Tag: The Church

Unmasking Ghanaian Christianity – “Do Not Put Your Trust in Man”

Unmasking Ghanaian Christianity – “Do Not Put Your Trust in Man”

I’ve been meaning to do a series on common statements that Ghanaian Christians make on a day to day basis which have become accepted, but where what we actually mean by such statements are totally unrelated to how those phrases are used biblically, or a sheer abuse of the phrase for a parochial interest. I start off with one that is very popular among Ghanaian Christians, but which has a very negative effect on our ability to actually follow in the example of Jesus.

Twi: “Enfa wo were enhye nipa mu”

English: “Do not put your trust in man”

What Ghanaian Christianity Means By This Phrase

This is probably the most used and abused phrase by Ghanaian gospel musicians and preachers alike. It is typically meant to convey the idea that when one has a problem, it is useless to actually seek help and advise from any human being about it, including even one’s brethren in Christ.

This way of interpreting the above scriptural statement is further aggravated by the incidence of gossip that is so rife in many churches. As a result, church (in a lot of Christians’ experience) is no longer a safe place for one to find brethren who can be of help in one’s journey of faith and in whom one can confide. Finally, it has led many Ghanaians to anachronistically now put their faith in so called “men of God”, because they are the ones whom God listens to, so God can solve their problem.

In summary then, this phrase has come to mean simply “Everyone for himself, God for us all”. The Ghanaian Christian usage of this phrase is akin to a picture of many people gathered in a building and each person taking their own telephone line and making a call to God to tell them their personal problems. At the end of the day, we all say goodbye and we go home.

What The Phrase Means in Context

Ps 146:3 “Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save”

Ps 118:8-9 “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.”

Is 2:22 Stop trusting in mere humans,who have but a breath in their nostrils. Why hold them in esteem?

One of the easiest clues to what the authors meant is by asking why apart from skepticism about “trust in human beings”, they almost always add skepticism about trust in “princes”. This alone should sound the alarm bells that the authors of the Old Testament were not talking about refraining from telling your brother that you are hungry and broke.

You see, the people of Israel had a covenant relationship with Yahweh, which required that if they are faithful to their side of the covenant, Yahweh will remain faithful to his. One of the obligations of the covenant on Yahweh as captured in Torah (the books of Moses) was that he was to be the protector of that nation, in so far as the nation stayed faithful to him. This reciprocal relationship is what is captured in Deut 28-30, in what people sometimes describe as “blessings and curses” of the Law.

Yahweh in many ways forbid Israel from having a standing army, so that the people of Israel will rely on him to save them, not on their military might. A clear example of this is how Yahweh orders Gideon to reduce the size of his army by so using methods like asking them to drink water at a river and choosing those who did it right, etc etc. (Judges 6-7). But as usual the nation sometimes got scared when an enemy was at their gates, and some of their kings refused to rely on Yahweh for salvation, but to form alliances with other nations for their protection. The problem with such alliances was that since every nation in the Ancient Near East had it’s own god/gods, this presupposes that Israel was no longer relying on Yahweh but on the god of whatever nation they were looking up to, which was the functional equivalent of idolatory and sin. Therefore the prophets never ceased to criticize these alliances and the kings/leaders of Israel who forged them with their neighbours, warning that such alliances are an idolatrous breach of the covenant with Yahweh and will bring negative consequences. An example of such criticism is Is 30.

Is:30:1-2; “Woe to the obstinate children,” declares the Lord, “to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin; who go down to Egypt without consulting me; who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection, to Egypt’s shade for refuge.”

In context then, these warnings are to ensure that Israel should not abandon trust in Yahweh to defend them and to keep his promises, and has very little to do with listening to and helping one another.

So What?

If we are going to extrapolate what lessons this holds for us today, we should rather be realizing that God is questioning the Christian church’s and it’s membership’s faith in political institutions, rather than preventing us from sharing our concerns with one another in church.

Have we not noticed how Christians, even church leaders, feel so frustrated with government after government for not “fighting corruption” or “fixing the economy” or proposing to “solve dumsor in 3 months”? Have we not noticed our churches holding “thanksgiving services” (whatever that means) for our political parties et al? Is it not a sign that we have put our faith in “princes” and “human beings”, when we should be putting our faith in Jesus? Or is it because paying attention to Jesus actually means when times are hard we should actually be caring for our church members instead of asking more money from them and complaining that “the bad economy has affected our collections”?

Ironically, there’s a Ghanaian saying that “the one who sells his sickness finds a cure for it”. Can we go back to selling our sicknesses to one another as the New Testament shows, that we may be rid of this abuse of scripture and stop doing harm to the body of Christ?

