EXORDIUM
In God’s economy, humans are triune beings (possessing body, soul and spirit (I Thess. 5:23) with tripodial relationships (aside the Godhood, Family, Church and Community). We are first spiritual, then physical and social entities. We have been called to function in these realms. Striking a balance amongst these three has remained the epicenter of our daily activities.
Humans are first members of their respective families and by extension, members of their communities. If perchance they enter into a covenant relationship with God in Christ, they become members of God’s Family, the Church. While family remains the most important socializing factor in a person’s life, his social activities are carried out within the community. However, the influence of the Church community upon an individual remains to be seen, the most vital.
By default, humans affect and are affected by these three institutions: family, church and community. How they behave towards these institutions determine to a large extent their influences (good or bad). Because actions and reactions are equal and opposite, what goes round comes round.
For a Christian man or woman, these three institutions are platforms for ministry. Because charity begins at home, family of a Christian should serve as pulpit to church and community. In New Testament settings, homes were considered as extensions of the church. This explains the concept of “home church” or “church in the home” that we read of at Romans 16:5 and I Corinthians 16:19.
How each member of the family behaves goes a long way to affect or improve her collective testimony. As family goes, so go both the church and community.
The responsibility of moderating family life rests squarely on the shoulders of a Christian husband and wife. The man is considered Husband as well as House-band – meaning he is spouse and supporter of his wife and home. Failure of the family is blamed on him, but success of the family is his glory.
God expects men to be men, not just males. They must be men in their homes, not just males at home. The difference between males and men is simple: while males have all the physical features of the masculine gender, men have character. Every man is a male but not every male is a man in the strictest sense of the word.
While males want to be bossy, men lead with character: they are fair and firm. God needs men in every home to be people of character (rationale and uncompromising).
PLACE
OF CHRISTIAN MEN AND WOMEN IN FAMILIES
Understanding
the place of family in God’s scheme of things defines the roles of Christian
men and women in families. The family is of great importance to God,
considering that it is the bedrock of human development and advancement. Malachi
2:15 states why God established the home,
“And did not He make one? Yet had He the residue of
the spirit. And wherefore one? That He might
seek a godly seed. Therefore, take heed to your spirit, and let none deal
treacherously against the wife of his youth.
The purpose of God for the family is to raise Godly children. This explains why God was happy when Abraham fulfilled this Divine mandate. At Genesis 18:19 He said of Abraham, “For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.”
God expects families to serve as platforms for training and dissemination of His Will for mankind. For this reason, family should be a place where God is honoured, obeyed and worshipped; a place which demonstrates knowledge of God and radiates His glory.
We need more
families like that where Timothy was nurtured in the fear and admonition of the Lord (II Timothy 1:5; II Timothy 3:15);
where children learn God’s ordinances, and are prepared to be positive
change-agents that our world desperately needs.
What Christian
men and women are expected to do in their families are to set appropriate
Christian examples of worship, obedience and guidance. When men fulfill their
responsibilities of being Christian men/husbands and Christian women care for
their families with decorum, chastity and virtue, we would be on our way to
unleashing an army of well-groomed children who will transform their societies.
Duties of men in
their homes are to make provisions for the wellbeing of their families (I
Timothy 5:8) while women do the noble work of caring for each member of their
homes. Together, they provide support.
Fraternal
cohesion of Christian families is one of the most powerful testimonies of hope to
a world fragmented by wrong value systems and unguided moral persuasions.
It is the family
that moderates the moral and spiritual tones of both church and society. If families
churn out miscreants, church and society are negatively affected, but if they
churn out godly children, church and society are made better. Therefore,
raising godly children and stabilizing societies are the greatest roles of Christian
men and women in families.
To achieve these
objectives, Christian men and women in various homes must collaborate to ensure
that these are achieved. Mike Udam (2014) wrote that Christian men and women (husbands
and wives) should take care of each other as they seek to play their roles
effectively. He wrote that a husband should:
§ Provide
for his wife’s needs.
§ Show
interest in her health and how she is feeling at any particular point in time.
§ Show
interest in helping her family.
§ Make
her feel the way she was feeling when he was courting her.
§ Surprise
her with gifts once in a while
§ Meet
her emotional needs.
§ Criticize
her privately, rebuke her gently.
§ Make
her feel important.
§ Share
his dreams and visions with her.
§ Be
transparent in his financial dealings.
§ Have
strong shoulders to take care of the needs of his children.
