AFTER SUNDAY

Sometime last year, I chanced upon a quote by Francis Chan that stirred me up to much thinking. I screenshot it with no clear plan on what to do with it, and never actually posted it anywhere. It was not until a few weeks ago when I chanced upon another thread of posts that I remembered Chan’s quote. To borrow Mordecai’s words to Esther, I suppose it was for such a time as this. The quote said:

‘Have you ever wondered if we’re missing it? It’s crazy, if you think about it. The God of the universe –– Creator of nitrogen and pine needles, galaxies and E minor —- loves us with a radical, unconditional, self-sacrificing love. And what is our typical response? We go to church, sing songs and try not to cuss.’

The post [here] I’d seen was one made by two creatives on Instagram when news broke that DC Comics had revealed the latest Superman as bisexual. Of course, there was an uproar by believers and people the world has christened “homophobic”. It’s what we’re best at – roaring our heads off in disagreement, no? This post also really struck me, because for the longest time, the Church has hidden in a corner and minded its own business until it was time to be reactive, as opposed to being proactive. Here’s what the post said:

The real question in the face of that news was, ‘what business does anyone have being upset with a content creator who funds his own projects and coerces no one to consume his work?’ So what, if he has an agenda you disagree with. The real question you ought to ask yourself, believer, is if you are contributing anything to social development; if you are making any difference at all in your community; if you have any agenda at all.

Jesus was a boy born into a society that already had its own norms. You’d think that a God who primarily came to make a spiritual interception would concern himself solely with things of the spirit and admonish His following to concern themselves solely with secret lives, minding their business and leaving the world to its own peril and destruction. I have heard some actually say that this is the life we are called to, because this same Jesus said that we are in this world yet not of it; and Paul says to live a sober life, ‘minding your own business’. Was the real intent of these admonishments to live defeated, passive lives, making no real impact and leaving no real legacy?

If Paul’s admonition is taken in its proper context, we will find that he is talking about living a life pleasing to God, and finishes up that admonition by saying ‘and working with your own hands…living in a way that will command the respect of outsiders, not lying around sponging off your friends [1 Thess 4:11 MSG].’

If Jesus’ warning will be taken in its proper context, we will find that He speaks of a certain enmity between the world and those who are called to be His [John 15 & 17].

The last thing either Jesus or Paul is advocating for is a nonchalant life, one that cowers to the world in fear of being hated. In actual fact, it is not absurd to suggest that it will take a boisterously bold assertion of influence and presence for such enmity to exist, in such intensity that Jesus would see the need to make this His final prayer before He ascends on high [John 17].

Sadly, we may have lost, or perhaps never quite got a grip of what the true interaction of our faith should be with this world. I refuse to call us ‘the Church’, for fear that we will, as we always do, allocate responsibility to this invisible entity called ‘the Church’ when individual you and individual me make up the Church.

Do you reckon that Jesus’ true agenda, the sole purpose of his immense sacrifice and His unending chant about His kingdom, reign and governance was so that He could establish a group of vibrant young men and women and [hopefully] wise old men and women who gather all day and night only to sing songs, repeat the scriptures to themselves, make merry and return to the world defeated? Lacking any real influence, making absolutely no difference in any aspect of communal living, who merely kowtow to the whims of ungodly men who rule the world and call the shots?

Would this be the Jesus who categorically tells those who believe in Him to be the salt of the earth? What He does after the beatitudes is to bring to the believer a consciousness of why they’re even relevant in this earth to begin with [Matthew 5:13 MSG]:

“Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.”

And almost as though He hadn’t made the point clear enough, He adds [verse 14]:

“Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colours in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill.

 If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand — shine!”

Joseph was a man of faith. He was a prophet; an interpreter of dreams. What was Joseph’s business becoming prime minister, not of any meagre nation, but of the world’s superpower in those times of famine – Egypt! I daresay that had Joseph limited himself to his faith alone, he would have imagined his dream of greatness which got him sold into slavery to mean he would be the greatest prophet among his brothers. Yet I submit that this would have been such an unfortunate misplacement of greatness and purpose. Had Joseph become the ‘greatest prophet’ rather than a Prime Minister, the redemption that came to his family and the whole of Israel could never have happened [Genesis 37-43].

