The messenger must become the message!

Matt 5:14-16 "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 lamp stand, 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.”

Some years ago in the city of Athens in Greece I did something that made me ashamed whenever I think about it. I was the assistant Pastor of Christ Apostolic Church Athens, and after preaching a very vibrant message in church one Sunday, I met a black man on the street the next Wednesday and this is what happened. When this man met me, he started talking to me in Igbo (one of Nigerians dialects). I stopped him immediately and for some reasons I started raining canal talks on him, I asked if any black man he sees in the street must be a Nigerian, or must I be an Igbo, ‘how dare you meet me and just start talking rubbish,’ I said, ‘just because you think that Igbos own the world.’ and with anger, I told him to think twice before speaking to people any how on the street. As I was about to leave, he said this “Pastor, I was in your church last Sunday and I heard your wonderful sermon, but I thought you are a Nigerian because we hardly have other blacks from other country who preach like you did. So when I saw you hear now I thought you could be of help to me because I am new in town and I need someone to direct me on how to legalize my document.” He said a lot of other things but nothing hit me so hard as these words “Pastor I was in your church last Sunday and I heard your wonderful sermon.” I really felt bad, though I helped him latter on but till today when I think of that incident I feel bad.

As a Christian, the only Bible some people will ever read is your life; people who cannot read the bible are reading your life. It is one thing to hear it, read it, say it, preach it but it is another thing to do it and become it. Until you become the message that you are carrying, it cannot go through for a break through in people’s lives. Sometimes, unbelievers will look at the life of one believer and they will say ‘I wish I was like that person’ and they will look at another believer and they will say ‘if being a believer will end me up like that person, I better die an unbeliever.’ That is why author Bob Gass said this “the strongest argument for Christianity is Christians and the strongest argument against Christianity is Christians’ actions speak louder than words.

The Bible says in our opening scripture that we are the light of the world. The Amplified Bible puts it this way in Math 5:16 “let your light so shine before men that they may see your moral excellence and your praiseworthy, noble, and good deeds and recognize and honor and praise and glorify your Father who is in Heaven” The purpose of light is to shine; light sends away darkness and light make shadows to disappear all by shinning. So it will not fulfill its purpose if it is not shinning. We understand that you have light or that you are light, but it is the shinning of the light that makes it light, no doubt Jesus said; you cannot light your lamp and put it under the basket. The message here is this; it is the light in the lamp that makes the lamp a lamp. So do any thing to let your light shine.

One great man of God Francis Asisi once asked one of his co-pastors to go out with him for evangelism. When they went out to the city center, they greeted a few people, had a few conversations with them and then returned home. When they came back home, the co-pastor said ‘I thought you said we are going out to evangelize, but we didn’t evangelize’ and Assisi Replied, ‘our action in the city center preached the Gospel.’ Sometimes, we don’t have to open our mouth to say something, sometimes we don’t have to quote scripture to people because people are looking for more scripture doers than scripture quoters. May be that is why I did not quote any other scripture here but just to remind you that the missionary must become the mission and the messenger must become the message. The world is looking at you who say you are a Christian.

Until next week, this has been your humble servant and partner, Columbus A.F. reminding you that “…He came that you may have life and have it more abundantly.” John 10:10. You are blessed for life.

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