualistic worldview agenda).

The man had bigger fish to fry, and his parables were his fishing line to catch the fish “who had ears to hear”, who will follow him into the deepest of waters without fear in launching his kingdom, which had come, and yet was not yet fully revealed.

The Jesus of the Gospels 1: His Miraculous Works

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As some of you may be aware, I’ve been spending much time reading and researching into New Testament history, with particular regard to how Jesus Christ and the church fit into the real history of events during the life of Jesus and immediately thereafter. So I’m starting off a series of blog posts on what scholars are teaching us about him and his times. I pray that I be able to find the time to keep it up, so we may all share our thoughts on the subject. For the curious reader, much of what I write here will be my understanding of reading mostly FF Bruce, NT Wright and Scott McKnight – being globally recognized scholars in New Testament.

Disclaimer: I’m compressing books of 600 page lengths to small blog posts, so don’t take my brevity personal.

 

Jesus “Mighty Deeds”

A lot of us must have wondered about the miraculous deeds of Jesus Christ, and asked what the point was. Was miracles the sign that he was divine? Did he do them to grab people’s attention, or was he just an interesting magician? What lessons are to be drawn from his “mighty deeds” for our contemporary pursuit of “miracles” from all sources? To be able to understand what Jesus Christ was really doing with his “mighty works” of miracles and wonders, it is essential that we read the Bible through the lens of the people who lived at the time, and what their worldview is. If not, we simply pick up and abuse Scripture for any purpose we have, and point to texts to “support” our agenda. We can’t cover all the ground in this attempt, but let’s unveil what we can here.

 

A VERY SHORT Historical Picture of Jesus’s Judea

The first century during which time Jesus was born was a time of great turbulence for the Jews. Previously whiles exiled in Babylon 500 ago, their prophets had prophesied of their return to their promised land, and of God coming back to them to restore them, and to vindicate them against all their enemies who had trodden on them before. From Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel to Daniel etc., the prophecies of God’s return were rife. And yet, half a millennium later, here they were under the rule of the Romans, with the promise of God’s return not yet arrived.

Interestingly most Jews did their own calculations based on different interpretations of the prophecies especially from those of Daniel (Dan. 9 & 10) and came to the conclusion that the time of God’s salvation and return to the temple (like he did in Solomon’s time) must be close. Some were therefore prepared to wait for God himself to do what he had promised them (like the Essene communities of the time), whiles others were prepared to fight the Romans boot for boot, knowing that because the “calculated time” was close, God will bring them victory (Zealots like Simon the Zealot, Barabbas etc.). The Romans were also very ready to crush any form of resistance that will jeopardize their food (and other essentials) supply channels from Egypt, through Judea to the Roman colonies and capital (as is the case with “jeopardizing” the oil supply from the Middle East to the US today). So contrary to most people’s idea of a nice Jerusalem with Pharisees teaching people how to obey the laws of Moses so they can be “righteous”, second temple Jews were nowhere near holding hands and singing “Kumbaya”, waiting for Jesus to come and be their personal savior.

The Agenda of Jesus’ Entire Ministry

Against this backdrop we see the man named Jesus going about doing a lot of miracles. It is important to note that he wasn’t stationary, but did go about from town to town during his ministry, in an effort to make his work known every.

He is accused of driving out demons by the power of Beelzebub. Denying it, he makes a very significant statement (my emphasis).

“But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you”. Mt 12:28

Jesus clearly declares that his miraculous deeds are meant to announce to them that the kingdom of God has indeed arrived amongst them. Now I want to suggest to you that the reason why Jesus Christ did all his wondrous works was as a display and inauguration of the kingdom of God which the Jews had been waiting for the last 500 years. Note he didn’t say “the kingdom of God WILL come upon you”. Contrary to modern Christian thinking, the idea that Jesus is all about going to a future “heaven” in the sky is not only non-scriptural, but has no Jewish antecedent and is rather from Platonism.  But I digress, so let us delve deeper.

The gospel of Luke gives us quite a chronological account of Jesus’s life and ministry. There is a certain key in that chronology that foreshadows all that Jesus did and which was recorded in the Gospels but our reading of the Gospels have not helped us to realize it. Before Jesus Christ launched his 3 year ministry, he underwent a period of temptation and fortification in the wilderness (40 days and 40 nights, as we were all taught in Sunday school). Luke says he returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and began preaching in synagogues. One of the first records of such teaching is Lk 4:16-21.

“He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the piece where it is written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor’. Then he rolled up the scroll … and he began by saying, ‘Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing’.”

Here, Jesus picks a messianic prophecy by Isaiah, and says to the Nazareth folks right in their face that he is the fulfillment of that scripture – such guts. And the passage he referred to (Isaiah 61:1-2) states exactly what the Messiah was supposed to be about, and therefore what Jesus ministry on earth was supposed to be about. And so everything Jesus did, including his miraculous deeds, were meant to point out to the Jews who he was – the Messiah. And he had to do it by fulfilling what was already written about him – to bring freedom to prisoners, recovery of sight to the blind, release the oppressed etc.

Miracles: A Tool in the Kingdom Declaration Toolkit

Again, let’s see what Isaiah says elsewhere about the Messiah’s coming and his kind of miraculous deeds in Is 35:5-6

“Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy”

So it is that he goes about doing wonders with the idea that any Jew who saw Jesus works (and in addition, listened to his parables and other statements he made) would have known that this guy was trying to show us that he was the Messiah, not just a miracle worker. And so you will notice throughout the gospels that Jesus didn’t just do miracles, but he did miracles of a particular nature. NT Wright explains it this way

 

“Thus from the perspective of a follower of Jesus at the time, his mighty works will have been interpreted within the context of his overall proclamation: they would be seen as signs that the kingdom of Israel’s god was indeed coming to birth. From the perspective of anyone with vested interest in the kingdom coming in different ways, or indeed in not coming at all, the same events will have appeared as dangerous and subversive, i.e. as ‘magic’.

 

The evidence from Qumran suggests that, in some Jewish circles at least, a maimed Jew could not be a full member of the community. In addition to the physical burden of being blind, or lame, or deaf, or dumb, such a Jew was blemished, and unable to be a full Israelite … This shows that Jesus’ healing miracles must be seen clearly as bestowing the gift of “shalom”, wholeness, to those who lacked it, bringing not only physical health, but renewed membership in the people of YHWH.

 

Many of the people Jesus healed came into one of these banned categories. There were blind people (Mt. 9:27-31; Mt. 12:22; Mk. 8:22), deaf and dumb (Mt 9:32-3; Lk. 11:14; Mk. 7:32), lepers (who were not only ritually excluded, but also, of course, socially ostracized i.e. Mt. 8:1-4 or Mk. 1:40-45), a woman with an issue of blood, which rendered not only her, but anything she sat on or anyone or anything she touched, unclean (Mt. 9:20-22 or Mk. 5:24-34), a crippled woman ‘whom Satan bound for eighteen years’ (Lk. 13:10) … So too his miracles performed for Gentiles (Mt 8:5-13; Mt 15:21-28) and for a Samaritan (Lk. 17:11-19), bear witness to the inclusion within the people of YHWH of those who had formerly been outside.

 

The effect of these cures, therefore, was not merely to bring physical healing … but to reconstitute those healed as members of the people of Israel’s God. In other words, these healings at the deepest level of understanding would be seen as part of his total ministry, part of that open welcome which went with the inauguration of the kingdom and part of his subversive work which was likely to get him into trouble.

