Category Archives: Business as Missions

Sincerely, I do not know if you have been here. Though I doubt if you have not but really the issue is not whether you have been here or not but whether you recognize this place for what it is.

An imperfect place is that place where right is not good; it is that place where nature is different from the observed. It is that place that an entrepreneur could arrive at where though he knows he is in the right business but his experience has not been a good one. It is a man looking into the eyes of his wife – the right woman, knowing that though she is right, there is still a lot that is seemingly unpleasant with her. It is the wife weeping over a misbehaving husband that she truly loves. She was right; they should be together, now it appears as if she is right and wrong at the same time.

Imperfect places are those places in our lives where it is hard to explain everything with the truth that we know; it is Mr. Job, a righteous man apparently punished by God. His friends believed only evil people get such punishments – hence Job must have sinned; so they told him to his face…just like us.

Imperfect places are akin to the recent death of a cherished minister of God who perished in a plane crash. He has been good, but apparently evil must have triumphed over him. Imperfect places, however, are everyday places; they raise questions, taunt our answers and urge us to find true and noble understanding. The critical paths of a man’s life are lived in such places – hence all men, aspiring for the best in themselves soon find themselves at this place.

WHY?

Why should things be imperfect? Why should something so right be so difficult, why would evil triumph over the good? Why do good men perish?

Is it not right that the good enjoy the good and the bad the bad? Is it not right that a noble cause be met with all that is glorious? How could Adam, made in the image of God – the first of His works be so marred by sin? Why should there even be sin in the first place?

THE ANSWERS WE GIVE

It is common to say to the drug addict who was raised by godly parents – “you caused it”. It is normal that Job’s friends insisted that he must have wronged God. It is celebrated when we pat ourselves at the back for our “perfectness” after all, “like begets like” things don’t just happen. Karma, cause and effect, something somewhere is responsible and we are quick to point fingers.

Worse when you are the one the finger is pointed at.

“I am right” we say. “I am right!” Job never believed his culpability, he was a righteous man in his own eyes. True, that is what made the scenario imperfect to begin with; it wouldn’t be an imperfect scenario if he was an unrighteous man. A woman betrayed by the right man wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t the “right” man. An ailing enterprise would not surprise us if not that it was just the “right” thing. So, most times, we stick to our righteousness – it must be God or someone that is being unfair! To Job, it was God. To the atheist – it is God!

“I got it all right, but see what He/he/she/they have done to me. See what they are saying”.

At imperfect places, because we are right, yet in a difficult, unpleasant or bad situation, we struggle to find an explanation – to either deny our “rightness” or point a finger, most times to point a finger. Sorely tempted, some have denied their righteousness completely. You must have seen this – the believer suffers some things and rejects the faith. A sincere believer struggles with a particular besetting sin and after a while says “it is not sin” or “forget it all…it is not real!”  A businessman quits…the career person throws in the towel and a marriage crumbles.

It Is Not that Kind of Perfection that Is Needed

Though our world is ruled by cause and effect, by laws…it is not completely so. Someone said “it almost makes sense”. True, per time, in the human experience, it almost makes sense. Then all of a sudden, it makes no sense at all!

Though we might be accused of being wrong in such places, though we might be tempted to point fingers, there is a third option, rarely exploited. One day the disciples of Jesus came to Him with an apparently tough question – the classical imperfect scenario. “Master” they asked, “this man here was born blind, Sir, who sinned? Is it him or his parents?”

They assumed what Job’s friends assumed – someone must have sinned. Also, the question was a tough one because even if the parents sinned or the unborn child did, it still would have been an unfair scenario. An unborn baby couldn’t have sinned, hence is righteous, something as bad as blindness shouldn’t be his burden even if his parents sinned.

Jesus answered “it is not him or his parents, but that the glory of God might be revealed in him!”

Beyond our complaints and our right and wrong analysis; there is a motive that transcends this universe – the desire of God to be glorified in all flesh and in all places. It is this Divine intent that should guide us at imperfect places. Though we must search our hearts, we must be careful not to deny our righteousness and not to blame people or God, we should seek that which He could move heaven and earth to manifest – His glory. This really is the essence of humanity – which is that God wants to bring many sons to glory. Hence when we experience the imperfections of humanity – our hearts should always seek His glory!

