Focus, Perils and Prolils

For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. (Isaiah 50:7)

As I was building the message on the focus of true prophets, I came to look at focus in a bigger way, so much so that God was able to help me relate with some hurts of my past that were a direct consequence of my radical response to God’s call (is there another response? I wonder).

But I also came to appreciate something else; focus has the capacity to rescue you from the commonplace. There are temptations that you will not even notice when to others they are huge and sometimes unavoidable pitfalls. There are obstacles that you will skip over without even noticing that are barriers that will stop him moving for a very long time.

If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3: 11 – 14)

I remember when we would go preaching very far from home as a mixed group of boys and girls, through bushes and sometimes even stay overnight yet never even once did we have issues of sexual impropriety or even the specialization, compartmentalization and possessiveness in relationships that normally occur in many such groups. Had we thought of sex, there were enough places and opportunities for it. We went to preach, not preaching to aid courtship. 

I find it surprising that churches have to close overnight prayer meetings or youth camps because the youth will misbehave. In fact they are closed because of the consistent sin in those events. You wonder how someone can go to a prayer meeting in church to have sex!

But it is not surprising because we have pastors who sleep with their parishioners. Yet they do not feel any shame or even conviction standing on the pulpit to preach. You wonder what it is they preach.it is even harder to imagine the kind of effort and sacrifice they expend to prepare those sermons. It is therefore not strange when the only compelling reason drawing their young people to the things of God is the sex they can access.

We used to organize youth events, from camps to missions, without the supervision of adults yet never had any such scandals. And the reason the adults would be uninterested in our things was because we were on fire with the Gospel of Christ. They therefore would not venture near us for fear that our radical response to Christ would rub in on them. They ‘hated’ us but also respected us because they knew that our faith was real, though they wanted none of it. Our commitment to Christ was the only boundary there was. Our focus on Christ and His word was the restraining factor most events lack today.

That focus made us deal ruthlessly with sin, even if it was a wrong perception. We did not need the physical evidence to deal with sin as sin has a subtle way of showing up. And because we were more or less sworn to a radical obedience to what we know God’s word says, we were not scared of confronting what we thought may have been a sin or an opportunity for the same.

As an example, two young people who started becoming close and exclusive was many times a tell tale sign of sexual sin, or at the least an invitation for the same. The team would unashamedly ask for the details of that closeness to see whether there was any complicity for sin.

Uncomfortable as it may look, even intrusive, it helped us maintain accountable relationships. And we courted and got married, in such kind of light.

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1John 1:7)

The Christian fellowship had none of what we call mind your own business as we all subscribed to one Lord and therefore were community.

Of course we blundered sometimes. But we were genuine even in our error. And we had no problems admitting the error, even repenting the sin, many times of presumption and surface judgment.

But the love was genuine. Someone confronted you because they really cared for your spiritual health, not to cut you to size. Jealousy and envy were for the most part absent.

It is when salvation started becoming fashionable that the guard was let down and the focus was relaxed for many. You could hug the opposite sex and still feel fine. A girl could dress like a man and it was also okay.

Slowly by slowly the distinctions started becoming vague. It became alright to be a borderline believer. It was not essential to meet to share what God has been speaking and doing in our lives as we have been walking with Him and reading His word.

We slowly started becoming comfortable with borderline existence, even being lenient with some small sins that would have previously been radically dealt with.

It happened because we lost our focus.

Sadly, we are not the only guilty generation. As those of you who have been following my blog knows, I have a long history of involvement in ministry with several generations, the oldest being those who got saved in the 1939 revival. And they all say the same thing.

It happens when the rejection slowly turns to tolerance, then acceptance and finally great favor, even fame. All for being radical for the Gospel and word of Christ! That is when the mixed multitude joins the small band of the rejects after the tide has turned in their direction.

The warmth of a bigger group weakens the radical nature of the once tight band as the mixed multitudes must be accommodated, especially because we do not see them as such.

And it does not only happen with people. It is even worse in churches.

Churches whose foundation was discipleship end up wanting nothing to do with discipleship when the masses start flocking. Churches whose selling point was care for the needy literally chase the poor from their midst. And churches that were built through deep exposition of the word or prayer trash those old paths. Churches that were known for their holiness start becoming liberal in their relationship with the world. I know churches that stopped people from serving because they were not properly married having polygamists lead ministries. I know churches that would not wed young people who have engaged in sex hiring one openly in such a relationship.

What remains is a shell with nothing inside. The soul and spirit are long gone. But sadly we are feeding on our past exploits when we were a small band of radicals. We even forget what we were radical about. We have completely forgotten where we have come from. Or haven’t you listened to people giving testimonies or teaching and wonder why all their glory days are in the long past?

I admire Elisha for his consistency. From when he burnt his yoke of oxen to respond to the call to the day he died, his consistency never waned. He behaved the same when he was dealing with a desperate widow as he did when he was giving instructions to a king. Even his faithful assistant and heir apparent could not touch that focus, losing his position and getting leprosy for greed.

O for such consistency!

May God help us realign to our first focus and return to our first love!

Yet I know that there are some who joined the party when the focus was already lost. They have no idea what focus is as they have not experienced it. In fact they are irritated when they see someone so focused as they see it as abnormal behavior. These can only pray to see God as He is. Only then can they obtain a focus that is acceptable to Him.

But it many times will have to start with those who have walked with God, and fought the battle with God and our focus on Him as our only weapon, and won.

Will we pray for such a return?