CHRISTIANS and non-Christians of African origin have been challenged to wake up from their docility and key into the changes going on to be able to take different aspects of life and different nations for God.
This call was made by Reverend Dapo Adegboyega while ministering at the headquarters of Salvation Proclaimers Anointed Church in Ibadan. He said it was a shame that Christians have outsourced what they have the natural ability to accomplish to others in the secular world on the grounds that they are chasing the heavenly kingdom.
The widely-travelled minister of the gospel who has planted churches in many European countries pointed out that consumerism is destroying Africans and is the bane of the continent’s development. According to him, the failure of Christians and Africans in general to evolve with the times would only put us at the mercy of other people who use their talents and abilities creatively. He added that these ones are not necessarily our friends but they are after what they get from us.
Quoting from 1 Samuel 13:16-19, Reverend Dapo explained that the Hebrews failed to sharpen their weapons and were left with no choice but to do that in the land of the Philistines who were their enemies.
“How would you rely on your enemy to sharpen your tools? Does that sound reasonable? The Europeans and people from other continents are the ones who produce for us, they help us sharpen our weapons while we rely on prayer and miracles alone.”
Reverend D explained that while prayer is non-negotiable for believers, there is more to be done. He called on Christians to break free from whatever it is that makes them go all out for miracles when they can actually be inventors and co-creators with God.
“Prayer alone will not bring development or advancement to the world. There are things we now use like water that were never thought of 15 years ago. It was predicted many years ago that we will one day have phones that can be carried in our pockets. The people who invented the telephone did not go and start praying and wait for the invention to appear. They did the hard work and invented the telephone while making advancements on the first production. The big land lines have given way to mobile phones which have also given rise to the sleek and powerful gadgets that we now rely on for our day-to-day interactions and communication.”
Calling on believers to stop hiding, Reverend Dapo said change makers of the society have to rise from the Church. According to him, it is sad that the Church is not making enough efforts to be part of the change that is taking place. He challenged Christians to not use the kingdom of heaven as the excuse which prevents them from having dominion as has been given by God.
“Christians are not ruling today because many of us are not moving with the trends. We are meant to be rulers but we are being ruled. Our world is changing but the Church has refused to change, Africa has refused to change. Africa must rise from the shackles of backwardness. It is a shame that consumerism is destroying Africa and letting talents go to waste. Don’t just throw your hands in the air and pray when God has given you the ability to be a co-creator. Many of us need to stretch our minds and not put it all on God. You have the mind of Christ and should put it to use.”
“When the television came, there were conspiracy theories against it. People said all sorts about social media before it became the in-thing. God is a creator and you are created to be a co-creator but many of us, especially Christians and people of the black race run away from creating.”
He added that inventions many of the inventions we see today have their origins in the Bible, comparing the tablet on which God wrote the 10 Commandments to the present day computer tablets
“Many of the miracles in the Bible are forerunners to motivate man to improve on them. When God made a way through the Red Sea, the white man saw the opportunity to make bridges and tunnels while the black man saw a miracle. We are so crazy about miracles; we never want to be creative. It will not be too far-fetched to say aeroplanes took their origin from the chariot of fire that took Elijah. Many of these supposed miraculous things are not just to create a mentality that God is all about miracles. They are to make us creative enough to be co-creators. Looking for miracles has killed every bit of creativity that we can come up with.
Reverend Dapo said there is a need for Christians to take their place in the different facets of life they operate in so as to make God proud; adding that it is only by dominating different spheres of human endeavours that they can fulfil part of the Lord’s prayer which says “Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven”.
“Christians have to stand up and be counted in their professional fields. We have Christians in banking, construction, finance, law and the like who should stand up and let it be known that they stand for Christ.”
As he wrapped up his message, he announced that the Church was going to set up a coding academy for youths to come learn what it entails to be active players in the new world.
“We should encourage our young ones to get into school and study courses that will give them careers in the new world, careers that will be relevant in the next 30 years. Our coding academy will take off soon and we intend to teach youths stuff that will make them take over and build a massive army for The Lord.”