‘For those who declare publicly that they belong to me, I will do the same before my Father in heaven. But if anyone rejects me publicly, I will reject him before my Father in heaven.’ Matthew 10:32-33
Witnessing is never an easy business. It requires great faith, courage and grace from God. Modern life is dominated by industrial and economic forces that surround us. Generally, these conditions put great strains and demands on individuals, families and communities, and challenge our Christian Faith and value of our witnessing. These socio-economic and political aspects of the changing world cause us to continually adjust the ways in which we respond to the needs of our people through the witness we give especially to the weaker and disadvantaged members of society: the little vulnerable ones, the old, the sick, the physically and mentally challenged, the handicapped and marginalized.
The tremendous impact of globalization and secularization continues to challenge us who are Christians. How do we courageously stand for Jesus in the midst of skeptical and hostile world; and in this turbulent and unpredictable times where the Christian Faith is ridiculed and Christians mocked? Giving testimony and bearing witness to the Gospel values openly and fearlessly calls for great faith and courage. The Church and indeed Christians should never be afraid to engage with the tough questions and difficult issues of our time. Jesus Christ establishes His Church to continue His ministry of teaching and the Church speaks today with authority of Christ.
In a world which is increasingly becoming cruel, grasping, indifferent, insensitive, skeptical and cynical, Christ challenges us to walk without fear along the road of faithfulness. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we must give public and private witness to Christ love, truth, peace and justice in our homes, offices, schools, hospitals, market places, banks, hotels sports field, trains and buses. Through witnessing for Christ by a life of prayer, good example and service, we can electrify the natural order and affairs, and let our Christian principle to saturate education, government and public affairs. Through our bold and generous following of Christ, we can create Oasis of hope, peace, and freedom for our citizens and transform our national life for good.
Our failure is our refusal to abide by, apply and live by the Gospel values. It is not enough to confess Christ in the Church on Sundays and at prayer meetings and fellowships and then do whatever we like thereafter; we must keep our eyes fixed on Him and inject His values into all we do any where we find ourselves. I think that we can truly witness by making our homes and Churches places of love, harmony, understanding, truthfulness, godliness and righteousness.
We want to note with deep concern the callous and inhuman permissive attitudes of Christians of the modern world in thriving on the life of deceit, dishonesty, corruption, cheating, violence, exploitation and slavery. We have become so satisfied with the life of selfishness and mediocrity; we pretend a lot and are busy slandering, telling lies, blackmailing, destroying and killing others. We put covetousness before character. We must remember that we cannot build self by pulling others down. We cannot reach enduring height of success on the misfortune of others. It really makes no difference how long we have been Christians, how much we know the Bible, nor what creed we profess. If we have not learned how to fear and trust God, and not be afraid in the face of the numerous crisis of our time.
Relativism has become the problem of this current age. We have relativize and subjectivize issues to the point that we don’t recognize sin as sin (losing the sense of sin). In fact, Bible alive of January 2008 notes that we have committed a grave mistake by growing weary of the language of sin and evil, and seeing it as a burden and perceiving it as a throw-back to previous generations. Today, because of modern attractions and external trappings, we do many harmful things to poison and tear down our Christian life.
Obviously, it does not take long for us to realize that we are on a path to self destruction. Just as it does not take a little child long to learn that hot things such as the toaster, oven, lamp, stove, electric iron will burn. They also quickly learn, that sharp things like razor, knives, scissors, needle, can cut and injure them. They learn to respect and keep away from these things until they can become their masters in later years.
So, we too must respect ourselves and not choke our lives and God’s creative powers in us by demonic destructive tendencies, but strive to live by Christians values so that we can resist the world temptations bravely and resolutely. Let us remember in the words of Ghandi that: ‘A drowning man cannot save others.’ We must declare to stand for Jesus in these troubled and perilous times, and give witness without fear or shame.
Rev. Fr. Michael Adefemi Adegbola, Director Media Service Centre Kaduna Nigeria
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