Listen to the words of Christ at His imperfect places:

 “ Now My soul is troubled and distressed, and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour [of trial and agony]? But it was for this very purpose that I have come to this hour [that I might undergo it]. [Rather, I will say,] Father, glorify (honor and extol) Your [own] name! Then there came a voice out of heaven saying, I have already glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” John 12:27-28 (AMP)

The Full Title of this text is “The Practice of Development: The Hard work of loving the Poor.”  Of recent, a pastor friend of mine recounted how delighted he was to hear another pastor teach that it could be better to give to the poor than to one’s pastor. Both men were coming from the context that giving to those who do not have is much valued in the sight of God than to a pastor who obviously has enough; I quite agree. It is very important that church leaders be provided for by the congregation, a truth both men ascribe to; hence, their posture wasn’t to cast aspersions on the character of leadership.

It is no longer news that most Africans live below the poverty line; what is news is that a lot of leaders (spiritual and political) do not really know why the status quo remains. It cannot be the will of God, He has blessed us sufficiently; on the other hand, our leaders cannot bear to think that they could be the problem, hence, the preponderance of “prayer” in the scheme of things. Now, what exactly should the prayer points be?

Understanding What to Pray for

Good prayers are products of good understanding. There are many reasons for the poverty in Africa and one of it is that on the average, the businesses in Africa are not sufficient and productive enough to meet the demands of the population.

If you’re not working for an organisation (public or private), then you are operating one yourself; otherwise, you are one of those still enjoying the efforts of parents and guardians, blessed are thou but please read on.

Consider the public sector for instance, nearly all the State governments in Nigeria rely on Federal allocations to meet their obligations; in other words, as a productive entity they do not have sufficient revenue generating capacity to even meet overhead. What this means is that the State governments, in productivity terms, are appendages of the Federal government. They are the cost-centres (cash-leaking parts) of the Federal Government.

Now, the Federal Government, is a big bureaucracy whose main source of funds is from one industry – oil and gas; and if you look close enough, ten firms; or less. Yes, the oil majors in Nigeria represent the pay masters of the entire bureaucracy. Do not let the flashy cars and slogans of State governments fool you, until States can cater for themselves, the less than ten firms in the Niger Delta are the ones paying all their bills.

Now, very few people are employed by the Oil and Gas Industry; so, all the money there goes to the FG and the less than ten firms doing the hard work. Chances are that you are not in government or in the oil and gas industry.

Now, it is important you note that the oil and gas industry in Nigeria is not as competitive as her counterparts abroad (we export only crude materials); if we weren’t, many more folks would have been employed by the value chain.

Before we continue, let’s summarise: “the entire bureaucracy in Nigeria (almost the 15Trillion Naira Government budgets) is mainly sponsored by the few firms in the oil and gas sector. We didn’t bother to shine a torch on the labour issues in the industry, but suffix to say that apart from what the government gets, the rest goes to the foreign firms who repatriate their cash.

Now, a very large chunk of the business community in Nigeria thrive by either doing contracts for the government or taking the few dollars government have and importing items (exporting the jobs), even items we can make here. Before, we blame the importers, it is important to note that it is not entirely their faults…it is easier to do so. Like water, they understandable took the part of least resistance.

The other chunk of the business community is either into Agriculture, trading or servicing these main sectors. When the volume of individuals in a sector is huge, the earnings in those industries would be relatively smaller. Hence, development is achieved when the productivity of particular industries is increased per capita. So, we must develop other sectors…there is no other way.

A good prayer on this subject, in my humble opinion, should be industry specific. Imagine that half of Nigeria’s forex earnings this year would be spent importing petroleum products…meaning that if we fix that industry, and refuse to import anything in its place, the dollar rate would practically half (that’s crude economics, but you get the point).

Giving, therefore, should be focused on this hard work of helping folks build capacity and not to feed consumerism. My heart bleeds at the level of consumerism in our places of worship, the crude oil money (remember where the cash is coming from) that could be used to develop people (assets) are used to buy clothes, sound equipment and build structures that are essentially liabilities.

Before someone reminds me of the incidence of Jesus and Mary’s alabaster box, it should be noted that the passion of Christ for which Mary prepared Him for was a singularity; the “poor you would always have with you” statement tells us of what should be the constant posture of our heart.