I cannot even begin to unpack Daniel and his three friends, and their understanding of faith and its interaction with the real world they lived in; and what that faith was called to achieve in the times they lived in. God blessed them with ‘unusual aptitude for understanding every aspect of literature [which is literally book learning!] and wisdom.’ [Daniel 1:17] You know what that fetched them?

“Then the king appointed Daniel to a high position and gave him many valuable gifts. He made Daniel Ruler over the whole province of Babylon, as well as Chief over all his wise men.

At Daniel’s request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to be in charge of all the affairs of the province of Babylon…” [Daniel 2:28&49]

You know what’s even more intriguing? Daniel served under three different empires and kings! He remained relevant to every king and kingdom that existed while he lived, and actually outlived all of them! Can you imagine how long and how much of Babylon’s affairs were subjected to God’s standard and reign simply because a man understood the purpose of faith and its place in the world he lived in? Can you imagine how much the people of God were saved from simply because the Ruler of Babylon and his cohorts were of their kind? Can you imagine how many resources were re-channelled to real needs simply because Babylon was not ruled by evil men? Can you imagine what great misfortune it would have been for Daniel to shy away from governance, from civil life, from real impact and influence?

Is it so absurd to suggest that rather than spend 40 days in fasting and prayer to overturn the wills and choices of evil men in authority who perpetuate evil from their places of authority, we spend 40 days studying governance and influence in order to take places of dominion and authority in governance? Is it absurd to suggest, that rather than climb mountains to pray the Lord to release funds from on high, we understand wealth and wisdom in finances that equip us enough to strategize and build generational wealth that caters for the needs of the Church and grows the economies of the societies we live in?

In the book he called ‘Crazy Love’ from which the quote came, Chan asked the single most important question a believer must answer if this Kingdom will make any real impact. He asks:

‘Are you hungry for an authentic faith that addresses the problems of our world with tangible, even radical solutions?

Or are you satisfied adding on to the countless number of people who have reduced the life, light and authority that reside in the spirit of every believer? Or you choose only to manifest this life once a week through singing and dancing?

By no means am I suggesting that prayer and fasting or fellowship and communion are irrelevant in our journey as believers. Definitely not! I am the first to encourage anybody to engage in spiritually productive activities; to find sound, believing groups that encourage and support them in their walk with God. The scriptures are replete with admonitions not to forsake such fellowship; that two will always, always be better than one. My point though, to borrow the words of my friend [who will very likely be smirking while reading this next line], is that faith is not an end in itself but the means for God to manifest Himself through men.

Faith was intended, and is still supposed to be the means through which the world is salted, through which the world is lighted. Not only with the gospel, but with public policy, with influence in arts, in finance, in education, in agriculture, in governance, in all things that allow men to have dominion and reign in authority while we await the return of our King.

If creation awaits in earnest expectation [in the future] for the manifestation of the sons of God that by faith we shall see no death and decay; that by faith our bodies will be saved from suffering and sin [Romans 8], then I imagine that creation looks on even now in earnest expectation for the manifestation of the sons of God. Creation looks on at us, in whom God has imbedded the very life and power of the same One who is to come and rescue us from this vessel of clay.

The caption to the posts I referenced earlier concludes the matter beautifully. It reads:

“The enemy has left us to build churches while he takes over the media, news outlets, our schools, social media etc. He’s left Sundays for us and taken Monday to Saturday.

It is beyond crucial that we not only enter those spaces but take control of it (which is not remotely going to be an easy feat) because, glory to God, we meet on Sundays and are edified but Monday to Saturday, we are constantly bombarded with content that the enemy is stamping and approving, unknowingly adopting harmful and ungodly ideologies from TV series that we love so much, slowly thinking like the world, talking like the world, agreeing with the world, looking like the world.

God’s Kingdom must come [here on earth]!!!!”

If you’ve understood nothing I’ve said in this piece, understand this one thing:

Your faith was given not for faith alone in itself, but for impact, for dominion, for relevance, for productivity in this very world, amongst and for men, to the glory of the One who has deposited His very self in us!

Love,

Rad!❤