Purpose or Survival: What drives me on this path?

There are only two spheres in which we can exist in this world: we either live for purpose or we automatically switch into a race for survival. No living being exists outside this scope; we are either motivated or driven by purpose or by survival. It would not be a revelation to state that majority of the people are living to survive rather than living a purposeful life. However, it is important to state the danger when majority lose focus on purpose and instead live to survive. A drowning man has no regard to whom and what he grabs to survive; he would grab and push whatever he touches, even if it means pushing anything on his way down the river. I believe that greed and selfishness are the direct products of ignorance of purpose. My country Nigeria provides an example of a nation, though destined and equipped to be great, we continue to wallow in mediocrity because our leaders and the people are locked in the dark dungeon of selfishness and an unending race for survival and significance. The politician, the banker, the contractor, the garri seller, the petrol attendant, the civil servant, and the religious leader who lives to survive use their authority to ensure survival even at the expense everyone else. Consequently, we have a society where the evidence of greed shines like a star in the dark eyes of everyone and every encounter.

Anyway, I will get back to this topic; it is hard to say anything these days without a mention of the situation in my beloved country. God help us. The unfortunate consequence of living without a specific purpose is a life without direction. But in reality, no one lives without a direction. We all wake up every morning seeking and working the path towards a direction we believe will guarantee happiness and bring us to the pinnacle of human ambition. Some seek greatness through genuine hard work and dedication, others fight to achieve success through legal and/or illegal means, and many seek recognition and social status through service and/or oppression, while many simply seek to feed the stomach through the work of their hands, whether good or bad. However, the regrettable fact in this entire race is that many of us have lost the direction towards the reason for our existence -- what Dr. Myles Munroe terms as the “why we exist”. The reason for this article is to encourage someone out there, May-be, about to choose a life partner, register for a course, or seek a new business or political office. Since “knowing the reason for what we have is much more important than what we have”, we must understand the motivation and the driving force behind our pursuit and direction. Before we undertake our 2010 resolutions, we must truthfully examine the reason behind our goals. Will this path lead me to the why I exist?

After considering a career in medicine, I once enrolled in college in the US to become a pharmacist. Even though I knew, intimately, that I never wanted to be any of these, my driving force was to make (some) money and specifically to earn a level of respect and acceptance from my community and the society. My imaginations of the respect and recognition from the society provided strength and courage for this choice. After-all, the sound of Dr. Chidi wouldn’t be so bad. At least in my neck of woods, one is most likely to receive lesser interrogation from would be parents- in-law with the title of Dr. Of-course there is absolutely nothing wrong with this profession (many are called in these areas) and had I finished, I would have earned the respect and be making quite some change. But when I think about it now, I know I was running a race to survive and to achieve success according to the definition of the society. I would have chosen a good career path, but not necessarily the right path for me when compared to my purpose and the why I exist. In this circumstance, I believe God answered my most favorite prayer to always direct my footsteps no matter how my heart plans my way.

The society dictates to us who to marry, where we should marry from, how to treat our spouse, what to study in school, where to live, what to eat, and what to wear. But there is a life of freedom that exists when one takes this journey to discover purpose. I gained true freedom and began to live with utmost joy the moment I disconnected from this rat race. When I understood that though the society defines success by the items listed above, the ultimate measure of success is whether I fulfill the reason why I exist. Dr. Myles Munroe said that “When we come to the realization that each person in the world has been created and designed for a specific and unique purpose, and that no one can be substituted for another, you are freed from the jealousy and the envy that fuel your desperate attempts to gain recognition at the expense of others” The only way to disconnect from this rat race and to completely annihilate the worry that keeps you up at night is to discover your purpose. Among its many benefits, purpose has a specific destination while survival is an endless loop. As many of us can testify, the spouse, the college degree, the job, the mansion, the car, and the money we thought will bring us to ultimate fulfillment only created further need to survive. To start this journey on finding your purpose, simply go back to the one who manufactured you. He alone knows the exact reason why He sent a unique person like you into this world.

As Churches Multiply in Nigeria.....(Part I)

On a street, off Adeniyi Jones Avenue Ikeja, you will find two churches positioned opposite each other. This clearly illustrates the rate at which churches are multiplying in Nigeria. While this might seem the expansion of God's kingdom, I am compelled to ask this question: Why does it appear like our society is becoming increasingly evil? I posed this question because I think the church owes a fundamental role in building a better society. The expected responsibility of the church to a given society can be likened to the protective role a cork plays over the contents of a coca-cola beverage. The contents remain valuable as long as the cork is actively in place. For this assignment, Jesus charged his disciples to be "the salt of the earth (not heaven), and the light of the world (not heaven)". This being the case, it is then not out of place if we expect that the disciples of Christ (the church) will become taste to our taste-less society, and provide the much needed light to our increasingly dark nation.

