Engaging Culture as Salt & Light

It is very clear to everyone that the game has changed. The Church has left the building and it's in the streets. The change we have all longed for is here. The transition of things, spiritual and physical is here. The possibilities and opportunities are boundless and only our imagination will stop us. We all agree that Church, the way we have known it up till now, has changed. It seems that God is pushing the fact that the church is not just a building but an organism that He has set up in the earth to influence it to reflect the kingdom of Heaven as against the desires of the enemy of mankind, the devil. However, I would like to submit to you that there must be some apostolic action backing all these prophetic declarations we have received. There must be some divinely instruction that we carry out to make these wonderful prophetic words a reality. The truth is that God doesn't just give us great dreams or allow us peek into the future of possibilities just to excite us and give us an adrenaline rush.

Mantles are dropping and anointings are being released in these days we find ourselves but the purpose must be made clear. These spiritual graces and platforms are for repairing the breaches and restoring the broken down walls of society. The cities must be rebuilt and the streets must be restored so that the solitary will find families to live in. The focus of my post today is to encourage us to begin to receive instructions on how we can become active players in the society we live.


Jesus called us both salt and light in Matthew 5:13-16.  One of the main qualities of light is that it
illuminates. Light cannot be in a place and not be seen. It will always dispel darkness. As lights, we are meant to provide leadership to our world. We are meant to be the ones to show them what is right and what should be done. Before now most of us have been afraid to shine our lights. What do I mean? We have taken the path of political correctness.

What is political correctness? It is simply when you try not to be offensive with a truth you have to tell someone. It is when you say that Jesus is not the only way and that other people have other ways to get to heaven. The reason for being politically correct is because we don't want to look intolerant and disrespectful of other people. In the end the price you pay for political correctness is COMPROMISE. We end up being like Lot, a righteous man who gradually allowed the perverse world around him to squeeze life out of him. Ultimately Lot lost his entire family to the evil culture of Sodom.

One of the things that light does very well is dispel darkness. To dispel or repeal darkness, light must shine. What does that mean? Let me illustrate with a small story. Just this morning I heard that a petrol station close to my house was selling fuel. I hadn't even taken my bath before I quickly bounded to the place. You needed to see how many people were there. It wasn't surprising considering that for about a 3-5km distance there were no other places selling petrol. As is it a standard in Nigeria, you would meet all kinds of guys at the filling station with cars, motorcycles (okadas) and all kinds of plastic kegs to buy fuel. The unspoken rule is that we should all line up but as corruption and indiscipline has entered into our society, there were some people who were shunting and making a mess of all of us lining up. To cut a long story short, I had to confront one of the guys who wasn't willing to wait to buy less than 4 liters of petrol. He didn't flinch and I was miffed. However my action led to many of the people there, mostly men, speaking about the lack of patience most Nigerian are known for (when we are in Nigeria, that is).

Initially many of the men, even though they were angry about the whole issue, they didn't do anything. However when I began to speak out, they had some courage to fight the corruption that was brewing in this filling station. Finally, we rallied ourselves and enforced some form of order in the filling station. Imagine what would have happened if there was no light in this situation? Lawlessness and chaos would have reigned supreme.

My final submission? Be the light. Speak up against lawlessness. Don't just turn the other way and pretend as if you didn't see it. Make an attempt to speak up. God will give you the courage and wisdom to shine as lights.

Engaging Culture; our Christian perogative

This post is spurred by many things that have happened to me in the past 6-10 weeks; the statistic that Nigeria is top ranking in searches for gay pornography on Google, the purported show on a transgender 11 year old that DSTV wants to air in Nigeria, a guy that I know who is openly coming out as a hater of God and has transitioned into being a woman.  The culmination of it all was the interview between Flo and Bisi Alimi, the first Nigerian to come out as being openly gay. The interview is in 2 parts and you can watch it here. As per the interview, I'm sure many believers would not agree with Flo's strategy (of not coming on forcefully on the guy about his homosexual status) but I think I know what Flo is trying to do-he managed to destroy that stereotype that Christians are all about condemnation and are not understanding in any way (and I daresay we should try this approach more too) but that's not the thrust of my post today.

My mind is troubled by the fact that the majority of christians are not realizing that things have changed and that then environment we are in has completely changed so we keep trying to use the same old methods/technology to produce a different result. Earlier in the year, just before the elections and the announcement of Buhari as the president of Nigeria, God spoke to me about the coming months. I posted it on Facebook. Hebrews 7:12, 18 (Amplified Bible)

For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is of necessity an alteration of the law [concerning the priesthood] as well... So a previous physical regulation and command is cancelled because of its weakness and ineffectiveness and uselessness--

What does this mean? It means that once a means of achieving an outcome is no longer getting the desired results, it becomes obsolete. What am I saying? Our approach to changing our culture has been ineffective up till this moment, shouldn't we change it and take on a different approach?

