Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the
gospel of Christ. 1:27
As
I came across this verse, I reminisced about my college days and especially about the C.U. (Christian Union). All who were bona fide members subscribed to
an unwritten code of conduct which was only enforced when an infraction was
suspected. And so it was that we were not under any circumstances allowed to go
clubbing or drinking or engaging in anything that might be construed as worldly.
Secular music was out of the question as were movies.
Though I do recall sneaking out with some girls to catch dramatized comedies at
the Alliance Française or epic movies in the CBD.
In
one memorable event, I recall bumping into a livid C.U. chairman on a cold,
miserable campus night. I soon learnt he was mad at a group of C.U. members who
had gone for an evening dinner with one of the student clubs. After
dinner one thing led to another and soon everyone was on the dancing floor. The
C.U. members having shed their Pentecostal poise for a moment, sampled the joys
of rigorous, unrestrained dance until the wee hours of the morning.
I
soon discovered that most of these rules had nothing to do with scripture, rather they were cultural issues.
contentious as they were, I still think they served their purpose.
Looking back, and beyond the annoying greeting 'Bwana asifiwe', I believe the C.U. norms served to differentiate the Christians in college from other worldly individuals. And even if they were wrong then, college Christians
made strident attempts at living out a culture that they considered worthy of
the gospel they propagated.
A
quiet revolution seems to have taken place in Christian circles over the past
30 years and its most evident characteristic is the lack of discretion. Take for
example the spectacle of local artistes unveiling their so-called
‘prayer-partners’. This is a crude euphemism for what should be a properly
conducted courtship between a man and a woman. So Bahati who is in a
never-ending public spat with Willy Paul aka Willy Paul msafi aka Willy Poze
aka Willy Possessed unveiled his prayer-partner.
It seems to me that the biblical concept that our lives are not
meant to be lived in competition with the world has been lost on our image-conscious
generation. Paul writing to Christians said;
You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by
all men…. 2 Cor. 3:2-3
It has been said that those who are not
followers of Jesus know intuitively, exactly how the followers of Jesus should
conduct ourselves.
Our lives are like an open book which they read daily. When our
conduct reflects the commandments of Jesus, our lives are a mixture of
conviction (against their sin) and attractive blessedness that eludes them and causes a spiritual hunger in them.
When we fall out of line, our lives tell them that we do not know any better
about the coming judgement and hell.
When we are no different in our talk,
relationships, attire, music or whatever happens in the course of life, we
encourage the world to persist in sin.
John
Piper says in a blogpost;
“The
world does not need more cool, hip, culturally savvy, irrelevant copies of
itself. That is a hoax that has duped thousands of young Christians.”
“…I
believe with all my heart that what the world needs is radically bold,
sacrificially loving, God-besotted “freaks” and aliens. In other words, I am inviting you to say no to the world for
the sake of the world.”
This is my appeal. If you are a follower of Jesus, is it not time to take stock and ask if your daily conduct has been worthy of
the gospel?
For you know that it was not with perishable things such as
silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to
you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without
blemish or defect. 1 Peter 1:18-19
Acknowledgements
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