POTENT CHRISTIANITY

This piece discusses authenticity/genuiness in Christianity.  Put differently, it seeks to answer the question - "When does the Christian in you gain potency?"

 

Just a few days ago, I got myself involved in a friendly debate with fellow Christians where we sought to answer whether Christianity is a thing of the 'heart' or of the 'mouth.'  In other words, is your Christian status validated by the faith which rests in your heart or by the faith which you proclaim by the words of your mouth?  I actually thought the answer to that question was obvious (in favour of my position ofcourse).  But as I've discovered, each human being is unique and perceives things quite differently.  I was of the view that Christianity is a thing of the heart, my friend and room mate from the University of Abuja was of the opinion that it was more in the mouth and the third person involved (a friend of my friend) was also of the opinion that it was a thing of the mouth.  At the end of the debate, we all came out with slightly modified views on the issue and I am sure you will too after reading this!

Lol, baby man of God exercising his faith

I was of the view that Christianity is a trillion-quadrillion-zillion times more in the heart than it is in the mouth. Having 'faith' or 'strong beleif' in God is a CONVICTION OF THE 'HEART.' The word of mouth is only a CONFESSION. The heart must go through deep conviction before the mouth's confession becomes valid or genuine or potent (which ever of the words you might prefer).  Don't forget, the mouth is very deceiving! It can pour out words that don't conform with the position of the heart.  But the heart itself NEVER tells a lie!  The heart's position on anything cannot be debated because it constantly pours out the 'truth' to the owner.  It is that faith that has built up in the heart that allows you to move mountains by word of mouth. Look at the mouth as an instrument for tapping into the content of the heart.

Case study: It is not new to us that sometimes when people are deeply in love, their mouth tells an entirely different story to the public (the young call it "fronting") whereas their hearts are bleeding and craving for the attention of the beloved.  In another scenario, a man or a woman who has completely lost him/herself to the ways of 'the world' can open his/her mouth to tell you he/she is in love with you when you have no place at all in their heart, just so they can follow through with selfish desires (God forgive them).  In both cases, the mouth is obviously misrepresenting the position of the heart. Christianity is just like this, it starts in the heart.  I find it quite comical that people can confess what they do not even believe in their hearts, is it pressure or what??? If you're in this trap then you need to go back to the drawing board and sort yourself out.
 

Trust in God...It's not gambling at all

There's a popular expression in the Christiandom, they call it being "born-again."  Being born again has to do with giving one's life to Christ and accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and saviour by word of mouth in front of a large crowd.  But I think we need to be more practical because Christianity (or Christ-likeness) is practical. Yes, being "born-again" as they call it is done officially by word of mouth. But isn't it true that many people who are born again by word of mouth are not born again by lifestyle?  Of what importance is your acceptance of Christ in front of a congregation when in reality, your heart doubts the reality of God and your life completely fails to reflect Christ-consciousness?  The word of mouth has no substance when the heart does not assume thesame position.  I am a very practical person, so words alone don't mean much to me.  I've come to see Christianity as greater than religion,  to me it's a LIFESTYLE.


One of the parties in the debate supported his position by saying:

"Christianity has never been in the heart, it's a product of your mouth-work! How did you become born again? By saying with your mouth! Rom 10:9-10. You might want to ask 'what about the heart that is mentioned there'? James said even the demons believe and tremble. James 2:19. Are they born again even though they believed? No! Because they'll never say it! -They won't use their mouth. If you must be victorious as a Christian, if you must live the God-life that you've been called unto as a christian, you must be a talker."

But then, I thought to myself,  How can a tree bear fruit when it's roots are not buried in fertile soil?  It is bound to dry up and die!  How can you place a cart before a horse?  There will be no motion!  So I looked at the Bible verse in Romans he referred me to and realised he had made thesame mistake many Christians make - laying too much emphasis on a word or line and missing out on the entire gist of a passage.  Romans 10: 9-10 which he had referred me to reads: 

"If you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised Him from death, you will be saved.  For it is by our faith that we are put right with God; it is by our confession we are saved." 

If you look at this verse objectively, you'll see that the element of beleif/faith (which is in the 'heart') is placed side by side the element of confession (which is by 'mouth').  If you decide to read the passage further to Romans 10:14 you discover more.  It reads:

"But how can they call to him for help if they have not believed?  And how can they believe if they have not heard the message?  And how can they hear if the message is not proclaimed?"
  

Interesting indeed!  So I concluded that an individuals Christianity is a cycle of beleif and confession which starts with beleif (in the heart) then confession (by the mouth) and the cycle goes on.  It is the heart that "beleives" and it is also the heart that "doubts" e.g. if you doubt the very existance of God in your heart and you say things like "God will help," then you are basically saying "the wind will help" because there's no substance behind the words.

After debating, my ex room mate, who goes by the name Daniel Ajah, summed up his new position on the issue with these words:

"So we don’t just have 2 blab words just because the next person is blabbing words. They must 1st Register on our HEART before We VOICE them.  I believe they are Both Important: Heart and Mouth. The heart is SPIRITUAL, d mouth is NATURAL... The heart is 4 GOD, d mouth is 4 men. God KNOWS what's in our HEARTs, men and situations will ONLY Know what’s in our HEARTS WHEN WE SPEAK." 





This is based on [Mark 11: 22-25] where Jesus said "Have faith in God. I assure you that whoever tells this hill to get up and throw itself in the sea and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. For this reason I tell you: when you pray and ask for something, beleive that you have received it, and you will be given whatever you ask for. And when you stand and pray, forgive anything you may have against anyone, so that your Father in heaven will forgive the wrongs you have done." 

Once again, Thanks Daniel Ajah (a.k.a Nwokem) for bringing up this Bible passage on that day.  You rock dude...