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The Resurrection of the Jesus the Messiah, and the Task of the Church

Christmas is upon us, and so it seems a bit weird that I’m writing a post about the resurrection of Jesus (maybe I’m in Easter mood 🙂 ), but when you are hit with a great ‘aha’ moment, you either “write it or lose it”. So here I am, writing it. Maybe you’ll see my point, and how that is even related to Christmas.

So here I was, reading a recent blog post by NT scholar Scott McKnight on his Jesus creed blog. He’d been reviewing a certain Mike Birds’s “Evangelical Theology” book, and reiterated something that Mike said in the book – that the resurrection of Jesus is the most neglected chapter in evangelical theology. He referred to the sermons that Peter and Paul gave in Acts 2, Acts 13 and Acts 17 to buttress his point. Now those of you who are familiar with my posts will notice I’ve made a big deal of these passages because these are the first recorded evidence of how the apostles presented what we call “the gospel”. And yet, it seems as human as I am, I had missed something striking in the passage, something which upon further attention, I wonder how I’d missed it.

I know that the dominant mindset regarding the resurrection of Jesus Christ is that it signifies that we will also resurrect in the last day and also go to heaven. But I want to challenge you that the resurrection of Jesus means miles and miles more than that. So just think and read with me as I go along.

 

Acts 2

When Peter was first called upon to defend what had happened on the day of Pentecost, he describes what the prophets had said about the pouring out of the spirit (v 14-21). He then proceeds to talk about the life, activities and miraculous deeds of Jesus, and his death at the hands of the Jews. (v 22-23). But from 24 all the way to 36, he hones in on Jesus’s resurrection, quoting David and saying that Jesus’s resurrection vindicates him as the Messiah that they were waiting for. In effect, the fact that Jesus resurrected from the dead was the good news. Now, maybe you may not see what I’m talking about, but Acts 13 makes it even more explicit.

 

Acts 13

From verse 13 we encounter Paul in a synagogue, invited to speak to the gathering (I guess his credentials as a Pharisee had something to do with that, but that’s just my personal hunch). He accepts the invitation, and begins by recounting the history of the nation Israel, (v 16-22). He then states that the expected descendant of David is Jesus, describes his life, and the events leading to his death (v 23-29). The he hones in on the man’s resurrection from v 30 to 38, and makes a startling statement in v 32 – “We tell you THE GOOD NEWS: What God promised our ancestors he has fulfilled for us, their children, BY RAISING UP JESUS”. As we all may be aware, the word “gospel” means exactly that – “good news”. And Paul here states exactly what it is – the fact that this Jesus is the resurrected Messiah from the dead.

 

Acts 17

Again, we encounter Paul at the Agora in Athens, and he is trying to put forward his best argument for Jesus amongst the other Gods that the Greek worshiped. It is interesting that he finds himself amongst Epicurean and Stoic philosophers, for those were the worldviews that dominated their lives at the time. From Acts 17:22, Paul tries to make a case for the God of Israel being the one and only God who created heaven, earth and everything within it. He states that this God of Israel intends to judge the earth with justice by a certain man, and the proof of his appointment by God was not by any other means else than by the fact that he is resurrected. “He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead v 31”. With the mention of resurrection, you can see the reaction of the people captured in v 32. Some sneered, but some said they wanted to hear more. It seems then, that Jesus resurrection is truly the real encapsulation of the message of the apostles.

 

What’s With Resurrection?

To The Jew

To the 1st century Jew, who was used to many people calling themselves Messiahs, ranging from Judas Maccabeus (probably the most successful one because of his success in fighting the Syrians, for which the Jews now have the festival Hanukkah today) to Menaheim, to John of Gischala to Simon bar Kochba, none of them had ever died and resurrected. To the Jewish mind, the ultimate enemy was not sin, but rather death. This is also why Jesus Christ talks a lot in the gospels about “life” i.e. he being the giver of life; the way, the truth and the life and many more such statements.

The Jewish hope was that in the age to come, all righteous Jews will be resurrected to obtain their promised inheritance – the kingdom of God. Therefore for someone to claim to be the Messiah, do all the wonderful signs he did as prophesied by the prophets, and to conquer death, the last enemy (even in Revelations 20, death and Hades are the last enemies to be defeated ), this person was truly the Messiah. No wonder then that announcement of the resurrected Messiah was “the gospel”, heralding the beginning of the kingdom of God. It is also not surprising what Paul says in 1 Cor 15:1-8, where instead of simply stating Jesus’s resurrection as he stated the other events of his life, he adds 3 additional verses of evidence to shore up confidence in the resurrection of Jesus.

