Who are you? Asked the man in charge. Are you a student, an employee, or a well-wisher? These are the questions I was asked as I presented a proposal for a basketball team. The man in charge was trying to find out the source of my authority, motivation, and interest. In his world, one can only have a voice if they are backed by a label, a position, or an institution. The basket team proposal I was presenting was bypassing a problem that had hindered the development of this sport. In the absence of a court, I managed to find an institution willing to offer theirs. As I explained the solution to a long-term problem, he was disarmed and wondered what my motivation and interest were. Hence the questions.
After meeting him, I couldn’t help but think about Jesus of Nazareth. Matthew records chief priests and the elders of the people coming to him as he was teaching and asking him by what authority he did what he did and from whom it came. You see, they depended on the institution and their place in the hierarchy for their authority. Most people fall into this category. They just can’t seem to wield power and authority outside of the establishment. It is ingrained in the human psyche that one has to be endorsed by his peers to earn their place in the hierarchy. I guess this is the source of peer pressure.
In his speech to the Ghanaian parliament in 2009, President Obama said, “Africa doesn’t need strong men, it needs strong institutions.” Prophet Elvis Mbonye commenting on this said, “There is a debate going on in the world between institutions and strong men.” He further stated that “strong institutions are established by men.” He didn’t refute the need for institutions but stressed that it is strong men that build these institutions. Institutions tend toward corruption because they are run and managed by men. In this corruption, they oppress men, don’t deliver to the needy, and get bogged down with day-to-day administration. So, we need strong men at every level and every turn. It is good, righteous and your duty to be strong in yourself. This is how you push back the corruption and darkness that is ever presently seeking an opportunity to rob mankind of the goodness of God.
When our Lord Jesus Christ came to earth, he went about doing good, healing all that were oppressed by the devil, and proclaiming the gospel. You would think everyone would be happy, especially the people that had been tasked by God to soothe the people. But alas, it is these very people, the religious people that were angry with him. Their ire was because Jesus didn’t come through their system. It bothered them so much because firstly they had worked so hard to get into this system. Secondly, this system benefited them as they were honored and received sustenance from it. And thirdly, he was lifting people from bad situations and people were loving him for it. So there was envy and jealousy.
After his resurrection, Jesus was trying to show his disciples that they could do what he had done but they were busy hiding behind the excuse of the devil being too powerful and how he would hinder their activities and advancement. In some exemplars and especially in Greek manuscripts of Mark 16:14, at the end of his gospel, there is written: Afterwards, when the eleven had sat down to a meal, Jesus appeared to them and rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who had seen him after his resurrection. And they made excuses, saying, “This age of lawlessness and unbelief is under Satan, who does not allow the truth and power of God to be grasped by unclean spirits. Therefore reveal your righteousness now.”
He offers a solution to them by letting them know that all authority has been given to him and therefore they could go into all the world and establish businesses, families, schools, and any other thing in line with God. My friend, you have access to a different kingdom from the kingdoms of this earth. You don’t have to hold an office or title to change your world. You have been granted permission to act in the name of Jesus Christ. If you are like the Pharisees, depending on the establishment, then tap into this power and do much more than your office or title describes. If you are like the disciples, hiding behind an excuse of no money, or any other excuse, the king himself has commanded you to go in his name. Are you going to obey or not?
Does this mean that Jesus is against order and hierarchy? No. The point is that God’s point of activity has always been the individual. He has lifted the man and put him in a high place before him. Everything was created and designed for man and not the other way around. One time, Jesus healed a sick man on Sabbath and the leaders were angry at him for doing work on a day of rest. Jesus responded by stating that Sabbath was instituted for man and not the other way around. Likewise, the organization is only useful if it serves man and not the man serving it. We just have to constantly check our institution by its relationship to man otherwise we create a rigid system that starts hurting the very people it was designed to help.
Leave a Reply