It is not what you think. This is not about Igbo, Yoruba or Hausa. It is about the eternal Universal Tribe, embracing all, sans colour and tongue. This is not about the ‘shakara’ of arrogance. It is the pride in Him for whom we are called into salvation.
When I saw Ogechi’s post on Facebook, my heart leapt with joy. She made me realise that the mantle of our General, Rev. Dr Obiora Ezekiel, who relocated to be with the Lord last year, touched his seed.
Ogechi is actually a scion of the legendary, unforgettable Man of God. She ministers in South Africa in one of the branches of Christian Pentecostal Mission (CPM), which her father founded over 40 years ago.
Now, this is what Ogechi wrote: “Last Sunday was Heritage Celebration Day in South Africa and I decided to dress in a Xhosa tribal wear.
“But here is the interesting part – We belong to One Tribe – the Tribe of the Lion of Judah.
“We belong to One Pride – led by none other – the King of the Jungle Himself – Jesus Christ.
“And may I remind you this morning – It’s not too late to roar. Be kingdom-oriented. Be a Soul Winner. Dominate the earth. Reproduce your kind. Be intentional. Be Focused. Forgive. Drink water. Smile.”
Isn’t that amazing; such awesome, inspiring words of exhortation, delivered with flowery flourish and élan?
Indeed, we belong to the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. We belong to the Pride ably led by our Lord Jesus Christ.
Sadly, we are more into the tribal boundaries set up by man. We are engaged in unholy competitions of which church is larger. We are into denominational divides, taking pride in huge soulless cathedrals where men exhibit their pride outside the Pride led by Christ.
Is this not why we cannot roar? Is it not why we hate and fight? Is this not why there is strife and envy among the brethren? Is this not why we cringe in fear, even when children of the bondwoman cough?
Where is the Pentecostal power that we received to tread upon serpents and scorpions? Is the Fourth Man dead? How come there are no more Shedrachs, Meshachs and Abednegos to defy the heathen king and his fire? Why do we now find the king’s poisonous porridge salacious and irresistible? When Daniel did, was he not found to be more robust and fresher?
Christians need to rise and live up to their forsaken heritage. We should not be entrapped by the varnished and vanishing allure of the world and bought for nothing in the polluted world market of Satan and his cohorts.
It is time we took our place and boldly declare the full counsel of the Lord upon the earth. We must make our light shine through the thick darkness that has enveloped the world. Just as kerosene is a strange mate to water, so is a Christian yoked with the world. Sadly, we are hardly different from the pack. Our ways are now the ways of the world, our thoughts, their thoughts. That is why we move in circles or inhibited in motion and then make God our scapegoat.
Light up your candle on the hill for the world to see. Add your salt to season a tasteless humanity.
The true church must be heard. It is because the true church is in hiding that charlatans are on stage, tainting the message. So, fire no longer falls from heaven but conjured contraptions from wicked breasts, drawing many souls away.
For how long shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?
Unfortunately, we walked into those lands on our own. We went in pursuit of transient pleasures and got stuck. It is not all over yet though. Break the cage NOW and let the bird escape.
Let us forsake our prodigal ways and return to Zion. Let us pull down the walls of division and return to the Pride. Let us throw down the altars and the wool over our eyes.
Yes, Oge is right. The world is waiting for our roar, instead of our whining. We are of the Tribe of the Lion of Judah. The lion owns the jungle. How then could His offspring be lost to minions when they should be roaring?
Because we are complacent, heady or reckless. Because we have put self above God. Because we are self-professing saints who are not saintly. Because we are peculiar people and a chosen generation but have refused to turn our backs on the world and its trappings. Because we are called out from among them but have married heathen strangers and let their gods pollute our minds.
We no longer differentiate between God and mammon. We have become more of the world and lost sight of heaven. We are in politics, adorned in bishopric regalia of deception, bowing to the gods of filthy lucre. We are in business places, using false measurements to defraud the ignorant. We log laptops, looking for easy prey to snatch their savings by stealth under weird anointing by satanic showmen serenading spurious altars, gaily dressed with affected mannerisms and drama, preaching novel doctrines.
Our vision of heaven is blurred by the flashing light of carnal desires. We are new in Christ yet old things are alive and active, foisting hybrid confusion upon the church of Christ.
Where is the newness when we come to Chris if we pour new wine into old bottles? We have let the subtlety of Satan to prevail over us as he did in Eden. This is the root of all the confusion we see in our churches today – a coat of many colours. E no fit work!
Do we not hear the raucous smacks in the smelly mouth of a rotten world? Do we not see the sneer on their faces because of the shame and aspersions we have cast on the church of Christ? Do we not perceive God hiding His face in revulsion and shame because we have squandered His investment in us? What shall we do, brethren, to purge the church of this evil that the blood of Christ was not poured out in vain?
We must prove to the world that pastor is a title that even hooligans pick up without the anointing. We must prove to them that there is much more to answering a Christian by our conduct and averments. Yes, we must redeem the name of the church of Christ through Christly behaviour. We must indeed be written epistles for the world to see and emulate. We must not close the door of salvation to potential converts by our sensual attachments.
We bear in us the mark of Christ, which no man must trouble and which we too must not rub off with corroding immoral inclinations alien to the fold of Christ. We must strive to escape the wrath laid for the children of disobedience.
Of course, today in Nigeria, ‘obidience’, is rising like the surge of an angry sea. However, it denotes a longing for change from the old order. For this change to take root though, we all must first become obedient to the heavenly vision and handover the reins of our life to Him that is above all. When this is done, all else becomes easy whether in the churches, mosques or secular endeavours.
He will sweep away the filth that has ravaged the land for far too long and enthrone a man after His own heart to cleanse and heal the land. He will purge the altars and flounce into the abyss all self-called prophets and prophetesses, feeding fat on gullible minds. God knows those that are His.
That young woman, Oge, said it all. If you belong to the Pride led by the Lord, let us come together under the Tribe of peculiar people and “Be kingdom-oriented. Be a Soul Winner. Dominate the earth. Reproduce your kind. Be intentional. Be Focused. Forgive. Drink water. Smile.”