 

 

To the Gentile

The Gentile world (and the Jewish as well) was ruled by Romans at the time, whose emperors did not fail to announce themselves not only as the kings of the world, but as gods and “sons of gods”.

In fact, Emperor Augustus official title was “Emperor Caesar Augustus, son of God”. After his death, his successor had him officially declared a god, and thence the emperors that followed began demanding worship, not just as king, but as gods. And yet, not one of them, from Augustus to Tiberius to Vespasian to Domitian ever died and resurrected. Not one.

Therefore a King who had died and resurrected, was definitely worth pondering about. For neither Stoicism (which was and is a closer worldview to Christianity) nor Epicureanism (which is much closer to today’s postmodern worldview) were prepared with an answer to a king that had overcome death. This was definitely important, and required either that one accepts Paul’s message and ask for further clarification as some did, or reject it as incredulous as others did. There’s no middle line.

It is also not surprising for the early disciples to use the same word “euangelion” (the greek word for gospel aka good news) and the title “son of God” that the Gentiles used in announcing their king. In fact, there’s also very high suspicion that the disciples were very intentional about their use of the following statement

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” – Peter in Acts 4:12

“There is no other name under heaven by which men can be saved than that of Caesar” – Augustus Caesar – 27 BC to 14 AD

 

And so what?

After Paul’s long diatribe on the resurrection in 1 Cor 15, he makes a significant statement at the end of the chapter.

“Therefore my brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Cor 15:58)

Now what labour is this old man Paul talking about again? I thought resurrection meant we were all getting pimped up to go to heaven, not so? Well, of course that’s true, but that’s only half the story so let’s look at the other half.

 

The Coming of the Messiah not only Means Hope, But also Work for the Church

One of the cardinal hopes of Judaism, especially of 1st century Judaism was that Israel may be the light of the world. As God had promised to Abraham, he will bless them, that through them all nations will be bless (Gen 12:1-3) This expectation is especially captured in Isaiah 60:3, about the glory of Zion

“Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn”(Isaiah 60:3).

And this they prayed for and sang about in their Psalms, displayed in a psalm like Ps 67

“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us – so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations” (Ps 67:1-2).

The confusing bit is that the task of the nation Israel is almost always expected to be the task also of the Messiah, again captured by Isaiah about the “servant of God”.

“I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, and a light for the Gentiles” (Isaiah 42:6)

“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant … I will also make you a light for the Gentiles …”(Isaiah 49:6)

Other tasks of the servant/king/Messiah are documented in the Psalms and Prophets but Ps 72:17 links it directly to the promise to Abraham. That Psalm is probably the most comprehensive statement of the job description of the Messiah in all the Psalms.

Since Jesus explicitly said that the nation Israel had failed to be that light (Mt 5:13-16), he was now constituting a new people who shall share his task (Jn 15, he is the vine, and we are his branches, and other such passages) called his church, just like the Zion was supposed to share the task of their expected servant.

 

This then is the driving force behind Paul’s ministry. He preached a gospel of the resurrected Messiah, and he strengthened the people so converted to be the carriers out of the task of that Messiah, not as individuals, but acting as a nation would – together. This is what then he says in Eph 3:10-11.

“His [God’s] intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made know to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to the eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord”

I posit that this is Pauls equivalent of saying “you (the church) shall be the light onto the nations”

Ok, We’ve Had Enough

Well, I’ve had enough too, because that’s basically the end of my amazement. Of course, I had always complained in previous posts that centering the message of Jesus around forgiveness of sins so we could hold hands and sing kumbaya in heaven was only the quarter of it, but the fact that the kingship of Jesus Christ validated by his resurrection is what was the pivot of the “good news”of our beloved early disciples did shake me myself.

I had read the 800 page “Jesus and the Victory of God” in which NT Wright made the parallel between the task of the Messiah and the task of his people, but I still hadn’t made the connection between resurrection and the gospel, and why that was the basis of their confidence. Because if strengthened and emboldened by the resurrection of their messiah the task of the Messiah becomes the task of the church, then faithful Christians are those who, working with others in the guidance of the Holy Spirit, pursue the Messiah’s task, not their personal agendas.