On Giving in the Places of Worship

Ideally, the Church of Christ represents the communion of the saints; hence, when we sign in with a Church, the brotherhood shares in our challenges. The community should care for her membership, enough to help each other socioeconomically. This is not to say that the Church is a welfare state; but that by definition, her Mandate does not exclude such. Hence, leadership should see to it that those with the gift of Administration and Help focus their energies on helping the community reach peak performance; this is difficult if the Church focuses her resources on maintaining physical structures and maintaining the lifestyle of the “chief servant”, as is observed in certain settings.

It is important to understand the general posture of the church leadership in this respect, to enable us commit to the important prayer of asking God if supporting such a posture is good stewardship. It is not necessarily wisdom to feed consumerism, under any guise; that posture is contributing a great deal to the current poverty level and is not helping the poor.

We have a similar problem in Northern Nigeria, the Emir of Kano recently asked for places of worship to be converted to learning centres. What he was saying essentially is that the resources spent on worship could as well support mental development. Resources are scarce, so we must choose wisely; right now, we have fantastic religious edifices and under performing industries…it is a choice, that’s the point I am trying hard to make; we chose this status quo. Loving our neighbours and helping the poor in our generation involves a great deal of faith and work; it is my conviction that we are very much equipped for the task.

Conclusion

The poor need help to develop and if such help is not given; very soon, we would all be poor. The dependency rate in Africa is very high, and without any constructive and well-thought out development plan, the level of dependency will only increase as this very youthful population begin to hit the golden age of forty. By 2050, Nigeria would have a population of nearly 400 million people; that’s 200 million more dependents in the next 35 years. So, we do have an emergency in our hands, hence, the need to speak the truth to ourselves in love.

I know a man, my dad to be precise who has a jealous love for his hometown – particularly, my village, Isichukwu; it means a lot to him. I also know another man whose dream is to help our town – Ekwulummili, (consisting of four villages) achieve their pride of place in the state, Anambra State. I’ve also met another man who though cares as much as these first two men, but cares more for the entire Igbo race, he wouldn’t limit his passion to just one State. In fact, he could die for it.

All these men are good men; I’ve also met similar good men whose hearts beat for the entire nation – not just for their tribe (ranging from big to small tribes) or state. For some, this choice is a necessary one. When your tribe is merely 20% of one state, you need to grow a big heart. The point is that all these men are passionate, disciplined and focused; beyond talk, they are all doing something about these passions of theirs.

I’ve also met men who don’t really care much about States, tribe or even nation, they just love their science, to them, their science community is the nation, they do not have boundaries; for others it is not science, it is business. By now, I hope you are beginning to get my point; it is easy for any of these men to belittle the other…to call them names and the like. You must have heard folks compare between Ojukwu and Zik; reading an interview on Zik of late, I couldn’t but hail the man; he really did have a large heart. Beyond his One Nigeria stance, is his passion for Africa. Some say he was before his time; he wasn’t, but we all remember differently, so let’s not argue the point. Zik, was for Africa and I bear not just his name – Nnamdi, but also his passion, add the Mandela part to it and you find the full weight of my persuasions.

Now, these passions of ours, if we really think about it are occasioned by the possibilities we see; if the challenges of a nation overwhelm you, it would be best to start with a State; if you can do little about a State, then a town will do just fine. We somehow choose these focuses based on our current and envisaged capacities; we want to count, to leave a mark, to make a difference. Not just we, but others too; the Chinese want to be competitive, so, they do their best, even if their best might inadvertently hurt the economies of other nations. Like my Tie and Dye friends at Kano, the Chinese imports really isn’t helping matters, though these guys don’t hate China, it is hard to love them right now…it is this competition of sorts, for scarce resources that make these passions urgent; “we must have it now”, our change must come now…we must build civilisation, even if we have to die building it, even if it kills us…we say so, because we don’t know ourselves, indeed we do not.

Men build civilisations, but civilisations are temporal; ancient Rome was glorious, but that Rome is no more…yea, Athens and the British empire too; and now we worry that the great America will go the same way. No race, no tribe, no nation or creed has built that lasting utopia; yet we still try, like the many before us, praying that the God who made us great shall make us greater still, we want to hold the wind.