What makes a church relevant in a society? What makes a church successful? Is it the number of programs held each year, the total amount of money pulled in, the magnificent edifice of worship, the social status of the leaders, or the material well being of the members? Dr. Martin Luther King had this to say "A religion that professes concern for the souls of men and is not equally concerned about the slums that damn them, the economic conditions that strangle them, and the social conditions that cripple them, is a spiritually moribund religion" We must go back to understand the purpose of God for Christ on earth. If Christ came to establish the will of God on earth as suggested in this prayer “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”, then what part of this will is prevalent in the Nigerian society?

Furthermore, I believe that Jesus laid down the fundamentals of how the will of God will be done on earth in the Beatitudes. All the attributes He mentioned in this kingdom manifesto dealt with how to create a good and livable society. For example, he said "You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment. But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies" I am very sure nobody will need these temperaments in heaven because there shall be no enemies there. No body will need to turn the other cheek as well, because I am certain there will be no violent people there, but these proclamations laid the foundation on how to build a non-violent peaceable society.

On the one hand, I believe that the Nigerian churches are doing so well to point the people to God in their own way. Business people consult their pastors before sending out proposals, the sick depend on their faith and the anointing of the pastor for supernatural healing, and the singles flock to the churches in hope of marital break through, those seeking for the fruit of the womb look onto special services for hope, while the rest attend to make sure their natural and supernatural enemies are kept in check or grounded to powder, as the case may be. For many, this is their understanding of God, Church, and the kingdom of God. Instead of the church raising deliverers who will transform their communities and spheres of influence with kingdom principles, they are raising the signs and wonders seeking generation who flock to these centers Sunday after Sunday in search of solutions to their personal problems. Consequently, the church exchanged her revolutionary oriented role to become miracle providers. We seek the God of signs and wonders but we forsake the one who instructs us to love our enemies and our neighbours just like we love ourselves. The result is a society like ours where many profess faith but have no impact on the political and socio-economic life of our nation.

Arguably, the church is also playing a vital role for the society, because they pray for our country and our leaders. However, going by the Nigerian society of today and our leadership experience, one might suggest that they are either praying 'amis' or God is not answering their prayer. Since we know that God answers prayers, we might consider this point: We know and understand that after we have prayed for the fruit of the womb, we must follow-up with necessary human interaction for a physical manifestation of the blessing, but we pray for a good society and a better Nigeria without the matching works. We pray for good leaders and better governments but we repudiate the electoral process. Could it be that faith without work is dead? What are the programs and actions tailored towards enhancing the Nigerian society? If God did not jump down from heaven to stop the slave trade, neither did He show up in Berlin to stop Adolfus Hitler as he exterminated the Jews, I am persuaded that God will not jump down to fix the Nigerian society. Rather, He will work through those who make themselves available to achieve His will in Nigeria.

To be continued……

" Be Ye Transformed" - The Mindset of A New Nigeria

My attention is constantly drawn with utter dismay and disgust to the voice of Nigerians howling like a finger-sucking infant, bullied out of a favorite candy. We criticize the government over everything, we endure and whine about NEPA, we complain about our roads, we curse and abuse those in power, but regrettably, we stick our fingers back into our mouths and earnestly linger for a divine rescue from Entebbe. A glance across several internet chat rooms depicts this complacent image – where Nigerians pose behind their keyboards to insult each other over manipulated news with distorted facts coming out of our contaminated News media outlets.

Regressively, we have maintained our finger-sucking position and indulged in fruitless regurgitation of common facts. As someone would say "madness is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result". We no longer need to be educated on corruption; Fela sang corruption until his demise. Do not enlighten us about the condition of our roads; we feel it because Nigerians perish on it in record number. There is no need to “over-grammarfy” our pitiable power situation because the nagging sound of generators echoes repeatedly in the deepest part of our sleep. Please, spare us the tale of thieves in government because we discussed Umaru Diko under the mango tree in our elementary schools. The Nigerian situation has been engraved in our memory as a result of everyday experience.