And this also is why Paul wrote his epistles. Not as love letters to be read by “me, myself and I”, but as guiding principles that a people who everywhere together represent the Messiah, shall think and act together that they truly shall together, be the light to the world. The task of shining a light, the task of justice, the task of relief to the poor, the task of self-sacrifice, the task of relieving the oppressed and the many other tasks described in places like Ps 72, Isaiah 61 etc is not mine, neither is it yours. It is ours, and we the church must be busy about that task. If not, we have acted like Israel – we want the blessings, that we may spend them all on ourselves and not extend it to the Gentiles. But the worst part is if we choose to devolve it to individual activity. For then, the task is totally not achievable.

But when we’ve truly been busy at the task, then we can sing joy to the world, because we have indeed brought joy through our king. For his coming is indeed “good news”.

The Law and Grace – Differences & Similarities 2: Leadership

I’ve been looking further again at the differences and similarities between the Old Testament and the New Testament. One of these differences which I mentioned in my first post I want to take a deeper look at – the leadership of the participants of the covenants.

In my previous submission I sought to establish that Christians are the modern day equivalent of Levites, and our high priest is Christ himself.

1 Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Rev 1:5-6 To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made use to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father – to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

Heb 4:16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Interestingly, this promise was given to the Israelite people as well in Ex 19:5-6

Ex 19:5-6 Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

The difference between the two however is in the actualization of this promise. In the OT, only the Levite tribe was allowed entry into the Tent of Meeting and therefore the people could only approach God through them. Look at what Moses said to Korah the Levite when he challenged him.

Nu 16:9 Isn’t it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelite community and brought you near himself to do the work at the Lord’s tabernacle and to stand before the community and minister to them?

However, Heb 4:16 tells us that we can approach the throne of grace “with confidence”. And I Co 3:16 says we are the temple of God and of His Spirit. The promise of a kingdom of priests that the Israelite community did not fully have is granted in all it’s essence to every disciple of Christ.

With that established, we’ll come to the substantive matter at hand: leadership. Taking the Christian life to be a journey to a promised land (which it actually is in reality), it is important for us to understand that God is leading us in the same way that he led them in the exodus from Egypt to Caanan. The striking parallels of this truth are expressed all over the NT, some examples of which are 1 Co 10:1-13 and much of the book of Hebrews.

The leaders of the people of Israel in the Exodus was Moses and Aaron. The two represent on one hand authoritative leadership and mediation and on the other intercession for the sins of the covenanted. These responsibilities are also explicitly shown and assumed by Christ Jesus in the NT. As we seek to establish these similarities/differences, we’ll see how they should affect what Christianity should be like (and probably isn’t right now).

Leadership in the OT

God appointed Moses the man to lead the people out of Egypt into Canaan.

Ex 3:9-10 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.

When Miriam and Aaron opposed Moses’ leadership, God himself testified about him and the role of leadership that God had called him to.

Nu 12:6-8 When a prophet of the Lord is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams. But this is not true of Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?

This burden of leadership of an ungrateful, unbelieving people was such that even Moses had cause to complain why God had made him lead these people.

Nu 11:11-12 He asked the Lord, “Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land you promised on oath to their forefathers?

That Moses was also the mediator of the OT cannot be overemphasized. When he was ready to declare the decrees of God to them, this was his introductory statement:

Dt 5:4-5 The Lord spoke to you face to face out of the fire on the mountain. (At that time I stood between the Lord and you to declare to you the word of the Lord, because you were afraid of the fire and did not go up the mountain).

And again hear him repeat what the Israelites told him to do:

Dt 5:25,27 But now, why should we die? This great fire will consume us, and we will die if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer … Go near and listen to all that the Lord our God says. Then tell us whatever the Lord our God tells you. We will listen and obey.

The Apostle John confirms this statement, comparing his role to that of Christ.

Jn 1:17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came though Jesus Christ.

The ceremonial work of atoning for the sins of the nation of Israel was declared the duty of Aaron and his family, with the rest of the Levite clan assisting him.

Lev 9:7 Moses said to Aaron, “Come to the altar and sacrifice your sin offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself and the people; sacrifice the offering that is for the people and make atonement for them, as the Lord commanded.”

Nu 3:5-6 The Lord said to Moses, “Bring the tribe of Levi and present them to Aaron the priest to assist him.”

It is worth noting the division of responsibilities to two different people – Moses and Aaron, even though they were all of the same tribe of Levi. However, this was not the original idea of God. When God called Moses he gave him all the authority and responsibilities needed to lead the people of Israel. It was based Moses’ own insistence on his inadequacy that God provided Aaron.

Ex 4:13-15 But Moses said, “Oh Lord, please send someone else to do it.” Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well … You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you to speak and will teach you what to do.

Leadership in the NT

Jesus Christ’s leadership had two purposes which were closely interlinked – to lead us like Moses, into a promised land referred to as the Kingdom of God where we will be the kings, and secondly to lead us to God himself. The achievement of the former implies the fulfillment of the latter.