 

… Other signs of covenant renewal include the multiplication of the bread in the wilderness, and the stilling of the storms, both carrying overtones of the exodus”. (NT Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God)

 

And so, just imagine you lived in Judea at the time of Jesus. There were about 6 or so religious festivals each year, and every Jew was supposed to partake of them (whether living in Judea or in another country). For the particular festival of Passover, the population of Jerusalem could swell from about 50,000 to about 500,000 people (just think of Saudi Arabia’s Mecca and you’ll get the picture). And some of these festivals are not 1 day holidays, but whose celebration could span days, including the preparation up to those festivals. Some of them required the provision of animals for sacrifice for each person/family’s sins or as thanksgiving. This required money that poor people (and those poor by inability to work because of sickness) didn’t have. Any study of NT history shows no doubt that today’s poverty levels have nothing on the poverty levels amongst first century Jews of Jesus day. Then there was the regular weekly attendances that most people make to the temple, as well as going there to give one’s tithe when it was due. Gentiles (and Samaritans) who lived in Judea and wanted to serve the god of Israel as well could only enter the court of the Gentiles, and no further. The temple and religious activities were central to everything about being a Jew. A person’s inability to be an active partaker in the religious lives of Jews at the time due to any uncleanliness/deformity/nationality meant that one did not really feel a member of the community.

To a Jew who knows very well the story of how God fed them with manna during the exodus from Egypt to Canaan, 1) feeding 5000 people and another 4000 people and 2) doing so in the wilderness, looked very much like God repeating a miracle he’d done before. Calming the storm, again showed a person who had power to control the waters, just like God did during the exodus by splitting the Red Sea in two.

All these miracles were meant to speak to a people who already knew what prophets like Isaiah had already spoken of the coming Messiah and his kingdom in places like chapter 35, 61 and a myriad other such places.

Given this picture …

I began then to ask questions of our modern day attitude to miracles, and my personal evaluation leads me to think that we haven’t understood their purpose, and are simply abusing the examples of Jesus as a means to pursue a different (sometimes parochial, sometimes ignorant) agenda. I can therefore understand why Peter and John will bring healing to the lame man at the temple gates, who will never be able to enter it to feel like he was part of God’s people. The kingdom of God had arrived, and Peter and John’s work enabled him to partake of it. These and many more miraculous events (at least of the Gospels and Acts) seem clearer to me now.

But in the same way, our pursuit for miracles and our means of dishing them out today begins to look questionable. When we organize events and call people to come and receive “miracle”, what kind of “miracles” are we talking about? Miracles for the unmarried to be married? Miracles for people to get visas to go abroad? Miracles for “success”? How does not having any of these prevent us from being part of the kingdom of God, of being counted and taking an active position amongst the people of God? And even when we are healing sicknesses, how does that again display the kingdom of God’s defeat of sin and evil, when it only serves to display the “power” of the supposed “man of God”?

How does a person with the supposed “gift of healing” tell us that unless we come to their church, we may not receive a healing, when the Divine Healer didn’t confine his work to a church? That unless we “sow a seed”, we cannot receive a “miracle” from God, when even the premise of “miracle” itself is actually flawed?

Do you also think this understanding of the miraculous works of Jesus throws more light or raises more questions for us today, 2000 years later?

 

SURVEYING THE WONDEROUS CROSS

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‘When I survey the wondrous cross / On which the Prince of glory died, / My richest gain I count but loss, / And pour contempt on all my pride”, wrote the hymnist, Isaac Watts. The basic symbol of most Christian churches has for centuries been the cross. Yet how often do we stop to think about what made the cross so significant to Christendom. We cannot afford to belittle the significance of Christ’s death on the cross.

In his book The Case for Christ, Lee Strobel[i] recounts an interview he had with the prominent physician, Dr. Alexander Metherell. In this interview Dr. Metherell gives chilling scientific details of the kind of agony and distress Jesus went through before finally dying. In responding to Mr. Strobel’s question on the accuracy of the gospel writers when they tell of Jesus sweating blood in the garden of Gethsemane as he prayed all night, the physician said it is an established medical condition called hematidrosis. “What happens is that severe anxiety causes the release of chemicals that break down the capillaries in the sweat glands. As a result, there’s a small amount of bleeding into these glands, and the sweat comes out tinged with blood”, he said. Luke 22:44 describes it this way: “In great anguish he prayed even more fervently; his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.”

According Dr. Metherell, who has extensively studied the historical, archaeological, and medical data concerning the death of Jesus, the Roman floggings were terribly brutal.[ii] The floggings usually consisted of thirty-nine lashes but it sometimes could be more depending on the mood of the soldier doing the lashing. Typically a whip of braided leather thongs with metal balls woven into them would be used. When the whip struck the flesh, the balls would cause deep bruises which could break open with further blows. As if this was not enough, the whip had pieces of sharp bone which would cut the flesh severely. The back of the victim would be so shredded that part of the spine was sometimes exposed by the deep cuts. The whipping could go all the way from the shoulders down to the back, the buttocks, and the back of the legs. The victims veins are laid bare and the muscles, sinews, and bowels would be opened to exposure. This would send the victim into a hypovolemic shock. Hypo means low, vol means volume and emic means blood. Thus a person suffering hypovolemic shock is in effect losing large amounts of blood. This leads to four things according to Dr. Metherell:

“First, the heart races to try to pump blood that isn’t there; second, the blood pressure drops, causing fainting or collapse; third, the kidneys stop producing urine to maintain what volume is left; fourth, the person becomes very thirsty as the body craves fluids to replace the lost blood volume.”

Evidence of the above can easily be seen in the scriptures. The hypovolemic shock would account for Jesus’ collapse on the way to the execution site on Calvary. Simon of Cyrene was ordered to continue the journey with the cross. Later, on the cross Jesus cried out “I thirst” and a sip of vinegar was offered to him.

Commenting on the crucifixion itself, Dr. Metherell noted that the Romans used spikes (nails) that were five to seven inches long and tapered to a sharp point and these were driven through victim’s wrists rather than the palms, like most modern day portraits of the crucified Christ show. The wrists (which were considered part of the hand in the language of the day) provide a solid position that would lock the hand on the cross. If the nails were driven through the palms, the weight of the body would have caused the skin to tear and he would have fallen off the cross. When the nail was driven through his wrist, by pounding, it would have crushed his Meridian nerve – the largest nerve that goes out to the human hand. Dr. Metherell described the resulting pain and the cause of death in these words:

“Do you know the kind of pain you feel when you bang your elbow and hit your funny bone? That’s actually another nerve, called the Ulna nerve. It’s extremely painful when you accidentally hit it. Well, picture taking a pair of pliers and squeezing and crushing that nerve. That effect would be similar to what Jesus experienced. … Once a person is hanging in the vertical position crucifixion is essentially an agonizingly slow death by asphyxiation [Cessation of breathing caused by lack of oxygen]. The reason is that the stresses on the muscles and diaphragm put the chest into the inhaled position; basically, in order to exhale, the individual must push up on his feet so the tension on the muscles would be eased for a moment. In doing so, the nail would tear through the foot, eventually locking up against the tarsal bones. After managing to exhale, the person would then be able to relax down and take another breath in. Again he’d have to push himself up to exhale, scraping his bloodied back against the coarse wood of the cross. This would go on and on until complete exhaustion would take over, and the person wouldn’t be able to push up and breathe anymore. As the person slows down his breathing, he goes into what is called respiratory acidosis – the carbon dioxide in the blood is dissolved as carbonic acid, causing the acidity of the blood to increase. This eventually leads to an irregular heartbeat. In fact, with his heart beating erratically, Jesus would have known that he was at the moment of death, which is when he was able to say, ‘Lord, into your hands I commit my spirit.’ And then he died of cardiac arrest.”[iii]

Without a doubt crucifixion was terrible! The degree of pain resulting from crucifixion was such that no single word in the language of that day was adequate in describing it. This triggered the invention of a new word. The word “excruciating”, which we use to describe unbearable pain actually comes from two Latin words: ex cruciatus, meaning “out of the cross.”[iv] So you see, this thing we call sin, which we sadly belittle, is so serious to God that he would take his son through such torment in order to reconcile us to Himself. Sin separates us from God and he does not like this. Over two thousand years ago, Jesus took the ultimate shame, suffering and pain to bring us back to the dignity of a relationship with God. We ought to always remember that this was done for us and surrender totally to Christ.