Our problem is not mainly with the government, because the government is a combined product of the society and her citizens. But our predicament is with over one hundred million people who choose to blubber about our woes but willfully conform to the status of servant-hood in place of their immutable “God-given” rights as sons and daughters of Nigeria. As a matter of custom, we ignore our civic duties and responsibilities to guarantee a functional government, while we prayerfully wait for a divine rescue. We smear our government as corrupt, yet, we indoctrinate our children into a culture of bribery as we educate them on how to enroll into any school of choice regardless of their results; and if they can’t scale the hurdles of learning, we simply push them over with a few bucks – afterall, "everybody dey do-am". We cowardly conform to the malevolent demand of fellow citizens in black uniforms for sake of convenience, despite our knowledge of good and evil. We clamor for a better government, yet we repudiate the very process that guarantees good governance. The process is corrupt, yes I know, but how will there be a change unless good citizens get involved?

It is absolute stupidity to expect a responsible government while we celebrate politicians who plainly deprive and rob our chances for good governance. We patronize them; send our children to schools they built with stolen money, fly airlines floated with money stolen directly from public funds, lodge in hotels built with money meant to secure the future of our children. How can the government be in check when our acclaimed opposition leaders issue repeated calls for revolution only on the pages of the newspaper, while they cozy behind air-conditioned windows? Who will impose a superior order, when our religious leaders who ought to be the moral gatekeepers of our society have dimmed their righteous radiance for a reward of convenience? In the past, kings trembled at the mere sighting of a prophet, but presently, an invitation to dine with those who oppress and mangle the will of the people, those who kill to win elections is accounted as divine favor and celebrated as evidence of God’s blessing and approval.

Howbeit, the Nigerian problem is not irreversibly unique, many great nations of the world experienced episodes of difficulty, mismanagement, and corrupt leadership in their history, including the United States. The unique thing about Nigeria is the response of the citizens to our present condition. America transformed into a free nation because ordinary people refused to conform to the infringement of their God given rights. The blacks in America won their freedom because they refused to conform to status quo, and would rather walk in dignity than enjoy the ride powered in utter degradation. The horrors of slave trade ended in Britain because a young British lawmaker vehemently opposed the trend and refused to conform to the world of his day. The society is a field that will always reproduce whatever seed it receives. We cannot continue to conform and participate in corruption while we anticipate a better society. Be not deceived, my friends, for He who is up there cannot be mocked, whatever we sow, we will definitely reap. Saddam Hussein invested years and several billions to construct formidable edifice of safety, but ended up smoked out from a hole and hanged like a common thief - maybe, the end really justifies the means.

Social reformation will remain elusive in Nigeria until we choose to become a generation of transformed non-conformists. Until we chose to openly disobey and rebel against anything that has the appearance of evil, regardless of the consequences we might suffer. Until we decide to exchange weakness for excellence and chose to live for conviction emplace of convenience. Whether you are a student, a parent, a teacher, a pastor, a public servant, employed or unemployed remember that, at any given moment when we chose to conform to the way of the crowd, we are directly perpetuating an evil system which the reward is only a time away. On the other hand, every single step we take to do what is right sows a redemptive seed of goodness which we will eventually reap. In other to see the rise of a new day in Nigeria, we must adhere to Paul “to no longer conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind”

We must be the renewed generation of estranged non-conformers who will demolish the “afterall, every one does it mentality”. History has delivered a blank board to every living soul; its inscription is totally up to us. On the board of Dr. Martin Luther King, he wrote "the hope of the oppressed” while Imelda Marcus wrote (as voted by Newsweek Magazine) “one of the Greediest People of All Time”. If you are a pastor, choose this day, what shall be carved on your board: One who preached the truth and lived by the truth or one who conformed like Pilate in other to please the crowd. If you are a young person, do not fly through the wider gates, because the end there off, while it may appear unperturbed for a while, is full of misery. If you are a politician, choose to engrave a name on your history that will pave a way for your children and their offspring. Do not conform to provide for them at present and damn their future with the evil seed of looting the bone entrusted on your neck. Be aware that whatever is hidden now, will one day be blown out in the open.

To the heroes who have maintained the mindset of non-conformers, you are not alone; keep up the excellent work. Disregard the negative labels and endure the present persecution. Remember that while Jesus hung on the cross, Caesar reigned in the palace, but two thousand years later, the reign of every Caesar is only remembered by the birth and death of Jesus. Your work will go unnoticed only for a while, because there is a new Nigeria on the horizon: It shall break forth with the emergence of transformed non-conformists in every sphere of influence.