THEMATIC ANALYSIS
ANALYST: HILARY JOHNSON CHUKWUMA CHUKWURAH
INTRODUCTION
Psalmist in
Psalm 68:19 testified to God’s goodness, affirming that He “daily loads us with
benefits.” Lamentations 3:23 states that on a daily basis, God’s faithfulness
is renewed. Because every morning God manifests His unfailing faithfulness, our
strengths are renewed like the eagles (cf. Psalms 103:5).
We are happy
to be of the company of those who publish God’s Goodnews. It is a privilege
beyond the ordinary, an honour beyond compare.
As privileged people, annually we
are invited to renew ourselves because as iron sharpens iron, ministers sharpen
the ministerial countenance of themselves (cf. Proverbs 27:17).
To remain relevant in ministerial
scheme of things, there is need for us to re-sharpen our theology, re-align our
message to meet Biblical standards and approval of Heaven; re-evaluate
happenings in our environments and refocus our energies on ensuring that we remain
in God’s scheme of things.
It is one thing to be zealous while
it is another to be zealous in accordance with knowledge (Romans 10:1-3). Christianity
is not grandstanding or playing to the gallery of public opinions and
expectations, but remaining true to God’s original foundations. Serving God is
not doing what we think is right, but doing what God says we should do,
irrespective of how popular or unpopular they are.
Assumption is a sin with grave
consequence. We must be sure that we are sure. There must be a Bible book,
chapter and verse authorization of what we do. The key word, therefore, is PATTERN.
Missing Biblical pattern is missing the mark. When we miss the mark, we end up
dissipating energy in that which is of no value.
Pattern is one concept that says it
all – whether you are in manufacturing, building and construction, shoe-making,
fashion designing, etcetera. If men and women, fickle as we are know the
strategic importance of maintaining pattern, we should begin to see that God
places high premium.
Calling and commissioning Moses to build
a Tabernacle, God told him matter-of-factly, “…See, that you make all things
according to the pattern shown to you on the mount” (Hebrews 8:5). Capitalizing
on this landmark instruction, Holy Spirit applied this instruction and testified
that certain things, “… serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things…”
(Hebrews 8:5a) In other words, earthly activities of mankind, whether in their
general daily comportments or worship should be reflections of how they are
done in Heaven. No wonder our Lord while teaching His disciples the modus
operandi and vivendi of prayers had said, “…let Thy Will be done on earth as it
is done in Heaven” (Matthew 6:10).
Keying into or a failure to key
into Divine Pattern is make or mar, determining whether one is right or wrong;
approved by God or disapproved by Him. Show me a person who sticks to God’s
Pattern and I will tell you the name of a person that God is pleased with.
CONCEPTUALIZING PATTERN
The word, “Pattern” means,
“Standard measurement.” It is a concept that is not foreign to Scripture. In Exodus
25:8-9, God told Moses,
And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.
According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle,
and the pattern of all the
instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.
That was God’s desire and it was
law. No one dared trifle with this sacred injunction. He had a pattern. He
wanted it followed by everyone in Israel. If anyone was to do God’s
Will, he/she was to ensure that the Pattern was to be followed.
When two and half tribes of Israel who were left behind across Jordan entertained fears that in time to come,
their children would be denied membership of the Commonwealth of Israel
and replicated the Altar, their action was frowned at by the remaining tribes. Consequent
upon this, war was imminent. However, when a meeting was held, representatives
of the two and half tribes in Joshua 22:28
appealed to pattern and stated as follow:
Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they should so say to us or
to our generations in time to come, that we may say again, Behold the pattern of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made,
not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between us and
you.
Writer of book of Hebrews went to a
great length to stress the importance of Pattern when he recalled God’s
instruction to Moses thus,
Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was
admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he,
that thou make all things according to the pattern
shewed to thee in the mount.
The strategic importance of pattern
can be seen in the fact that without pattern or measurement, there are bound to
be confusion. Conventionally, a ruler or cup is a pattern used for measurement
(cf. Deut. 25:13-15). To use different scales and measurements will only lead
to anarchy of sorts. This was what God sought to avoid and so established a Pattern
that should be followed by all. Today, people have thrown caution to the wind
and have opened doors to all manner of things. This is more pertinent when we look
at our religious environments. It is very unfortunate because our religious
experiences have become an all-comers’ affair without concern for pattern.