We should never deceive ourselves with the idea that God, in his great love and mercy, will save even those who reject his grace, which comes through the crucified Christ.  Think of the shame and agony he endured. This was the path Jesus (God in human flesh) chose in order to reach out to you and to me. Apostle Paul warns us saying, “For there is no longer any sacrifice which will take away sins if we purposely go on sinning after the truth has been made known to us. Instead, all that is left is to wait in fear for the coming Judgment and the fierce fire which will destroy those who oppose God!”[v]

We have this tendency to play down on certain sins and free ourselves of the guilt. Hear now, Dr. Zacharias, as he counsels us against belittling some sins:

“But lest we think of wrong merely in quantitative terms, let me underscore a caution. During the Nuremberg trials of the Nazi judges who took part in the Holocaust, the only judge willing to accept some responsibility for his role in the death camps tried to mitigate his guilt by saying, “I never intended it to go so far.” To that exculpatory qualifier, one of the members of the tribunal pointedly responded, “The first time you knowingly condemned an innocent person you went too far.” It was not the volume of sin that sent Christ to the cross; it was the fact of sin.”[vi]

Let us not treat as a cheap thing the death of Christ on the Cross. The suffering Jesus went through tells how man has brutally rejected his Creator by sinning. Imagine how God feels! Still our song sounds like this: ‘Glory to Man in the highest. We are getting better and better.’ This is the ultimate rebellion. We cannot sink any lower into sin than this. Like a preacher once said, “Hell is not a place for people who would otherwise have repented of their sins had they been given the grace. Hell is for those who continue to rebel against God even when they have been given the grace.” To really appreciate the evil of sin, one just has to look to Calvary’s cross where God unleashed his wrath on His Son for the sins of the world.

Like Dr. Zacharias has noted in his book, Can Man Live Without God, the cross of Christ expresses rare virtues – self-control, mercy and forgiveness. Jesus showed these virtues even though he had all the power in the universe to ruthlessly fight back with supreme force and power. Who could have stood in his way if he had decided to show his military might? Yet the gentle lamb chose instead a humble path. Jesus wins his battle by loving and changing the heart of men. He is gentle yet powerful.

The virtues expressed by Christ are in sharp opposition to all that we humans value and exalt. We want power rather than humility. We exalt shortcuts over waiting, cover-up over confession, feelings over commitment, anger over forgiveness. Jesus teaches us something profound at the cross – he exalts sacrifice over comfort. This is where the line is drawn between today’s popular kind of Christianity and the Christianity found in the Bible. We exalt comfort over sacrifice. Jesus continually contradicts us in the way we view life. He forces us to totally redefine what we mean by fulfilment in life. In Jesus’ way, fulfilment in life is not in living for yourself but in dying to yourself, it is not in receiving but in giving, it is not in being forgiven but in forgiving others. He reverses all of our values. Are you ready to have your values reversed by Christ this Easter season? Says Isaac Watts:

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

 

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

 

His dying crimson, like a robe,
Spreads o’er His body on the tree;
Then I am dead to all the globe,
And all the globe is dead to me.

 

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.[vii]

[i] Lee Strobel was an Atheist who became a Christian after a long research into the claims in the gospel. With a Master of Studies degree holder from Yale law School, Lee later became an award winning journalist at the Chicago Tribune. Today he is a pastor at Willow Creek Community Church near Chicago, USA. The Case for Christ, (Zondervan Publishing House, 1998)

[ii] Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ, (Zondervan Publishing House, 1998) p. 261.

[iii] Ibid, p. 264-266.

[iv] Ravi Zacharias, The Scandal of the Cross, (Slice of Infinity, RZIM)

[v] Hebrews 10:26

[vi] Ravi Zacharias, Can Man Live Without God, (W Publishing Group, 1994) p. 172-173.

[vii] Isaac Watts, Methodist Hymn Book, number 182.

Preaching Christ Is Still Needed, Urgently!

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“God is pursuing with omnipotent passion a worldwide purpose of gathering joyful worshippers for Himself from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. He has an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the supremacy of His name among the nations. Therefore, let us bring our affections into line with His, and, for the sake of His name, let us renounce the quest for worldly comforts and join His global purpose.” – John Piper[i]

“We know what it means to fear the Lord and so we try to persuade others”, declares the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:11. If you consider yourself a member of the body of Christ yet you know you cannot confidently say, even to yourself, that, “I know what it means to fear the Lord so I try to persuade others”, then, please take the time to seriously review your life to see where you have gone wrong. The fear of God is something that will not allow you to sit comfortably as you watch people perish in their sins. Indeed there has never been a better time for us to be witnesses for Christ than it is today. We live in a day where,

  • Occult practices are spreading fast in our society,
  • Men boast about how many bottles of alcohol they can drink before getting drunk and how many girls or women they have slept with,
  • Immorality is celebrated everywhere – on television, on streets, in magazines, etc.
  • Indecency is now something to be proud of instead of something to be ashamed of. The sense of shame is being lost. Both young and adult women see clothes not as things to use for covering their nakedness, but instead as things to be used to attractively expose those parts of their bodies that they are so proud of, thereby playing on the sexual sensitivities of men.

A lot of us Christians feel uncomfortable living in these times, and rightly so because many of the things going on today do not glorify God but like the Apostle Paul notes “… where sin increased, God’s grace increased much more.” Romans 5:20. These are the times to which God has called us as Christians. Christians who have ever lived in history were always called to one central task: Preaching the Good News about Jesus Christ.

In recent years, there has been a lot of talk about the deadly disease, HIV/AIDS. Some well-meaning people in an attempt to prevent the youth from being immoral tend to talk of this disease as if it is the ultimate tragedy in life. The youth, however, have been quick to realize that they can have sexual pleasure and still escape HIV/AIDS through the use of condoms. And so we see more youth having sex today than ever. The point to note here is that, the ultimate tragedy in life is not in sickness or in dying young. The ultimate tragedy is in living a long healthy life without using it for God’s glory. This realization should drive every believer in Jesus Christ into action. We must at all times be ready and willing to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with people around us; we must be looking for opportunities to talk to people about the Saviour.

In 1 Peter 3:15-16, the Apostle Peter exhorts us saying, “But have reverence for Christ in your hearts, and honour Him as Lord. Be ready at all times to answer anyone who asks you to explain the hope you have in you, but do it with gentleness and respect.” Please note two things about this verse. Firstly, Peter assumes that our lives would be lived in such a way that people will ask us about the hope that lies within us.  If we are going to be effective witnesses for Christ, then our lives must be in line with the word of God. It was D. De Haanwho said, “The best translation of God’s Word we will ever read is found in the servants of the Lord who live that Word in deed.” This is so true! Some people may never open a Bible to read. Some do not even know how to read at all! For such people our lives and our words as believers may be the only Bible they will ever read.

