My Priority As A 21st Century Christian

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Photo Credit: Fr Charles E.(2020)

By Ogiri John Ogiri

As a christian,my first priority is not church attendance; doing good is. My first allegiance is to morality. Doing the right thing at the right time where I am is what drives my spirituality. To me, being righteous entails being disciplined. I am more concerned about what I do(that is to say, how I live my life daily -whether or not it benefits others is my concern) than I am about what I say or teach others to do. I am a student of that school of thought which supports and propagates practical Christianity as a way of life. As far as I am convincingly concerned, sleeping in the church everyday, praying from morning till night, fasting for a whole year, not missing out on every conceivable church programmes, miracle crusades ( some of which make a mockery of Christianity) mumbling cacophonous, usually deceptive utterances, in the name of speaking in tongues do not make sense to me if they do not culminate or end in favour of practical Christianity.
 Love others and teach others to do so. The world needs to hear the christian messages of love, sacrifices and understanding, not the building of church empires or auditoria, not the gluttonous acquisition of material wealth some mushroom churches have come to embrace and encourage; it is, definitely, not the theatrical showmanship we stage in the name of Christianity. The Christian message is simple: feed the poor, clothe the naked, shelter the destitute, visit the sick and the prisoner. Do not feed your ego. The church was built to help the needy. In fact, the name " Christian " originated in Antioch out of the early christians' practical way of life that showed great concerns for the poor and the needy. They were not called Christians because they built empires; they were called Christians because they demonstrated their uninhibited love and care for the poor in their community.(Acts 4:32-35). This is the summary of the Christian message.

(James 1:27, Micah 6:8-10, John 21:15-19, Mathew 25:31-46)

(Culled from "How To Achieve Real Happiness in Life" by Ogiri John Ogiri, unpublished manuscript)

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