Mt 19:27 Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?” Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

Jn 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

If there is one other role of Jesus Christ that most Christians will not dispute, it’s the role of of mediation – as already stated in Jn 1:17 above and reiterated in 1 Ti 2:5.

1 Ti 2:5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

The role of atonement for the sins of the people which Jesus Christ again plays is better captured in the book of Hebrews.

Heb 8:1-2 The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a hight priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man.

Heb 7:20 He has become a high priest for ever, in the order of Melchizedek.

Heb 7:11 If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the law was given to the people), why was there still need for another priest to come – one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron.

So we see two clear things happening with the coming of Jesus Christ.

  1. A parallel form of leadership to that of the Law.

  2. A combination of both offices of leadership and priesthood (what Peter calls “royal priesthood” in 1 Pe 2:9) into one person – the person of Jesus Christ. The unification of leadership into one person was the same thing God wanted to achieve when he called Moses, but seeing his human failure, had to break that responsibility up into two to include Aaron as well.

Obviously, the calling of Jesus Christ is far superior to that of Moses and Aaron, though the form and function of it is still the same – to lead God’s people to Him and to His purpose. The all-encompassing, all-sufficient leadership of Christ is very well captured in Eph 1:22

Eph 1:22-23 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

This understanding of the role of Christ to the people he is leading (the Church composed of his disciples) forms the basis then for a very critical look at Christianity today. I believe that most Christians accept the fact that Christ is our priest and the mediator of the covenant between us and God. But most of us do not also fully realize the dimensions of his authoritative leadership of the church.

Christ is the head of the Church, and therefore that position cannot be taken by a human being, whether symbolically or authoritatively. His authority cannot be challenged, in the same way Korah could not challenge the authority and calling of Moses. He exerts his authority as head of the Church through the Holy Spirit (take a critical look at Acts 15). This understanding of the role of Christ was so well grounded in NT Christians that there is no recorded pattern of single leadership of any local church – all examples denoted plural leadership. That way the Holy Spirit brings them (the leaders) as well as the whole body into agreement signifying the will of Christ, not of one person as we have it today. No wonder strong rebuke was given to those who made such attempts.

3 Jn 9-10 I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us. So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, gossiping maliciously about us. Not satisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.

I Co 1:12-13 What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ”. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you?

This is why I do not agree with the notion of man made authorities like Popes, Moderators, Presidents, General Overseers, Archbishops, Chairmen and co – whether they are symbolic or authoritative. They are all usurping the role of Christ exerted through the Holy Spirit on this earth.

The Current Situation

Today we have a situation in Christendom where our pastors have created their own “Levitical” tribe called the “clergy” and labeled everyone else the “lay” ( I don’t know where these terms are in the Bible). They have twisted the OT to put their brothers into “slavery” under them. I guess the “clergy” does not understand the definition of their role as per Eph 4:11-16. What do they understand of “… to prepare God’s people for works of service”? I hope the understanding is that the works of service are to be done for God, not for them. They have forgotten that they are to teach men & women to be like Christ, filled with the word and with the Spirit – so that they won’t be blown by all sorts of winds (Eph 4:15-16), a good example of which is the current wind of “prosperity” cum “motivational” teaching.

Unfortunately the concept of the “lay” has really made Christians “laid” back (I think the appropriateness of the word itself cannot be lost on anyone). And this has been so well ingrained in Christians of today that we do not see the need to even know the word of God for ourselves. After all as Isaiah said, we think that the word is “sealed” – only the clergy can expound it to us. We don’t understand that we ARE the priests who are supposed to be doing the work with our High Priest, not someone else doing it for us.

Is 29:11-12 For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read and say tho him, “Read this, please,” he will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed”. Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read and say “Read this, please,” he will answer, “I don’t know how to read”.

But look at what the Apostle Paul advised the Colossian church to do.

Col 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in your richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your heart to God.

Today, to have an intellectual discussion with a fellow Christian about the word of God is tantamount to heresy. It is as if we are afraid of the word of God. Our Christianity is only evident in the four corners of the church room. We don’t have the word dwelling in us, so we can’t discuss it. At best, we can only talk of opinions and mindsets, not on what the word itself says. In fact, Christians are not interesting anymore. Most of us are in it for the social value and fashion statement and have never truly repented, believed and obeyed.

Let us look at the word of God again and ask the Spirit to lead us into truth because we have our Moses and Aaron – and he is called Jesus Christ. No one else in any form can take His place.