Secondly, Peter reminds us of the hope that Christians have. As believers in Christ we have a hope – the hope of going to Heaven after death and being with Christ forever. Apostle Paul also says that “If our hope in Christ is good for this life only and no more, then we deserve more pity than anyone else in all the world.”[ii] Just as Heaven is real, hell is also real. Hell is a place prepared for the Devil and his angels and also all who rebel against God.[iii]

The revivalist, Leonard Ravenhill in his book Why Revival Tarries, tells the story of a man by the name Charlie Peace who was sentenced to death in England for a capital offence. Minutes before his execution, a reverend minister was reading the Bible to him. Charlie Peace asked him a very simple yet relevant question, “Do you believe in Hell?” The Minister replied, “Yes”. To this, Charlie Peace responded with a profound statement which ought to engage every believers’ attention: “If I believed what you and the Church of God say that you believe, even if England were covered with broken glass from coast to coast, I would walk over it, if need be, on hands and knees and think it worthwhile living just to save one soul from an eternal hell like that.”[iv] Does this not make you want to stop and think? If what we believe about Heaven and Hell is true, then ought we not to be more active in sharing Jesus Christ with people? 

Helpful Tips for Effective Witnessing about Jesus Christ

  • Know the scriptures and stay true to the right interpretation of it. Do not twist scripture under any circumstance for your convenience. Try and get the right scripture that suits the situation. This therefore requires careful study of the bible.
  • Always make Christ the focal point of your witness. He is the reason why we witness.
  • Be Prayerful. Cultivate the habit of having a heart to heart talk with your father in heaven as many times in a day as possible. Talk to him in your own words. This way you know what you are saying. Speak honestly and with respect, reverence and thanksgiving in your heart.  Communicating with God helps to know the direction he wants us to take. Talk to him when things are going well and continue doing the same when things are not going well. Keep as close to Him as possible and He will make you an effective witness to the world.
  • Your speech must be interesting. I do not mean go around telling jokes even when you need to be serious. You can crack a clean joke if it will help your cause. In Colossians 4:5-6 Paul advises, “Be wise in the way you act toward those who are not believers, making good use of every opportunity you have. Your speech should always be pleasant and interesting, and you should know how to give the right answer to everyone.” Also, you must be sensitive to the questions of the person you are witnessing to. The Gospel is offensive to most people so do not worsen the situation by being arrogant and uninteresting. If the person has questions, listen to him attentively and answer appropriately. Let him know you are interested in him as a person and not just interested in preaching your message.
  • Be adaptive yet uncompromising. There is no one-size-fits-all kind of evangelism. People are different and they receive the gospel in different ways. Be sensitive to the individual, his beliefs, culture etc but do not compromise any part of the gospel message either in your words or deeds.
  • Avoid the habit of using undefined Christian jargon, clichés or biblical terms which a non-Christian  may not understand. Make your witnessing simple and easy to understand by defining these terms. Try using everyday language to explain biblical terms and expressions; this will help make the gospel relevant to those you talk to. But of course you can only do this if you understand the terms and expressions yourself. So make sure you understand them.
  • Stay true to yourself. Do not fake a smile or any other emotion. When you are genuine, it shows even in your eyes and your whole countenance. People sense it when you are pretending and they will not like to be around you.
  • John Stott gives a helpful advice when he tells us to try to achieve a balance in the use of words like, “We”, “I” and “You”. “We” and “I” are usually appropriate in speaking as a fellow man. “You” is often most appropriate in speaking as God’s spokesperson. Christian theologian, John Stott, advises us to “Speak both as a fellow-learner/sinner and as a prophet. Somehow, you should communicate that you have much to learn and a long way to go in your own walk with God. This helps people to identify with you and is a way of communicating God’s grace. But having done this, you also need to boldly proclaim God’s Word and call on people (as God’s mouthpiece) to respond to it.”[v]
  • Do not hesitate to talk about your own journey to Christ. Testimonies are powerful witnessing tools. Be careful not to exaggerate it or fake it. God knows how to use even your ‘small’ testimonies to affect people’s lives. Do not make promises God has not asked you to make.
  • Show compassion but do not patronize. Allow the individual to talk and try to understand his struggles. Make him aware that God knows his struggles and wants to help. Jesus said in Matthew11:28, “Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest.”
  • Emphasize repentance. There is no salvation without repentance.
  • Be Confident (not arrogant) and determined and know that God is at work in you as a believer. Do not be ashamed to show your passion for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
  • Be abreast with trends in the culture of the community. Read newspapers, observe the lyrics of the latest popular music, fashion, language etc to find ways of making the gospel relevant yet not compromising it.
  • Do not force conversion. Yours may be sowing a seed for someone else to harvest. Most Christians want to see instant conversion all the time and when it is not happening they want to force it. No! Conversion is the work of the Holy Spirit – he is the one who works on a person’s heart and mind.
  • Talk about the cost of rejecting Christ – Hell forever; and the benefits of accepting Christ – Heaven forever.  Note: Do not hide the cost of following Christ, speak clearly about it. It is a great disservice to cover up the cost of following Christ. Jesus himself encouraged people to count the cost before following him.

It is worth noting that the Christian life is not a life without struggle. When Jesus calls you he bids you to come and die to yourself and that is not easy at all. We are trying to surrender our will to God and it is not comfortable letting go of our selfishness and autonomy. Christianity is not a fairy tale where one ‘lives happily ever after.’ Of course there is happiness but it is not the kind that the world gives. We struggle, physically and spiritually, but we are not alone; we have the Holy Spirit who strengthens us and gives us peace and joy even in difficult times.

[i] Visit Southern Nazarene University website at http://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/slogans.htm

[ii] 1 Corinthians 15:19

[iii] Matthew 25:41

[iv] Leonard Ravenhill, Why Revival Tarries, (Minneapolis, Minn.: Bethany Fellowship 1959) p. 19, quoted in Just Thinking – the triannual communiqué of RZIM, Winter 2003 edition. P. 4-5

[v] Ibid

Reaching Into Modern Ghanaian Culture With The Gospel

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Christian culture and rhetoric has been so successfully mixed in with a large part of the Ghanaian social fabric that what is now left is no longer Christianity but a vague spirituality; a spirituality that often abhors the active involvement of the intellect in the worship God. Interestingly, the greatest commandment according to Jesus Christ is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your MIND.”[Matthew 22:37-38]. We now have Christians who do not appreciate the importance of intellectually scrutinizing any religious teaching. They just keep imbibing everything from those described as ‘Anointed’ or ‘Man of God’.

While some of such Christians may be living happily, others may well be living lives of quiet desperation; they want answers that meet not just their hearts’ expectations but also their intellectual hungers. Sadly though, they are afraid to ask the questions because fellow Christians might see them as un-spiritual and lacking faith in God. Author Os Guinness observes that “The shame is not that people have doubts, but that they are ashamed of them.”

