BEYOND WORDS --by Kreed

Image source: getbellhop.com

There we were, gathered before the Supreme Being. It had become a perfunctory activity, every Sunday. It was like a convention of sinners; ungrateful and unrepentant ones, as always. A bunch of hypocrites most of us were.

“‘Love your neighbour as yourself’, Master says it is the greatest commandment.” The Preacher cried out, with his arms outstretched, as if he was reaching for our ears so he could drag them. The message reverberated across the hall. It always did, for neither was that the first time those words were preached nor was it the first hall it had been preached in. But on this occasion as in every other, it didn't sink into our hearts. We chewed the words and spat it as soon as it got in.

Love is probably one of the most used words and also the least expressed. This word has mostly ever been said but hardly ever been applied, abused and misused in the end, preached as a noun but never practiced as a verb.
While we speak of Love, our actions are devoid of it and our thoughts are either villainous or vile.

Our society is experiencing a serious rot and the number of churches is growing at a geometric rate. Unfortunately, that is not reflecting in our Society. The rate of the impact of these Churches on the lives of many is rather retarded. People don't even talk about Jesus anymore...just their church and their 'Daddy'. Pastors on the other hand are more concerned about building mega churches. It is suddenly beginning to feel like they are all in some sort of competition.

We pay so much in tithe and offering, which is not a bad thing but how often do we come to the aid of those who are in need of our assistance? Yes 'Daddy' will give you a hundred and one reasons why you must tithe but does he talk about
1) the patients in the hospital who need to offset their medical bill?
2) you to assist that family that can hardly afford one square meal?

Or are you going to tell me that those that flock to service every Sunday come from Mars? Are they not human beings in Nigeria here? We have too many passive Christians than active ones. Hell, I know more non-believers who practice the greatest commandment (Loving your neighbours as you love yourself), even more than regular church goers (I won't call them Christians). Let's stop practicing it on Sundays and within the walls of the Church, Christianity is much more than that. It is beyond words, it is beyond pretence, it is beyond the show off we do every Sunday. Are you the same person you pretend to be on Sundays, when your church members are not around you? Is it man you should try to impress or God?

Every Tom, Dick and Hypocrite is suddenly challenging the words of the Bible. We are so eager to manipulate the words to suit our desires but the Bible is real simple. Even with instructions for those who seek to understand the words therein. Love your neighbour as yourself, it is not rocket science. You don't need to know the whole dictionary to comprehend this simple but important commandment. So many of us are spending time interpreting the scriptures, whether wrongly or rightly, but only few are practicing it.