IMPORTANCE OF PATTERN
In industrial production, every
company has a pattern; else, there would be differences in subsequent
production. Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) is laden with the
responsibility of ensuring that all products produced in Nigeria or imported into Nigeria meet
regulatory standards. The same applies to NAFDAC.
God recognized the need for pattern
or standard before man and so ensured that His patterns should be adhered to.
Few Biblical examples might help in driving this point home:
1. When Noah was to
build an ark, God gave him a pattern or specifications (Genesis 6:14-16; 7:5).
2. When Moses was to
build a tabernacle for God, he was expressly warned to follow a particular
pattern provided for him (Hebrews 8:5; Exodus 25:40).
3. Because God’s Ark Covenant
with Israel was not carried according to God’s pattern, God was angry with David
and so slew Uzzah (I Chronicles 15:13; cf. I Chronicles 13:7-12) but when they
went back to God’s word, the pattern (way and manner which God had instructed
that His Ark of Covenant with Israel should be carried) was uncovered and
Israelites in King David’s time were able to carry it successfully (I
Chronicles 15:14-15; cf. Exodus 25:14).
4. Because Nadab and
Abihu did not abide by God’s pattern, God slew them (Leviticus 10:1-2)
GOD’S PATTERN FOR US
Jesus is our grand
pattern (I Peter
2:21).
Jesus’ pattern of is found in the
things He taught and did (Acts 1:1). He had left this patterns with His
apostles, which is why they are part of the foundation (Ephesians 2:20). We
are, therefore, called upon to follow the examples of Jesus and His apostles.
We must follow the examples of those who followed Jesus’ examples (I Corinthians
11:1). Succinctly stated, early disciples followed God’s pattern (Acts 2:42).
We must do well to follow that pattern.
There is a pattern of
worship (cf.
Exodus 8:27).
Not all worship is acceptable to
God (Matthew 15:8-9). For a worship to be acceptable to God, it must be done
according to His express commands (cf. John 4:22-24; John 17:17).
There is a pattern of
teaching (doctrine) (Romans
6:17; Philippians 3:16-17).
Not all doctrines are good (Hebrews
13:9) because there are doctrines of men (Matthews 15:9), doctrines of demons
(I Timothy 4:1) and doctrines of Jesus Christ (II John verse 9-11).
The soul of the “Doctrine of Christ”
is found in Ephesians 4:3-6 to the intent that there is, One Body, One Spirit, One
Baptism, One Lord, One Faith and One Hope. These are the foundations upon which
to build the superstructure of God’s Pattern today.
LOADING THIS YEAR’S WORKSHOP
WITH BENEFITS OF PATTERN
This year’s
theme is most interesting. Topics are woven, like tapestry around the concept
of Pattern. Seasoned speakers, as always, have been selected to enlighten and
to sumptuously feed us with God’s inerrant Word, from the deep springs of their
knowledge and wealth of experiences.
Amongst topics
selected are:
·
The
Pattern in Fellowship.
·
The
Pattern in Worship.
·
The
Pattern in Marriage.
·
The
Pattern in Prayer.
·
The
Pattern in Evangelism.
·
The
Pattern in Giving.
·
The
Pattern in Holiness.
·
The
Pattern in Cooperation.
·
The
Pattern in Doctrine.
You cannot but
agree with me that this year’s Workshop is loaded. The benefits are far-reaching.
We are encouraged to relax and savour the Word as our spirits are lifted, and
our minds enlightened. There is never going to be a dull moment.
A brief
analysis of these topics would, therefore, suffice:
Fellowship
is a time impartation and mutual edification (cf. Romans 1:11-12). There is a
pattern in which this is done.
Worship,
as conceived by Brother Jim Massey, “Is an outward expression of an inward
sense of praise.” There is an incontrovertible Biblical pattern of worship. In
Old Testament, Moses summoned it up when he said, “We will go three days'
journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he
shall command us” (Exodus 8:27). In New Testament, our Lord Jesus
unequivocally stated, “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true
worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father
seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit and they that worship him must
worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23-24).