The State of Our Gospel Preaching

We have become used to the form where the proclamation of the gospel is only from the pulpit – where there is hardly any resistance or challenge. It is unfortunate that the culture of reasoning and debating (even in public fora) of those of contrary views and beliefs that characterized the early church and subsequent centuries does not appear to be part of Ghanaian Christian culture. In defending his ministry to the Christians in Corinth, the Apostle Paul writes:

“It is true that we live in the world, but we do not fight from worldly motives. The weapons we use in our fight are not the world’s weapons but God’s powerful weapons, which we use to destroy strongholds. We destroy false arguments; we pull down every proud obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God; we take every thought captive and make it obey Christ.” 1 Corinthians 10:3-5.

An example of public debating is captured in Acts 18:27-28:

“Apollos then decided to go to Achaia, so the believers in Ephesus helped him by writing to the believers in Achaia, urging them to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who through God’s grace had become believers. For with his strong arguments he defeated the Jews in public debates by proving from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah.”

 

Also, in the 4th century after Christ, when the critical debate about the nature of the person of Jesus and the nature of God (i.e. Trinitarian idea) threatened to divide the church, it took believers who could think ‘Christianly’ to defend the faith from the Arian falsehood – the teaching that there was a time before the Son of God, where only God the Father existed.

In times of controversy over the gospel (like it is in ours – as to whether the gospel is about financial prosperity and perfect health and faith confessions), it always calls for believers who can think clearly and make the finer distinctions to engage in the defence of the gospel. But I get the feeling that most Ghanaian Christians do not feel nor see the need for such defence. Such enterprise is seen as unspiritual (and to their minds Christianity is all about the ‘spirit world’). But what really do you think would have become of Christianity if the fathers of the 4th century had not opposed clearly the teachings of Arius. I contend that controversy, where Jesus or ultimate truth, is concerned is always spiritual and a Christian who engages in it, with wit, reliance on the Holy Spirit, gentleness and respect, is not at all unspiritual. On the contrary, such a person is that soldier who is fighting on the front lines, as it were.

In Ghana, we have often just preached Christ as that better option to our traditional African beliefs (as if all the non-believers in the country were of a traditional African religious persuasion). But today, there are many more belief systems that need to be engaged, some of them are more intellectual in orientation while others are more experiential in orientation. Fortunately the Christian faith has the tools to reach all of them. We have no excuse. But we need to be thoroughly educated in our own faith in order to contend for it.

This is a time when we must reach into the Ghanaian culture and (like Apostle Paul and his fellow apostles) “destroy false arguments; pull down every proud obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God; take every thought captive and make it obey Christ.” But we must do this not by assuming a superior posture but instead with a mindset that sees this enterprise as “a beggar telling another beggar where to find food.”

 

Jai ho – reflections from the “Slumdog” Millionaire

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The question of life’s origin, its purpose and its end vis-à-vis the occurrences of evil, pain and inexplicable happenings continue to plague mankind. They are the questions to which we never seem to find satisfactory answers. All the philosophical and Christian answers seem satisfactory until one is suddenly shaken by the reality of the death of their two-year old son or the rape of their sixteen year old daughter. One is compelled to want justice and justifiably so. Questions begin to plague the mind.

On a Friday night recently, I visited one of my friends and these thoughts came to me again as we spent some delightful two hours watching the Slumdog Millionaire. While I had heard about how interesting this three-year old movie was, I had for some reason not watched it until he recommended it. With eager interest we watched it in one sitting, a feat I’d deemed myself almost incapable of!

 

The story revolves around Jamal and his brother Salim who lose their mother while relatively young. Their life becomes the typical orphan story. They struggle through life doing “odd” jobs, all the while trying to keep body and soul together. Salim represents the more aggressive and ruthless character whereas Jamal was the docile, collected one.

What struck me was not their penury or even their distinct characters or their plight but the “Who wants to be a millionaire” show on which Jamal was a contestant. Jamal, an archetype of a slum-dweller (“slumdog”) was being asked questions that the educated or sophisticated were supposed to know. And yet, this slum-material was sailing right through much to the shock and chagrin of the show’s host.

Unable to believe that someone like Jamal could be answering these questions, the host had Jamal arrested and brutally tortured in the hope of finding out how it is that someone could answer such questions with correctness. Jamal’s ability to answer those questions was rooted in the experiences he had gone through in life.

Scene after scene, we were led to retrospectively see aspects of Jamal’s life that left impressions that were the answers to the questions he was now being presented with. Whether it was the autograph he signed while he was literally covered in human excreta or the $100 bill he gave to a beggar friend, the answers to those questions were a very part of his experiences in life. The story goes on to end with Jamal winning the grand prize having answered all the questions with one or two guesses. The pauper is now a millionaire!

It was this show (in the movie) that got me thinking. Could Jamal honestly say that as he went through those horrifying experiences in life, someway, somehow he believed them to be good or to have some good end? How did he bear the loss of his mother, the (temporary) loss of the girl he loved, the brutal gorging out of the eyes of some his friends due to the avarice of one man and the increasing hardening of his brother? Evidently, these are tragic events that shake the life of a young.

Our life’s experiences seem so similar. Quite often tragedies happen in such rapid succession that we do not see the possibility of meaning or value emerging from such pain. As is humorously quipped, “he who feels it knows it.” The pain that many have had to bear cannot in many circumstances be described by words. Somehow, words lose their inability to express some depths of pain.

From the standpoint of being a winner and a millionaire, Jamal Malik, could possibly look at all those losses and begin to see some value to all that pain. In this case, it might be the financial gain. Life had somehow placated him for all the sorrow.

Methinks that the story of life, particularly for those who walk in a belief in the Christian God is no different. Jamal may have been hapless through his bitter experiences but we can have faith. If we have entrusted our lives to God, we can be certain that His promise to bring us into eternal life and the mansions His father has for us are as true now as they were when He made that promise. (John 14:1-4)

We are finite and do not see the end from the beginning but our walk of faith must lead us to trust that God is with us, even in the midst of paucity and the most debilitating circumstances. If your life is entrusted to God, you can be certain He is superintending the entire process and it will turn out for your good if you walk closely in His will.

My mind is firmly drawn to the book of Hebrews and more especially the 11th chapter where the “Hall of Faith” lists those who believed God and literally took Him at His word. Though none of them received what was promised (Heb 11:39), they held on to God.

While faith has been held out by many “mega” preachers, prophets, archbishops and bishops as the means to receive the fullness of life (material wealth) from God, I find an entirely different story in Hebrews. To many of them, unpleasant experiences like Jamal’s cannot characterize the life of one who follows God. It is as though they have never read the life of Jesus or of Paul or Wesley or Spurgeon. They doubt the Potter’s ability to take even pain to establish His purposes.

Many of them, like a great majority of us are myopic in our perception. Quite often, we cannot see beyond our present the pain. As we writhe in it particularly that which results from obedience to God and integrity, we wonder where God is. He has promised never to leave us nor forsake us.

In Hebrews 11:32-40, the author records the horrific experiences that many saints of old had to endure because of their faith in God. It was not a pleasant ride and yet they kept their hope and trust in God. Somehow their eyes remained fixed as they “looked forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” (Hebrews 11:10)

Jamal’s (financial) reward at the end of a life of pain and difficulty should give us an indication of the faithful God who is able to keep His promises of reward at the end. Somehow all these experiences if taken with the trust and witness of the Spirit as God’s will will elicit His thunderous “well done.” I am not asking you to resign yourself to a life of laziness, indiscipline and despair, but to resign your life to the Father’s will. I am not asking you to also get into doing things just for the reward or the mansions in glory.

Donnie McClurkin sings a useful reminder:

I’m not thinking about the sights,

I won’t be there to enjoy the view,

I think heaven will be alright;

As long as there’s You!