I ask myself lots of questions just to be sure I know what I am talking about and so that I will know the reason why I believe certain things. It seems to me that most of us believers don't ask ourselves questions. Something is not working and we just conclude that it is a mystery beyond us and we just let it be. For example how is it that young people are modelling their marriages, careers, fashion, etc after shady characters and not after people with good values? We simply say "It is the end times. There's nothing we can do about it."

My point is that we need to review our approach to young people today because once the next generation is hooked on the wrong value system, we can be sure that the future will be full of darkness and depravity. Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it. It works both ways!

My observation over the past few months is that believers have not developed ways to enter into the conversation of culture and engage. We have stood aloof, making comments, boycotting and complaining about how things are while not doing anything. we have become keyboard critics when we could have done something about infusing the values of the kingdom into that teenager that lives in our compound. We must take this fight on two levels; the grassroots level (one on one) and on a large multi/digital media level. Matthew 5:13-16 comes to mind right now.

1. We must be salt; unseen, covert activities that systematically permeate, engage and influence culture and secondly;
2. We must be light: overt, obvious action/activities that will educate and address the issues in our environment.

I still have much to say and I will share in the next few days. In the meantime feel free to share your thoughts with me here or hook up with me on Twitter @eyitope.

Resurrection, the Emergence of a New Nigeria

The time is 10.27PM and here I am, in my study sitting behind my desk, writing about my dear country Nigeria. Since about 4Pm, I had been glued to a friend’s laptop, where we were streaming the live updates of the results of the presidential elections, over the internet. By the time I got home around 7 PM, there was no electricity (trust PHCN or is it IBEDC they are called now sef?), so I had to switch to my generating set, which is meant to be my backup but at times serves as the main de main (shey you get me now?) I quickly switched on the generating set and poised myself to follow the unfolding drama. After several minutes of listening to the results, I heard my gen, which had been purring on gently, suddenly sing a high pitched note. Kai! My fuel don finish, I thought. I would have to follow the rest of the updates on social media or on my phone’s radio. By the time you are reading this, it would be obvious who the president of the country would be for the next 4 years. But that isn’t really my point with this article.

My point is simple. Is it coincidental that Nigeria is choosing the president of the country the day before Palm Sunday? Is it just a coincidence that the commemoration of the deliverance, of the human race from the clutches of the devil, wrought through Jesus Christ death and resurrection (Easter), coincides with the same week Nigeria steps into a new era of leadership? I think not! God is the one who sets times and seasons. Genesis 1:14 gives us a clear picture of God’s intention of setting celestial bodies in the sky and the various seasons. They are signs and tokens (like signposts of appointed events or happenings already scheduled by God).

All around, Nigerians have been clamoring for a new country. A place where things work, where the amenities and utilities available are not just for the enjoyment of a privileged few but open to all and sundry. It is obvious that Nigerians, home and abroad, are desirous of a nation that they can be proud of and of which they can enjoy the good in it. I can also say, with some specificity, that this is the season for the fulfillment of some prophetic words spoken over this great nation. Just last year, we stepped into our centenary, and not too long ago we marked 50 years of independence. In the bible, the number fifty represents a jubilee; a season where freedom is given to people indebted or enslaved.

As Nigeria receives the new president, let us know that we are walking into a new season, a season of resurrection and life. A season where the Emmanuel has broken the gates of brass, cut the bars of iron in asunder and has ransomed and rescued captive Nigeria from the clutches of the evil that has held us down the fifty-plus years of our independence.

Valentine's Day Bruhaha

Just last Saturday was Valentine's day and even though it was celebrated low-keyed (most likely due to the fact that our general presidential elections were supposed to hold on that day but then got postponed), people still went out and celebrated the holiday. Of course Val's day is associated with eros love - between a man and a woman, (even though the origin of the holiday has nothing to do with that kind of love and so there is the giving of lots of flowers and chocolate and deflowering too in many quarters). Christian organizations and churches also use it as an opportunity to teach the truth about love and its true origin, God. This post is prompted by a picture of a young lady's dressing that I saw on Facebook that made me exclaim, Ahhh!

