Christians today are the people who
betray Jesus; but with a kiss.
A blogger became so exasperated
with my criticism of the Christian
Church; he decided to launch what
would be the definitive counter-
attack. “Femi Aribisala,” he declared
triumphantly, “is not a Christian!”
When I thought about this, I
concluded that, using the same logic,
the prophets of Israel were not
Israelites.
This is God’s mandate for his
prophets: “Cry aloud, spare not; lift
up your voice like a trumpet; tell my
people their transgression, and the
house of Jacob their sins.” (Isaiah
58:1). Those who had a problem
with this killed the prophets. I have
been killed time-and-again by
Christians; but the Lord always
raises me from the dead.
If my criticism of apostate
Christianity disqualifies me as a
Christian, then most Nigerians can no
longer be Nigerians. Indeed, where
two or three Nigerians are gathered,
you can be sure we are busy
criticising our dear country. However,
Nigerians criticise Nigeria because
we are Nigerians and not because we
are not.
Jesus says: “Those whom I love I
rebuke and discipline. So be earnest,
and repent.” (Revelation 3:19).
Sheepish wolves
Who exactly is a Christian? Paul
says: “They are not all Israel who are
of Israel.” (Romans 9:6). By the
same token, they are not all
Christians who are Christians. All
Christians profess belief in Jesus.
But most Christians do not follow his
doctrine. Many do not even know
what Jesus’ doctrine entails. When
you tell them, they shout: “Heresy!”
Using Paul’s erroneous standards,
many Christians define a Christian as
someone who believes in Jesus.
However, some Jews who professed
belief in Jesus turned out to be sons
of the devil. (John 8:31/44). Jesus
did not say his followers will be
identified by their hypocrisy and
grand-standing. Instead, he says:
“You will know them by what they
do.” (Matthew 7:16).
When some Jews insisted they were
sons of Abraham, Jesus said to
them: “If you were Abraham’s
children, you would be doing what
Abraham did.” (John 8:39). Spiritual
sons must do the works of their
father, and not merely profess his
faith. However, Christians profess the
faith of Jesus but disdain God’s
ways.
Satanic evangelism
Several years ago, a Christian
acquaintance with a common law
wife and three daughters literally
disappeared. His family did not hear
from him for three years. When he
finally showed up just as suddenly
as he had left, I button-holed him
and asked where he had been all this
long while; in utter neglect of his
family.
His response threw me for a loop.
“Evangelism!” he declared
exuberantly, “evangelism!” “What do
you mean?” I wondered. “I have been
doing evangelism,” he replied,
smiling mischievously at me. So I
asked him: “What kind of evangelism
are you doing that precludes taking
care of your family?”
That man’s perspective is
symptomatic of a general Christian
malaise. We try to bring people to
Christ through preaching that
contradicts the life we live. But Jesus
warns: “Not everyone who says to
me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the
kingdom of heaven, but he who does
the will of my Father in heaven.”
(Matthew 7:21).
Christians are pompous “fishers of
men.” We tell men: “Today might be
the last day of the rest of your life.
Accept Jesus before it is too late.”
But we don’t live like people
preoccupied with eternal life. We
have heard of Jesus but don’t know
him. We have read about him but
don’t follow him. We talk the
highfalutin talk and walk the
hypocritical walk.
Living faith
Jesus is very contemptuous of our
kind of evangelism-driven faith. He
says: “Woe to you, teachers of the
law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!
You travel over land and sea to win a
single convert, and when he becomes
one, you make him twice as much a
son of hell as you are.” (Matthew
23:15).
John says of Jesus: “Eternal life is in
him, and this life gives light to all
mankind.” (John 1:4). It is the
exemplary life of Jesus that makes
him the light of men. In his light, we
see light. (Psalm 36:9). But
Christians are not particularly
interested in the life of Jesus. We
only take refuge in self-serving
principles about his allegedly
vicarious death. Instead of being
preoccupied with the godly life Jesus
lived; we sing and dance about the
death he died.
Jesus says: “I have come that they
may have life, and that they may
have it more abundantly.” (John
10:10). The life Jesus gives comes
from his life. It does not come from
his death. Jesus says: “I am the way,
the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6).
The way, the truth and the life do not
come from Jesus’ death; they come
from practical details of the virtuous
life Jesus lived and taught.
Light of the World
Jesus says to his disciples: “You are
the light of the world. A city that is
set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor
do they light a lamp and put it under
a basket, but on a lampstand, and it
gives light to all who are in the
house. Let your light so shine before
men, that they may see your good
works and glorify your Father in
heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16).
The light of the world is not about the
faith of Christians. It is about our
works. But one thing is certain:
Christians today are not known for
our works. I know no one that
defines a Christian as a righteous
person. As a matter of fact,
Christians would rather be the rich of
the world than the light of the world.
However, the rich man who flies
around in a jet-plane like Oritsejafor
and Adeboye cannot be the light of
this world. At best, he is the envy of
the world.
Light is not a friend, but an
adversary, of darkness. Light dispels
darkness because it is implacably
opposed to it. But Christians are not
fundamentally different from non-
Christians. We have the same values
and seek the same worldly objects.
Such differentials as exist are
inconsequential. We go to church,
read the bible, quote some scriptures,
and pray “in the name of Jesus.” But
these are dead religious rituals. They
don’t make us the light of the world.
Christians don’t even know what
Jesus expects us to be. We don’t
because we are not who we are
supposed to be. Jesus does not say
his disciples should be the light of
the world. He says they are the light
of the world. We either are or we are
not; and the truth is that Christians
today are not. Indeed, we are
anything but. There is one way to
describe the Christians of today: we
are the people who betray Jesus; but
with a kiss.
Christians display few good works
before men. We are not known as
people of integrity who, like Jesus,
are loving, gracious, compassionate,
merciful and forgiving. We
vehemently decry the Boko Haram
but are rabid Boko Haramites in
speech and prayer. We claim to be
followers of Jesus but despise his
righteous ways. We are only
deceiving ourselves.
Jesus warns: “If the light you think
you have is really darkness, how
deep that darkness will be!”
(Matthew 6:23).