The writer of this brilliant movie sought to provide some meaning to all the pain that had characterized this young lad’s earlier life. Somehow in the crevices of his mind a financial reward seemed enough to placate Jamal. Somehow, that idea seems rife among many of us today. It is the idea that there is a financial reward that will be able to make up for all the pain that has plagued our earthly existence.

In seeking to answer that question of life ourselves, we wear ourselves thin to “make it” so we can somehow belong only to realize that all our successes have left us with deeper chasms in our hearts. Life becomes devoid of meaning and we seem to have laboured in vain. Blaise Pascal reminds us “there is a God shaped vacuum in our hearts that can only be filled by a living relationship with God through Jesus Christ.”

And so today, I want to commend this Jesus to you. Your life may have been wrecked by experiences too tragic to recount and yet even in those circumstances God is able to turn it around. He sees the end from the beginning and if you can entrust your life to Him, He will give you Himself and much more at the end.

Why not begin now to admit that your quest to find meaning and answers without Him has failed? Cast yourself at His feet to save you and give you strength to know and live His will. To all who profess Him and pursue Him, rewards without measure await you. Seek Him while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near and abandon yourself to Him. It matters not which slum you emerged from, He will give you the riches which are found in Christ if you obey Him. Selah!!

 

Sept 9, 2011
1410GMT

Winning isn’t everything

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Driving along in my jalopy one Friday, my thoughts were far apart; on one hand I was thinking about the air conditioner my jalopy badly needed and the dust that this arid road was blowing in with all these impatient 4-wheelers whisking past and on the other hand I was just thinking about how much rest I needed following what had been a rather stressful week. There were several other peripheral thoughts. I was tuned in to BBC on the radio, a new habit I was forming. It was Qaddafi making the news again. Was it news at all?
The panellists on “World have Your say” were discussing Mariah Carey’s performance for the Qaddafi’s and some money London School of Economics is to have received and the PhD his son is to have obtained from there. Having heard Qaddafi for nearly two weeks, I wanted to change stations. The University of California professor or some other panellist, opined that when profit is cardinal in our dealings with others, things are bound to go wrong. I was stunned for a moment that even from a possible secular source they were concluding that profit isn’t everything.

There were varied opinions from those who sent text messages in and those who wrote on the Facebook wall. Some thought it was no big deal for Mariah Carey and her bunch of musical friends to have received cash from Qaddafi. Others thought they shouldn’t have. Someone asked that if we’re to deal with only those of integrity/good morals there would probably be no one to deal it. That, for me, was a deep question but more importantly to me, that nagging thought remained: when profit is key, things will likely go wrong.

The idea of profit flung my mind rapidly to my own employers and the business environment in general. I asked myself, is profit king? Is making returns the cardinal thing? Any attempt to answer that question is probably tantamount to career suicide so I will leave that to your good selves to decide. Are we willing to tell the customer the absolute truth if it means losing them? Are we willing to pay employees a fair wage even if it means less profit over all? As a business man, is profit the main thing? As a company is profit the main thing? As an individual, is profit and progress the key thing? Might I propose that something can go and will go awry?

From the cradle, we’re conditioned to be competitive. Win at sports, win in class, win some awards, get into the school play, read more books, get more games, etc. Our net worth, for many of us, becomes tied to the number of abbreviations after our name, the schools we’ve been to, the cars we drive, the neighbourhood we live in, etc. We jump on to life’s treadmill running with as much energy as we have failing to realize we’re headed nowhere. Our lives become subject to figures, statistics and terms like EBIDTA, GDP and the associated financial jargons. But is winning really everything? Is being the number one company, the number one this and that really all that matters?

Recently, a court in South Africa ruled that miners could sue their companies for lung infections/disease. Can the management of AngloGold Ashanti which was named in the news item and other mining companies say they were oblivious to the risks? Can other company’s whose staff are exposed to varying risks honestly say they do not know the dangers to which they expose their staff? When companies downsize and smaller numbers do work meant for more, do they not know the adverse health risks? For many, profit is king.  Evidently, something other than the person is central and this has horrid implications.

As for companies, many if not most of them are less likely to change and it’s quite likely they will continue playing ostrich so far as the lives of their employees are concerned. Forget all those employee sessions where they promise heaven year after year. The question comes down to a personal one: is winning everything to you? Is being number one, on top, being seen, being heard, being read, being known the driving impetus of your life? It is quite likely that you are headed for a cataclysmic crash, one that may not be evident to all externally. When your world implodes it eventually shows.

I asked a female friend of mine the other day: if you were a manager in a “fairly good” company and had a decent place to live, a decent car to drive and could pay your bills with some money to spare, would you take up the Senior Managerial position or Directorship if it meant less time with the children, twice the among of current travel and less time with your hubby. Her response was tantamount to “why not?” What she was saying was that if she had worked hard and long enough, she deserved it as much as anyone else. I wondered whether she saw the entire picture or perspective, but to her winning was key. Are we any different?

We graduate from school with high hopes of “making it” or becoming a “success,” whatever those terms mean. We scramble for the few jobs available and well with God’s providence, we land one. Our lives become simplified (or so we think) and we join the polygamous throng – we make the job the second wife. We wear ourselves thin to rise up the ladder while complaining how meagre our salaries are all through. Is this all there is to life?

Sometimes human beings can be quite mysterious. Several years later we find a drug addict in our home or some nymphomaniac and we wonder to ourselves “what happened?” I bought you this and that and took you to the best of schools. Genevieve, you had LCDs, dSTv, BBC, CNN and every mod-con, how in the world could you mess up? Some years ago, our fathers could not be ancestors unless they had good homes and children known for their decorum. Apparently, modernization has changed a lot. Will you even qualify as an ancestor? Is this your story?

At life’s centre isn’t money but people. When a boss disregards the legitimate needs of his employees or even more cogently his wife and children, that’s a recipe for disaster. We keep whining about social vices, increasing crime, homosexuality, online fraud, teenage pregnancy, abortions, etc. but have we stopped to ask ourselves, how did we arrive here? There are as many answers as there are people but I want to point us to two.

Some time ago, sociologists used to tell us that the home was the primary agent ofsocialization. I dare say that now it is the peer (in most cases). We have the Internet with its allies Facebook and Twitter, SMS, satellite TV and Nigerian movies socializing our children. When you don’t know what your kids are doing on the Internet or what they’re viewing on their cell phones don’t wake up surprised that your 15 year old is sexually active. The family is one place we should look to finding answers. When all we’re concerned about is going up, we neglect these children who need direction. We neglect wives and husbands who need attention and dare I say, when the family begins to crumble, society will in consequence crumble. How could I forget music and the arts? What would have been considered socially abhorrent just a decade ago is so warmly embraced as entertainment. Andrew Fletcher is right: “let me write the songs of a nation and I do not care who writes its laws.”

Evidently, it is not enough to end there ̶at the family. I am a Christian and can only propose what I know: that a living relationship with Christ which pans out in a Biblically-modelled fatherhood and family is our only hope for survival. Stronger Bible-based families lead to stronger Churches and stronger impact on societies. I’m no scholar of world religions but I’m yet to find a religious tradition that abhors family and the responsibility a father has to wife/wives and children. I recall a discussion with a Muslim colleague who explained that Allah granted additional wives only if the man could take care of them. I’ll avoid the excursus into polygamy and Muslim marriage. The question is, is care ONLY about putting food on the table or it is about helping shape another generation of people who will be useful to society and impact it positively?

