The Call For Service

It is no longer a secret that there are many 'worship centres' in every nook and cranny of our society. Day by day,churches erupt in our streets and people troop in and out seeking solace and solution to their problems(most of which are spiritual). There is a vacuum in the hearts of people which they try to fill by having a devoted fellowship with a deity. Some worship lifeless objects which they believe can profer solution to their problems. Others worship trees,animals ,even heavenly bodies like the sun,moon,planets and stars. Some even worship themselves and things that are better referred to as insignificant and negligible. The choice of the deity worshipped is dependent on the trust,availability,supremacy,invincibility and special ability of the deity. Many claim to be worshipping God,the creator of heaven,earth and everything in the world but their approach is usually different,as they have some dogmatic beliefs that make them unique. In christianity,which is the religion that is based on the teachings of Jesus Christ and the belief that He is the Son of God ,the case is almost the same. In christendom,there is much disagreement in what we believe. I am more interested in the nature of the call of the heads of our different churches. With the different views of church heads and continuous multiplication of churches, I decided to reflect on the call of the founders of the churches and ministries. When I say church, I mean the different denominations and not the conglomeration of all of them which is the body of Christ. One may be unable to count the number of churches already in existence in our society,not to talk of the ones that are 'incubating'. Every church and ministry has a founder. Every founder or General Overseer claims that God called him or her but that is not my concern. Before somebody begins to work for a firm,he or she needs to be approved or certified capable of doing the work unless the worker does not want to be recognised or rewarded for the work done. Many things have been termed 'the call of God' and that is my focus. Some have strange ulterior motives that drove them into the so-called 'God's work' against God's own approval. Many people become priests after a long period of training in different seminary schools. They pass through some strict tests and are forced to imbibe some principles. They are forced to follow a particular way of life after which they are deemed qualified for God's work. Some of them spend almost two decades during this period of training. To them,it is God's call. Another group is only driven by mere emotion. They started doing something or built cathedrals because they thought it'll please God. That's their own call. Others are only driven by their own greed. Knowing that tithes and offerings will necessarily come into the 'store house' (the church),they raise buildings as a way of accessing the money. This group is business oriented,always devising new means of exploiting their unsuspecting congregation. Others are mere 'native doctors' that lost patronage in village shrines but came into the cities to sell their well-packaged products to people desperately looking for help. This group present themselves as mighty men. The more you look at them,the less you notice the demon(s) in them. Another group of people are called by their disobedience. They,thinking that they have arrived become uncomfortable with their superiors. They eventually break away with those they influenced. They tend to criticise the former place and some of them leave without following 'due process'. Some are called by their ignorance. Recipients of spiritual gifts from God think that they are qualified to be general overseers. Some of them later experience serious difficulties as they progress. Some were called by their strong desire for fame. They want themselves to be recognised as founders. They tend to do anything inorder to achieve that. It is a pity. These different groups look for any available space to erect church building. Although it is true that multiplication of the churches is a way of preaching the goodnews to more people and even to the whole world,we need to be careful. The work may be good but the worker may not be good. God is the one that calls us for service. We all must not be founders but can do our own work in several ways and places. It is only when we do the right thing that we'll receive God's approval and full support. How I wish people will understand this and 'shine their eyes'. A wrong call is a problem to the body of Christ. God's call for service is real and can only be possible when there is an existing friendly and cordial relationship with God. Note that any work well done for God will receive a 'welldone' from Him. Beware of the wolves in sheep clothings that are looking for deification.