“Worship” is not the contraptions
of men and women but doing what God says we should do.
Marriage
is a confluence, a union of two hearts. As one of the most sacred institutions
of God on earth, God has ordained patterns for contracting marriages and
sustaining it. Marriage is the epicenter of “Home.” Martha McKay in one of her
best sellers, Beyond Pardon penned
these time-tested words, “Home is a sanctuary, and to invade a sanctuary is
sacrilege. Let man or woman who trifles with the most sacred tie on earth
remember this.”
Prayer is
a solemn activity at private and corporate levels. A powerful spiritual
resource, providing us direct access to God’s Throne (Hebrews 4:16). However,
this powerful spiritual resource is not only being misunderstood but grossly abused
by those who have turned it into what it was not meant to achieve.
Evangelism
is a means of reaching out to others (churched and unchurched) with the
everlasting message of Jesus Christ. There is a pattern for doing this and
getting results.
Giving is
fund-raising but not the like that are in practice today by our religious
neighbours who engage in levying and its like. Also, not the sort that Brethren
in various Congregations engage in. If we conduct giving in line with Biblical
patterns, we will have no business with the kinds of lack that have come to
define Congregations of our Lord today.
“Holiness is the beauty of the believer” was a song that we used to delight
our souls in time past and to remind ourselves that He who called us is Holy
and, therefore, should be holy ourselves. We are gradually loosing grip with
holiness, which is a Christian’s most beautiful garment. What are the patterns
for holiness?
There is a Pattern for Cooperation. God designed each Congregation to be
autonomous but has not asked that autonomy should negate cooperation. In his
book, Why I am a Member of Church of
Christ, Leroy Brownlow wrote on God’s wisdom of ensuring that each
Congregation is autonomous,
The
wisdom of God is seen in such an arrangement for His churches. If one became
corrupted in doctrine or affected by evil practices, other churches would not
be so affect. If dissension arose in one, it would not spread to the others; if
one perished, the others would not be dragged down. If a window is made of one
large pane, a break injures the entire pane; but if it be made of several
panes, it is not so bad to break one. The independence of the churches is a
protection for each one.
Cooperation leverages on the principles of “power
of two” or more. When we cooperate we achieve results (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12).
Doctrine
is the soul of Christianity while Jesus Christ is its power. When doctrine is
compromised, Christianity looses its essence. Doctrine is so important that we
are charged to, “…charge some that they teach no other doctrine” (I Timothy
1:3). The reason for this is not far-fetched: Apostle Paul charged Titus to,
Hold fast the faithful word as he
hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to
convince the gainsayers. For there are many unruly and vain talkers and
deceivers, … whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching
things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake.
(Titus 1:9-11).
CONCLUSION
Brethren, I have no doubt on my mind that I have taken much
of your time. This was not deliberate. It is the offshoot of the importance that
this year’s Workshop elicits. If Pattern is established, then a major battle
would have been won. So long as Pattern remains not on the religious menu of
our time, the battle rages on as confusion will remain one of our greatest
challenges.
Let us relax,
soak in the ministrations, and challenged to become apostles of Patterned
Christianity. This was and has remained the plea of Restoration Movement:
speaking where Bible speaks, being silent where Bible is silent, calling Bible
things by Bible names and doing Bible things by Bible ways.
We thank
organizers for coming up with this theme. I want to appeal to the Central
Organizing Committee to ensure that the proceedings of this Workshop (papers
presented) should be published and made available to a larger audience. If you
do not know how to go about this, you can do well to talk with me after this
Workshop on how you can have this done.
May God Almighty bless all of us as
we engage in this very important exercise!
Township/Campus Church of Christ,
14,
Agbugwu Lane,
off, University Market Road,
P. O. Box 351,
Nsukka, Enugu state, Nigeria.
Phones: 08039596919;08054890845;
08182820677
E-MAIL: hilaryjohnsonc@yahoo.com;
