THE CHURCH MUST NOT BE WICKEDProv 28:1

THE CHURCH MUST NOT BE WICKED

Prov 28:1 The wicked flee when no one pursues, But the righteous are bold as a lion. NKJV

It takes God to show you yourself. It has always been so. Nobody told Adam and Eve to run when God came after their fall. Jonah was adamant till he was about to die. Deep down in the Sea, he begged God for mercy. Isaiah had gone along well with his bad mouth till he met the Lord in chapter 6.

I had my own experience. I have had the stony heart even after my conversion. I would eagerly start something with the Lord and stop later, especially when I begin another new thing for the Lord. When the Lord confronted me and told me that I had the stony type of soil, I was surprised. It shocked me later when He took the matter higher and called me a wicked man because, like the wicked, I flee when no one is pursuing me (Prov 28:1).

Whenever God comes as the Light, every Isaiah sees himself and his society.  I also saw the larger society and the Church of the time I am living in. One major sign that we are very wicked in the Church is the way we flee from the idea of discipleship.

1. Disciple or disciples is mentioned about 173 times in the Bible (KJV) while the word Christian or Christians is mentioned only 3 times in the bible (KJV). Why do we prefer to be called Christians instead of disciples? The wicked flee when no one pursues. 

2. The word coach (used in sports) or mentor (used in business) was never used in the Bible. Who has bewitched us that those words are becoming more attractive to us than the word disciple? The wicked flee when no one pursues. 

3. The word Christians was more likely to have come from the way unbelievers saw our people then in Antioch. To them, the Church people were like Christ. Did those unbelievers know Christ enough to compare us well with Him? And we eagerly like the name. The wicked flee when no one pursues.

4. Wherever the word came from, those believers were first called disciples before they were called Christians. 

Acts 11:26 And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. KJV

5. Most successful businessmen in Nigeria have been Ibos. What has been their secret? They practice discipleship. A businessman picks a boy from the village and the boy follows him to the town. The boy follows him in his business. And eventually, the boy becomes like his master. Is that not what Jesus did from Matt 4:19?

Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." NKJV 

6. When Jesus was going, did He not command us to focus on discipleship? Matt 28:19-20

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen. NKJV

Why do we run away from discipleship? The wicked flee when no one pursues.

7. Didn’t the early Church practice discipleship? Didn’t the method produce Christ-like people like Stephen, Philip, Timothy, etc? Was the practice not successful even in the Old Testament as Eli produced Samuel, Moses got Joshua for God, as Naomi made Ruth for God and as Elijah pushed God’s work forward through Elisha? 

What is wrong with us? Who has bewitched us? Why do we choose to follow those who couldn’t push the purpose of God beyond their generations? Are we looking forward to being like Joshua who made no disciple or like Elisha who handed over to none? The wicked flee when no one pursues.

The Church must not be wicked. I must not be wicked. You must not be wicked. I will flee towards discipleship, not away from it. I want to become like Jesus.

For further help, contact: Bro. Alex Oguh, CEFN Building, CEFN Avenue, Back of Anyigba Park, Off Ganaja Junction,  Lokoja, Kogi State. Phone Nos: 0806 860 0569; 08148961631.