THE HUNGRY SHEEP LOOK UP, AND ARE NOT FED.
By Rev. KABS KANU
Mark 15 :16
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And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation (πάσῃ τῇ κτίσει). He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned.
Politicians and preachers today are guilty of the same crime. Politicians come to power by virtue of grandiose promises to the people but once in power. they forget all their promises and fail to attend to the bread-and-butter issues. They fail to seek the welfare of the people.
Hunger is prevalent . Most of the citizens go to bed hungry , being unable to provide at least one square meal a day. But the politicians thrust with the responsibility to improve their standard of living by provide jobs and reducing the prices of basic commodities fail to attend to these wants. They rather engage in rampant corruption, wasteful spending and self-aggrandizement , forgetting the promises made to the people during electioneering campaigns.
Until the needs of the people are addressed and the hardship that most citizens complain about are ameliorated. Politicians will always face backlash from the people_
The same problem is found in the Christian church. When Nicodemus. a Pharisee and member of the Jewish ruling council, went to see Jesus Christ ( John 3: 1-21, Christ wasted no time to tell him the salvation message which was what Nicodemus really needed.Jesus came down to brasstacts. He told Nicodemus : “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he shall not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. “ ( Verse 3 ) . Jesus Christ realized that the salvation message was the most important message that Nicodemus needed . Jesus would have engaged in fanciful gymnastic displays with baseless and unprofitable religious treatise with Nicodemus, but he did not. He gave him the salvation message and took his time to diligently break it down to him.
People need the salvation message so that they will be saved Thousands of people are dying everyday and going to Hell because they are not saved. This should put a tremendous burden on the heads of us, preachers called to proclaim the good news about Jesus Christ.
Today, God has provided ready pulpits—-FACEBOOK. WHATSAPP , internet media, TELEPHONES etc.You do not necessarily need to physically go out to meet people as was in the past. Now, you can help to spread the gospel through the internet and social media Infact, the internet and social media are now the most powerful media for spreading the good news about Jesus Christ, along with TV.
“Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.” ( 2 Timothy 4: 2 ). Living Bible. The KJ.V says, Be fervent, in season and out of season.
Let us preach things that will benefit the hearers. It is not our duty as christians to adopt a know-it-all attitude and promote strife among Christians.
Instead of seemingly abusing these media by “PULLING HINTS “ ( indirect , incendiary statements against other preachers ), let us use social media to preach to the perishing world the salvation message and other essential Christian doctrines like consecration and sanctification . I want to make a special appeal to preachers engaged in these acts to wisen up and use social media more productively for Jesus Christ.
When I first got saved and was trying to get a foothold on my Christian life. I thank God for good teachers and their good teaching. I needed to understand the word of God and was blessed to have diligent teaches who took their time to teach us and today we too are preaching the gospel. One preacher loved to pull hints and promote strife. I left his church and I thank God that the church I went to provided me the opportunity to attend Bible college and start my first mission, which was a prison ministry.
People are hungry for the word of God. Despite the din and the bustle of life, God has created in man hunger for his word. Even when they become saved, the people need spiritual food, the sincere milk of the Word of God.
Let us teach them. Let us give them spiritual food that will nourish their Christian bodies and help them grow. Many of them are not growing because some of us are not taking our time to teach them the essentials. We are busy fighting other preachers. This is not the time for that. Let us help to rescue the perishing.
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.” John 21: 17
God called every preacher and for a purpose. God’s calling is without repentance. Let us help our fellow preachers to fulfill their ministries God called them and he will judge them if they fail to fulfill their commission. We must go all out to promote peace, love and unity in the Christian family.
The hungry sheep are looking up to us. Let us feed them the since milk of the word. That is what they need.
