HARD TRUTH: CHURCHES ARE TOO SUPERSTITIOUS - REV. FIDEL ADUAYE-ODIETE

HARD TRUTH:

By Rev. Fidel Aduaye-Odiete

Me thinks that our modern-day Churches are too superstitious in many things.

And we're propounding our man-made religion as Christianity.

Nothing is Christian, that does not issue from Jesus Christ and many of the doctrines, rites and observances that are renown in our Churches today, have no bearing with what Christ brought.

Let's take the issue of how Christ wants us to engage our world, and how the modern doctrines want us to do it.

Our Lord commissioned us to go into all the world and PREACH (proclaim, declare, announce, His word, counsel and judgment) to it.-Mark 16:15.

Clear unambiguous commission. 'Go PREACH to the world.'

He DID NOT say, "Go into the world and PRAY for it.

The prime engagement of the Church is to preach to the world, not pray for it.

Even in His time, Jesus never prayed for the world. The only way He engaged the world was to preach to it.

He went about His community doing that. Not engaging His world in "prayer meetings."-Mat4:23. He said:

" I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours."

-John 17:9 NKJV

We also have no record of the early Church praying for the world. Thus, from Jesus to the Early Church, there's no record of them:

1- Praying for any ruler to rule well.

2- Praying for the nation to progress. Actually, "nations" were alternatively referred to as " heathens" in scriptures. What any heathen needs is the preaching of the gospel.

So when Philip went to the city of Samaria, all he did was "preach Christ to them" and the city was never the same again.-Acts 8:5-6

But the early Church prayed ABOUT the rulers of their day. They asked God to:

1-Behold their threat against the gospel and deal with it.-Acts 4:27-29

2- Grant them boldness to preach the gospel in the rulers' jurisdiction.-Acts4:29-31

Jesus also told us to pray ABOUT our world. He asked us to ask the Lord of the harvest to send forth labourers into the world's harvest field.- Mat 9:38.

'But Paul asked us to pray for rulers?'

Yes he did, but not to pray WITH the rulers. Now we want to go to Government houses to pray with our rulers. Rubbish.

If you go there, just preach the gospel to them or don't go. Going there to pray for them to rule well, to live long, etc, is like just saying "twinkle twinkle little stars" and expecting change.

If the ruler is a wicked man, prayer will not convert him; it's only preaching the gospel that has the power to convert him.-Rom 1:16

If you must pray ABOUT a wicked ruler, I believe it should be for one of two things:

1-For him to be restrained from hindering the spread of the gospel and godly living.

2-For him to be deposed and replaced with a sane person.

So the essence of Paul's request for prayers for kings and men in authority, is so "that we may LEAD a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence."-1Tim 2:3

It's not about the ruler's well-being and progress; it's about us.

While holding ecumenical meetings to pray with the world looks wise, it's useless.

Your encounter with the world should be to PREACH to it .

And, prayer should be made with men of your own company to be effective.-Acts4:23-24.

Yoking together with unbelievers to pray, is just POLITICS.

'What if you are invited by the world to pray?' Lead them to accept Jesus