§ Pray
for his wife’s success daily.
§ Protect
and defend his wife.
For the Christian woman in
the home, Brother Udam wrote that she should:
§ Listen
to her husband’s instructions at all times, except when it conflicts with plain
teachings of God’s Word.
§ Consider
him as “lord” or “master” as well the driver of the family bus.
§ Consult
with him before executing any of her decisions that can impact on the family.
§ Work
with him in child discipline.
§ Seek
approval from him before any major financial transactions are undertaken.
§ Never
criticize his leadership style publicly.
§ Never
deny him his emotional entitlements.
§ Take
time to listen to him well before reacting.
§ Help
to cover his nakedness and not to make announcements about it.
§ Pray
for his success daily.
§ Have
strong shock absorbers to accommodate his mistakes as the family bus is in motion.
PLACE OF CHRISTIAN MEN AND WOMEN IN CHURCH
Church is God’s
Family (I Timothy 3:15; Galatians 6:9-10). She is the Divine ekklesia. Because
family is the feeder of both church and community, Christian men and women are
expected to play great roles towards growth and development of the church.
One of the greatest contributions of Christian men and
women towards enhancement of Church growth is the gift of themselves. Making
ourselves available is our best and greatest gifts to the Lord and to His
Kingdom. To demonstrate the importance of availability, the Psalmist says, “In the days of His battle His army shall be
volunteers” (Psalms 110:3). Again, “The
Lord gave the Word, great was the company of those who proclaimed it”
(Psalms 68:11).
II Corinthians 8:1-5 underscores the importance of
availability when Macedonian Christians were commended for giving themselves
first and then to the Lord. Giving ourselves or making ourselves available is
an all-encompassing and all-involving transaction. It involves our time,
talents, treasures and our lives in general.
In what ways can we make ourselves available to the
Lord and encourage church growth?
By
Cultivating Holiness
God can never make use of a person
whose life is not in consonance with His Will. Christian men and women must rededicate
themselves to living for the Lord (II Timothy 2:19-22).
Holiness has always been the beauty of
the believer. Nothing makes God happy to see that His children are holiness
defined. Holiness is attractive. It is impacting and transformational. It
defines the translucency of the Christian testimony, enabling unbelievers and
those who are not New Testament Christians to see through us to Jesus Christ.
Holiness makes Christians to stand out from the crowd
and to make bold statements wherever they are! Sinful lifestyles dim the light
that should be the Christian. No matter how beautiful you can sing, preach and
pray, lack of holiness makes nonsense of all these. The name of the Lord and
image of our local Congregations will be subjected to ridicule when Christian
make a mess of our testimonies (cf. Romans 2:17-24).
Who is a Christian? A Christian is one who is not
ashamed of the Gospel, nor a shame to the Gospel (Romans 1:16; II Cor. 6:3; cf.
II Samuel 12:14).
Cultivate holiness. Your sound moral life will bring
sinners to the Lord. It will encourage people to be like you. It is an
incentive to your preaching of the Gospel. Holy living will enhance our testimonies
and impact positively on the growth of our local Congregations.
By Giving
God and His Church Your Time
Give God and His Church your time.
Make yourself available for Church activities such as worship, Bible study,
prayer meetings, singing practice, evangelism, visitation, etcetera. Isaiah
heard the voice of the Lord and he said, “Here am I send me?” (Isaiah 6:8). No
time is well utilized and invested than that which we spend in God’s presence
and in doing God’s Will.
By Making
Available our Talents and Treasures
A lad (youth) gave Jesus his launch of
5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes (John 6:8-13). Peter gave the Lord his boat to
preach on (Luke 5:1-11). Midwives cast their votes for the growth of nation of
When we labour for the Lord, He in
turn labours for us. When we cultivate in His Vineyard, He in turn cultivates
in our respective vineyards. You cannot out-give God. Give Him your talents and
treasures. Ensure that you have a Kingdom-Investment Mentality (KIM).
When we do these, we can be sure that our
local congregations will experience new lease of life in activities, growth and
further development. Take active parts in whatever your Congregation is doing.
Volunteer to take up assignments during Worship services even when you feel shy
and inadequate inside of you. Learn to fan your gifts into flame (II Timothy
1:6-7). Learn to do things. We only learn to do by doing. The more you
practice, the more you perfect and horn your skills in those directions.