The Change We Need

Throughout history, influencers of society have discovered that the power they wield lies in their ability to communicate their values and concepts to the people effectively. Once people can grasp the concepts and ideals they are passing across, then it becomes easy to change their behavioral patterns and habits. No matter how powerful an idea, concept or value is, if it is not properly communicated, then there's no change. Those who attempted to present their message in such a way that it produced change had to understand the framework of the society i.e. the culture that they lived in. To be more effective communicators, they had to understand the cultural framework of the time in which they lived. Martin Luther, the 17^th Century reformer said this with regards to the translation of poetry

Whoever would speak German must not use Hebrew style. Rather he must see to it-once he understands the Hebrew author-that he concentrates on the sense of the text, asking himself, "Pray tell, what do the Germans say in such a situation?" Once he has the German words to serve his purpose, let him drop the Hebrew words and express the meaning freely in the best German he knows

It is this same principle that some translators of the bible follow, when creating new versions and I believe this same principle is what individual Christians and any local body of Christ should adopt in bringing the change into our societies.

The Gates Of Hell

In recent times I have been asking myself a lot of questions and a certain burden for the Church (the Body of Christ) particularly in my native country Nigeria. One story that I heard, which sparked some of these questions, was about a young Christian lady, who was in an office where some money had been stolen and no one knew who the thief was. A member of staff suggested that all the staff would be subjected to a test, by a juju man, assuring the owner of the company that this fail-safe method would reveal the thief. This Christian lady followed the other members of staff to the place and allowed herself to go through all the rituals the man said were necessary. I asked myself a simple question, how come this tongue-talking, Spirit-filled, church worker couldn't provide any solutions to the problem at hand but instead submitted herself to such base things? Couldn't she have “activated” a gift of the Spirit? That is what leads me to the reason for this post.

Recently I heard a prophetic teacher say something about a very popular scripture. What caught my attention is that I had never considered in this light he was bring before. Matthew 16:18, 19 says:

“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

I have always seen that scripture as the Church trying to defend itself against an onslaught of the kingdom of darkness. However when you consider that the keys of the kingdom of heaven has been given to the Church, to bind and loose God’s desires on the earth, then it gives you another outlook. In fact Jesus describes the church as advancing (keywords: BUILD MY CHURCH), which is obvious that we are the ones attacking and not defending. At the time Jesus spoke these words, the gates signified the group of people who determined the course of a society (its language, way of life, education, etc). In fact it was the Romans who invented this ekklesia, which was their way to change the culture of a people, to resemble Rome, without using force but by infiltration.

Secondly, notice the word used here is gates (plural) which means that the forces are not singular. Over the years, what we as God’s people have focused on is trying to bring the influence of God into our society by taking the religious mountain. We conclude that if people can attend church, we can easily penetrate our culture. If we do more prayer and fasting, hold more worship concerts and revival meetings, then our society would be aglow for Jesus. What we are not aware of is the fact that the things that influence behavior (and culture) are more than these Christian activities. I’m sure we may have heard about the 7 mountains or culture shapers namely, Education, Government, Media, Arts & Entertainment, Family, Religion and Economy.

Over the years our strategy, in my own observation, has been to get Christians heavily involved in the church community and environment, hoping that this would prepare them to take over in the other places of influence. What we have seen, from experience, is that our guys enter into the Arts & Entertainment Mountain and get swallowed up completely leading to choir directors coming out to say that they are now inspirational singers and not gospel singers anymore. People from the church enter politics and are swallowed up by the corruption in that mountain and you wonder if this guy, who ran for senatorial seat in Abuja and was an active worker in the church you both attended, is still a believer in Jesus and His ways of doing things.

What our spiritual warfare, in the form of prayers, worship, fastings, etc do is actually put angels in operation to disallow satanic powers from taking up the ruling power at the gates (where the outcomes of the mountains are decided). At such a time in our nation Nigeria, what the church should be doing is raising men and women who are like David; their spirituality not only delivers access into the divine but also the taking over of territories and the ousting of the oppressors of the people, Philistia. What the church needs to do is to ensure that men and women of maturity and wisdom get to the tops of these mountains of influence and bring God’s kingdom to bear on the earth or else perversion will sweep the nations and eat up the people of God. The devil’s agenda in the last days is simple, take over the earth by putting people he can control in places of leadership and influence. If he does this, then he can easily legislate and legalize evil and find people who will help him express the lawlessness he wants to proliferate.

How to react when Bible Movies miss the mark.

In recent times there have been lots of releases of bible movies by Hollywood (and there will still be more I believe). Majority of these movies have diverted from the original bible accounts that we have read. Most of them are not accurate and some even out-rightly blasphemous. I've been thinking a lot about our reactions to these movies (and even some other ones) mainly because of their strong influence on culture. I stumbled on a post by Phil Cooke, who is a respected media influence in christian circles (he's the brain behind Joyce Meyer's and Lakewood Church social and regular media campaigns).

Here's the link http://philcooke.com/when-bible-movies-miss-the-mark/    What do you think?