At this writing, Qaddafi is clinging unrelentingly to power when others have fallen. Young men and women are dying out of what has been called Sudden Adult Death Syndrome and employers almost gleefully bury them oblivious or rather pretentiously blind-eyed to how their need to be number one is killing our nations’ futures. When “me” rather than “we” (us) is important we tread this road. When profit and gaining is king, we cut corners, sell our consciences and throw away our integrity so we can make progress.

I’ve yet to see a person on their death bed who has asked for their certificate from Yale, Oxford or Princeton. Quite often, people are caught in the euphoria of their hope beyond the grave or in the morbid fear of what awaits them beyond those moments. You will find some seeking some peace through a preacher or Imam or spiritual man/woman and still others trying to make peace with those they have offended. Eventually it boils down to relationship – either to the divine in the hereafter or to those they are leaving behind.

I have no angst about people climbing up the professional ladder and those other things. However when they neglect their families and what is most important – family, friends, people – and turn around to criticize society, I believe I am- we are-rightfully irked. We cannot cause a thing and turn around to criticize society for creating these problems.

I believe we have some lessons to learn from all thathas gone on around us – Tunisia, Egypt and now Libya. Am I advocating some kind of revolution? Partially so. When employers begin to realize we value ourselves beyond the machinery we’ve almost been reduced to, they will change. When employees make a statement about their values and collectively and peacefully communicate it that may turn the tide around.

Each day that we rise, we will be confronted with the opportunity to be better fathers, better mothers, betters brothers/sisters, better guardians and it will not be because we have made more cash than the day before but because we have spent time of worth touching the lives of those we love. The best legacy you can leave your children is knowing their worth and might I add in Christ, a worth devoid of competition, struggling and rivalry; a worth independent of their doing but inherent in their being – their creation in the “Imago Deo” – the image of God.

As you enter a new day and week, are you going to jump on life’s performance treadmill running everywhere and yet arriving nowhere or you’re going to stop and consider the things that truly matter – GOD, family, friends and life itself? In the end, winning isn’t everything.

March 6, 2011

1744GMT

The Two Kingdoms

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I’m sure to most Christians, this title will evoke thoughts of the kingdom of God versus the kingdom of darkness. Well, you have every right to. However, my thoughts today are not focused on a comparison of those two, much us they do exist in the Christian conversation. Today, my focus is on the kingdom coming and the kingdom come, because in as much as we do mention the coming kingdom in our discourse, there seems very little mention of the kingdom come, and it’s effects on our lives, attitudes and actions.

The Gospels do make use of the phrase “Kingdom of God” and “Kingdom of Heaven” very often (in fact over 50 times), but have we ever stopped to ask what exactly it is, and what it meant to those in Jesus Christ’s day? Today you hardly hear a message from the pulpit about this kingdom, yet the Gospels are full of Jesus saying “the kingdom of heaven is at hand”. Secondly, Jesus does inform us that his kingdom is not only a far away reality, but one in which we now live in as a result of his coming onto the earth – “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you”.Luke 17:20-21 (KJV). I prefer “among you” rather, but then I digress.

One of the clear statements about the kingdom come (not the future “kingdom coming”) is recorded in Luke 4:16. After Jesus has been presented with a scroll of Isaiah the prophet in a Nazarene synagogue, he proceeds to read from what we now know as Isaiah 61.

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.” (Luke 4:18-19 NIV).

He then proceeds to say that this prophecy is fulfilled in him. Isaiah 61 has always been considered a Messianic prophecy, speaking of what the Messiah will do when he establishes his kingdom. Therefore once Jesus read that and says that “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing”, he was without doubt stating the claim that he was the Messiah, though he didn’t say it directly. And if that was so, then the kingdom of the Messiah prophesied by the prophets was not just a future realization, but a real thing now. No wonder the people were amazed – because the hope of their fathers is about to be fulfilled in their age.

And trust me, the people were truly waiting for a Messiah, for most of them were quite despondent. They had just returned some centuries back from exile, and weren’t being ruled again by the house of David any more, but by all kinds of other leaders – from the Hasmonean dynasty (from the Judas Maccabeus lineage) to the Herodian one (King Herod, Herod Agrippa etc), both of which were at least Jewish; to being directly ruled by Roman appointees like Pontius Pilate. Their High Priest was no longer from the family of Zadok in the tribe of Levi as was always the case historically, but now could be any person who could pay the highest bribe to the current political leader.

And their Roman rulers were exacting quite a heavy toll on them. Apart from having to pay their normal temple tax i.e. tithe (which in those days was more than the 10% we have come to accept today, but rather closer to 23%), they were now also supposed to pay tax to the Romans (hence tax collectors like Zaccheus and Levi). And the religious fundamentalists, referred to as the Zealots, who felt that it was unlawful for God’s people to be ruled by Gentiles, and for them to be paying taxes to them and the like, were continuously formenting trouble by violently attacking Roman installations and symbols of Roman rule, as well as anyone of the leaders of the Jews who they felt were predisposed to Roman manipulation. Barrabas who was exchanged for Jesus Christ is a typical example.

This and a whole lot more meant that a lot of people were looking forward to someone who could come and break the chains of bondage that Rome had put on them, and set them free. They were looking for a political solution, and really looked to the old days of the David and Solomon etc. as the golden days. In this light then, indeed they could not have understood Jesus in any other way.

And yet the most striking part about Jesus claiming of Isaiah 61 is his stopping short of the rest of the v 2, specifically “and the day of vengeance of our God”. To most people, without an exacting of “the vengeance of our God”, there was no way the current political situation of slavery to Rome will change. But Jesus didn’t go in that direction, for he came this time to achieve something, and that must be achieved in this dispensation. He never said the day of vengeance of God will not come, but rather that he had come not to exact judgement, but to extend mercy. This is exactly what the beginning of Isaiah 61 dealt with, but since they were more interested in a political solution involving the removal of Roman rule, the Jews rejected him and crucified him.

But I will not dwell on their rejection, neither will I dwell on the kingdom that is to come in which the vengeance will be exacted, but I will dwell on the Kingdom Come, the Kingdom Now. For it is entirely possible (as is evident throughout history to date in all nations) for a people to live in sovereignty, but still be plagued with the effects of sin. The question then is what is the nature of the Kingdom Now? Who is a part of the Kingdom Now and what effect should it have on it’s participants?

One of the cardinal requirements of the OT which unfortunately most Israelites were reluctant to apply for very obvious reasons was the Jubilee. Every 7 years, Israelites were to leave the land fallow for it to regenerate. After 7 cycles of such 7 years i.e. 49 years, the 50th year should be declared a year of liberty, a Jubilee (Lev 25). No farming was to be done, every Jew sold into slavery was to be freed and all land sold to another person as a result of poverty and need was to be returned. This was to afford the people a chance to start again, and in that vain was truly called a year of liberty. See Unger’s Bible Dictionary on Jubilee:

“It would seem that there must have been a perfect remission of all debts in the year of Jubilee from the fact that all persons who were in bondage for debt, as well as all landed property of debtors, were freely returned. Thus the Jubilee year become one of freedom and grace for all suffering, bringing not only redemption to the captive and deliverance from want to the poor, but also release to the congregation of the Lord form the sore labour of the earth, and representing the time of refreshing (Ac 3:19) which the Lord provides for his people. For in this year every kind of oppression was to cease and every member of the covenant people find his Redeemer in the Lord, who brings him back to his possession and family.” (Festivals, Jubilee, pp 352, Unger’s Bible Dictionary)

It is evident from the above that the prophet Isaiah had the restoration of the Jubilee in mind in the 61st chapter of his prophecies, and Jesus wouldn’t have disappointed in re-quoting him. Evidence of the fact that Jesus had the same thing in mind is expounded in the Lord’s prayer, which when properly interpreted, should read:

“Remit us our debts, as we ourselves have also remitted them to our debtors”(Matt 6:12)

and not the “spiritualized” version that we were taught in Sunday school referring to “sins” instead.

“Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us”

Note that all of these requirements of the Jubilee were not to be implemented by God, but by the people themselves. God wasn’t going to work a miracle to set the enslaved Israelite free or get back the poor man’s land for him. The requirement was enshrined in the law that they obey. Therefore the poor, the captive and the heartbroken would receive their release based on the willingness of their fellow brethren to adhere to this set down law.

It is noted by OT and NT historians alike that this was one of the most difficult practices for the people of Israel, especially for the well-to-do. In fact, many people just ignored it, and some tried to create loop holes in the law to escape canceling debts owed or releasing land back to their owners. We could go into how they achieved these except that time and space will not allow us to. But the point is moot that such observance was very minimal as the years went by. No wonder then that people (including the prophet Isaiah himself) expected that in that Messianic kingdom, this Messiah will enforce the observance of these laws, bringing freedom to the poor, captive and destitute.

I posit and believe you will agree with me the notion that the Kingdom Now is experienced in the body of Christ – his church. The question that lies before us then is that if we do claim to be living in the Kingdom Come, whiles we wait for the Kingdom Coming, how far have we gone in our practice of the Kingdom Come’s requirements?

For it is within the church that the poor are able to live out the good news – where they are counted worthy of participation in the riches of the kingdom which the king has placed at the disposal of the rich amongst them. It is within the church that the broken hearted receive strength endued from the Son to know that they are also loved and cherished no matter where they have been and what they’ve done before coming to him. And I’m not talking about the individual feeling that Jesus loves them alone, but also that they are in a community of people who love them as much as Christ does. It is within the church that captives and prisoners are integrated into a community of brethren who open their doors and their lives to them, instead of treating them like castaways. It is within the church that the healing power of Jesus Christ is experienced, when all hope is lost. It is within the church that the class barriers and elitism is broken, not built up and entrenched.

And then to my favourite part of Christ’s radical declaration: It is in the church that the year of the Lord’s favour can be truly experienced. I know what some of my friends think with any whiff of reference to “the Lord’s favour”, but it is very evident here that the year of the Lord’s favour is not about the individualistic name-it-claim-it that we are used to. In fact, it is quite socially radical than our own myopic personal circumstances lead us to dwell upon.

Maybe it’s time we begin to think of how Jesus intends we fulfil his kingdom that is amongst us. Maybe it’s time we put our money where our mouths are and create systems that liberate, not enslave men and women who belong to Christ. Just like the Jubilee, God is not going to do a miracle to have his kingdom established amongst us. We have to accept the guidance of his word and Spirit, as it leads us into self-sacrifice and servanthood for the advancement of each other in fulfilling the purpose that Christ himself has already said – “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing”. It requires a change in our attitudes, priorities, desires and wishes. So, any pundits for the Kingdom Come?

Two ears, One mouth

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Slowly and predictably, 2010 is drawing to a close. We remember wonderful times, deadlines, meetings, smiles and tears. In retrospect, God has brought us far. Father, we are very grateful. All these historical moments that passed with or without our notice will be crystallized in the late hours of 31st Dec when believers gather to fellowship. Banners are already up as various ministries and church groups invite all to gather at their meeting places to thank God and seek His face for the year ahead. As a matter of fact themes like “A year of God’s unstoppable favor”, “A year of Greater glory” and many others are out as God’s sure word for His people. This call I believe is well intended and as such merits our keen attention as a people of God. One activity which will characterize our meetings will be prayer. I just want us to spend a little more time looking into that.

The Lord of Hosts says, “Come Let us reason together.” Our God is calling us to a real, active, participatory conversation with Him. This may involve times of singing, reflection, whispering, vocalized prayer, et cetera. One time too many, prayer leaders and their practices have convinced us into seeing prayer as a monologue where people who shout, look energetic, walk up and down or use grade-A queen’s language to express themselves are deemed ‘prayerful’ or ‘spiritual’. And I haven’t forgotten our great tongue-speakers who impress, intimidate or distract us with all manner of tongues which would have done us much good if they were interpreted. We’ll leave that for another time but our focal point is:  Are we missing something about prayer in the midst of the noise, euphoria and unending chattering in our personal prayer altars and at our congregational meetings? What is God saying to you and I concerning the passing year as well as the one we are looking forward to? How does He want you to relate to the people He has surrounded you with? What is God saying about the way you treated your parents and siblings last year? Did you use the money He put at your disposal prudently? Were you diligent in your prayer for those He’s put in your care as a leader?

Beloved in Christ, the God of Heaven is in an intimate relationship with you and longs for a dialogue in every detail of your life. It is in prayer that He teaches us areas of our lives we are to be more obedient and empowers us to overcome the hurdles that look insurmountable. He longs to spend time with us sifting through the difficulties we have in loving our enemies, the lack of discipline in our time usage, our relationship with our neighbors, the way we use our finances, etc, etc. Please don’t scream out at Him for hours and run off when you are done as if He is a dumb deity in thin air who has nothing to say! In fact, I believe we should spend more time in prayer listening to what He has to say than talking (Yes at our public meetings). We should let our prayer be honest and intimate. They should be replete with adorations, worship, discussions, jokes, questions, pleas, etc. He is interested in all. If we would be a little more patient, attentive, quiet, still and trusting, we will enjoy a true fellowship with Jesus.

Os Guinness made these points on solitude in prayer in his classic, The Call:  The importance of solitude to the practice of living before the Audience of One (God) is primary to prayer in the midst of activities, audiences and congregations which are crying out for expression. Whereas normal life puffs up our sense of self-importance and locks us into patterns of thought and behavior dependent on others, solitude liberates us from these entanglements by carving out a space from which we can see ourselves and our situation before the Audience of One. Whether viewed as ‘the desert’ or the ‘closet’, solitude provides the private place where we can take our bearings and so make the Lord our North Star that we remain fixed on as we return to society.

As you pray into 2011, focus on God’s calling upon your life. Remember that calling is a matter of “everyone, everywhere, and in everything” living life in response to God’s summons. Look unto Jesus as the sustainer and keeper of life. Jesus, as one scholar noted, is not a religious leader, but Lord of all of Life. Responding to His call touches the world of commerce as well as preaching, the depths of the lake, not just the shore. All that we are, all that we do, all that we have, and even all that we think and dream is called into question by this demand. Once again, it is a matter of everyone, everywhere, and everything.  Listen to Him as He communicates His agenda to you personally concerning the coming year. Jesus Christ reminded us to let our words be few when we come before our Father, for He is in heaven, and we are on earth. Be attentive to His bidding at all times and at all places for Behold, HE SPEAKETH. He is more than happy to lead you in His paths of righteousness by communing DIRECTLY with you!  You see, there is ONE Mediator between God and Man. His name is Jesus Christ the Lord.

Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. He will meet with you there and commune with you. Do you wish to be inner-directed rather than other-directed and truly make decisions based on what He says alone? LISTEN TO JESUS OF NAZARETH; ANSWER HIS CALL.

By Kwame Antwi-boasiako.