Apathy is one of the major reasons Christian
men and women are not playing their Biblically established roles towards growth
of their local congregations. Some Christian men and women generally blame
apathy to low motivation. While to an extent, they are right, fact, however remains
that church is an investment. The joy derived in worship/fellowship is
commensurate to what we invested in it — time, attention and interest. David, the “Sweet Psalmist” and king of
Israel (Psalms 122: 1, 6-9), our Lord Jesus Christ (John 2:17) and Apostle Paul
(II Corinthians 11:28) were not apathetic. They were rather consumed by their passions for the Lord’s
House.
Sometimes Christian men and women blame their apathy
towards Christian activities such as worship, Bible Study, evangelism, prayer
meetings, etcetera to the fact that Congregations of the Lord’s Church are not
happening places like the denominations (cf. I Samuel 8:5). They long for where
“things are happening.” The truth is – Church was not designed as a place of
entertainment but for serious spiritual business (John 4:23-24). Worship is
doing exactly what God says you should do (cf. Exodus 8:27) not doing what you
like. Church is not a social club meant for social gathering but a place for
soul-searching.
Lack of commitment is the by-product of apathy to church and related activities. Cold shoulderisms, “I don’t care attitude” and “To your tents O’ Israel” Lifestyles of many to church programs such as evangelism, Bible study, prayer meeting and visitations are denying the Church of the roles expected of Christian men and women.
Daraprin (“Daraprin” was a Sunday-Sunday medicine) Christianity is a religion of convenience and not of conviction. God condemns this in Scripture (Matt. 20:6).
Some Christian men and women think that it is the work of a congregational preacher is to engage in the work of ministry (evangelism, visitation, etcetera) and because of this faulty assumption, they leave almost everything to him. Truth is, the work of preachers is not to go from house-to-house but to provide technical supports needed by members whose work is to engage in ministries (Ephesians 4:10-12). The primary work of preachers is coaching. Coaches are not players. Players are members.
PLACE OF CHRISTIAN MEN AND WOMEN IN OUR COMMUNITIES
The greatest roles Christian men and women
are expected to play in their communities are: to provide leadership, become
shining examples of who Christ is and to proclaim God’s Word. We should stop
running away from offering ourselves for leadership to our communities. The
power to lead is the power to do good. If we are convinced that we are eyes to
the blind, feet to the lame and teachers of the ignorant, then we should do
well to dictate the pace by providing leadership at every level in our
communities.
One
of our greatest contributions to our various communities is to be of influence
for good. This role may never be if we are not the kind of people we ought to
be. In his book, JAMES: AUTHENTIC AND
PRACTICAL CHRISTIANITY, Chuck Swindoll asked, “If you say you believe like you should, why then do you behave like you
shouldn’t?”
Who are you? Who do people say you are? It should be appreciated that we could be sending negative messages to people without really knowing. The image we project could mean life or death (cf. II Corinthians 7:3). Our lives are like perfumes – either putrefying or pleasant (II Corinthians 2:14-15). We are the Bible people are reading (II Corinthians 3:2-3).
If we are open, living Bibles, what then do people read when our lives are opened? I have said times without number that a Christian is not just a person who is not ashamed of the Gospel but one who is not a shame to the Gospel (cf. Romans 1:16; II Corinthians 6:3).
WHO DO OUR
COMMUNITIES SAY WE ARE?
People’s
perceptions of our personalities bother principally on influence. The influence
we wield as Christians determine our levels of effectiveness and the command of
our personalities. Several questions are germane to the issue of influence:
1. Do darkness go away when we
appear?
2. Are evil discussions and
lifestyles comfortable in our presence?
3. Are we letting our
influences bear on people and situations for good?
4. What positions do people
hold of our persons when they see us?
5. Are we models of good life
to people around us?
6. Are our lights shinning
before men so much so that they give glory to our God?
7. Are we hiding our lights or are we radiating them for everyone to see through and with?
Job 29:8-17 describes the kind of influence godly people can have on people in their environments. Are we taking advantage of who we are to tell the world about the beauty of our God, His Son Jesus Christ and of His Church? Do we possess compelling or repelling characters? Are people attracted to worship God because of us (cf. Zechariah 8:23)?
CONCLUSION
The place of Christian men and
women in families, congregations and communities cannot be overemphasized. When
we do what we are supposed to do when we are supposed to do them wherever we
are, we will be playing the vital roles expected of us.
May our families, congregations and
communities feel the positive impacts of our existence to the praise and glory
of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment