Mark 12:37
It is an unchangeable truth that our God – the God of the Old Testament and the New Testament – is a missionary God. It has always been His will that all humankind should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. It is His unalterable will. We therefore remain determined to pray for the nation of Ukraine, that His kingdom come and that His will be done in all the earth. May their oppressors be made to cease and desist in Jesus’ Name.
As we look around today, it seems so much that many of us in His church have become preoccupied with our own agendas and have forgotten the real reason and cause for our existence as His church. However, He keeps forever reminding us that we are not at liberty to set our own course and trajectory, but we are here at His bidding and as His church and people to fulfil His purpose and will. Like the apostle, we pray, “Lord what wilt thou have us to do?”
It is my strong belief that the Church is being called upon today to take another look at Jesus – to rediscover the true Jesus of the gospel narratives. Could it be that we are preaching Him, without really knowing Him, and therefore misrepresenting Him and not accurately portraying Him. How often do we forget that He himself was a marginalized person who often hung out with people who were marginalized and who were ostracized by the religious system and religious people of His time. Scriptures reveal that he was notorious for hanging out with the wrong types. He was often seen in the wrong places, with the wrong people at the wrong times.
Jesus was intensely radical and revolutionary. He broke the mold! He shook things up! He refused to fit in and could not. He came on the supreme mission of change and redemption and instead of being changed by the culture, He deliberately changed and influenced the culture. Like Jesus was, so must we be in this twenty-first century world. We cannot ever forget His electrifying words, “…As my father hath sent me, even so send I you” (John 20:21). He was an activist, a life-changer and a world-changer. He was engaged, energized and passionate!
The Jesus we were sent to preach and represent, was somehow according to a true analysis of scripture, characterized by holy laughter, a sheer love of life and an infectious holiness. It must not be minimized that “ . . . The common people heard him gladly” (Mark 12:37). They enjoyed listening to Him and being around Him. Somehow, He possessed the kind of holiness that did not repulse sinners. He had a religion that appealed to the common people. He possessed an attractive spirituality – a spirituality of engagement that made people see what they lacked and what they needed. It rather drew people to Him.
May the Church of God re-introduce this real Jesus to our modern-day world, who is so in need of this Jesus. Contrary to the thinking of some, our Jesus was no deadbeat! He was no sour, sulky, uptight, unpleasant Messiah. He was refreshingly unorthodox, unconventional and non-conformist. He challenged hypocrisies, fake religion, religious showmanship and false piety. He was real! He really had somewhat of a playful, rather attractive, engaging, fascinating spirituality that caused people to want to imitate Him, making them want to forget and leave former lifestyles and pursuits behind (John 4; Luke 19).
I say, let the Church of God be real again. May we earnestly seek to possess and demonstrate an attractive spirituality like Jesus – a spirituality of engagement, which draws the common people to seek engagement and constant interaction with Him!
Leroy V. Greenaway
Presiding Bishop – Northeast Region