History tells us nay, that this cannot be home; this civilisation cannot be home…though we must make the best of it, yet, we must do so as travellers passing by, on a common history…the best of us sojourners are those who recognise that where we began and where we are going are common…nothing will change that. If you miss this, what can we say to you?

It is on such note of contemplation that I consider again the neighbour question; a righteous man had been told by the Lord that the greatest commandment was to love God and to love his neighbour. A wise man, he wanted to know who this his neighbour was…apparently the God part was easier, and it indeed is. Hence, the story of the good Samaritan; the Good Lord by that story shatters our assumptions of good neighbourliness; our neighbour as defined by the Lord, is that person whom our action and inactions will affect positively or negatively, he need not be of the same race, creed, tribe or nation.

Our boundary, therefore is at this boundary of neighbour loving; we do so because we all are eternal, Rome is gone, but the Romans still are. Soon, your civilization, this our hustle and bustle will want men to even remember them. Don’t take it personal, but this doesn’t matter much, a great man was once asked, “what do you know now, that you wished you would have known as a teenager?” He gave an insightful answer: “I wish I knew that when you get to the top, there is nothing there”. True, there is nothing there but a good perspective, which I must say is something…at the top, we find a better perspective; hence, the wisdom of hearkening to the Lord, the one who made the top.

Finally, He speaks to us as individuals, not as groups, you came alone dear, and shall stand alone at the end.

In 1741, Charles Jennens penned the libretto for what he called “the sacred oratorio” and convinced his friend – George Frideric Handel to compose an oratorio for it. In 24 days of back breaking work, the genius – Handel, composed what would become his most known composition, now known simply as Handel’s Messiah.

Nearly 300 years after the first debut of the ever fresh Handel classic in Dublin, different orchestras find the Messiah one of their most loved and appreciated piece of music, greatly used by flash mobs in non-church settings, often leaving their audience in tears, hand raised and standing. It was said that King George II of England stood at the rendition of the oratorio, hence, the common tradition for the audience to stand at the rendition of Handel’s Messiah. Though, it is the Hallelujah chorus that is most commonly sung, the entire oratorio is about four hours long.

Behind and beyond the beauty of this very popular, yet ancient oratorio that reminds us so often of Christmas are the lyrics and claims of the Christian gospel.

Some parts of the lyrics of the chorus are:

Hallelujah! for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. . . .

the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord,

and of His Christ: and He shall reign for ever and ever.. . .

KING OF KINGS, LORD OF LORDS.

You can see the entire libretto here. By the way, a libretto is the text of an opera or other long vocal work.

There is a King that came

There are many kings – individuals with influence, you and I. In many ways, we are kings of our lives, Chairmen and CEO of our Life Plc.; the essence of the Christmas celebration is that the king of kings came to our earth. That the God who made the Heavens and the earth, the one who spoke with Abraham, gave Joseph a dream, inspired the psalms and the prophets, gave the ten commandments and sanctioned the judgments of the law; that this same God came to this earth in human form is something beyond wonders. It is the kind of stuff we see in movies, yet that’s the Christian claim and the reason we rejoice at Christmas.

There is a Throne in your heart

Handel sang in his Hallelujah chorus of the Messiah, “He shall reign forever and ever”; “but God already reigns” someone may ask. Yes, He reigns in Heaven and does desire to reign in our lives. He wants to make people of a particular sort; free spirited individuals who would allow Him reign in their lives. This, I must say is where the hard part begins since I am a king too.

I kid you not, I do, like you, do have my nuances, my own way of doing things, passions and expectations, it is not an easy thing to hands off the driving wheel of my life. Also, it is not only that the King of Kings wants to direct my every thought and act by issuing express commands, He does want to put His Spirit in me and make me His son.

Yes, He gives His Spirit to us in measures, yet, the born King – Jesus Christ, had the fullness of the Spirit of God without measure. What He did in Christ, is the same thing He seeks to do in me, in measures. It is true that the manner in which this mortality could contain the fullness of the Spirit of God is beyond comprehension, hence, we do not say that what happened at Christmas was a little thing – it isn’t, it is a miracle. Similarly, I do not always comprehend the notion of how the Holy Spirit of God lives and abides in me apart from the fact that He really does.

The Mind the Made the World

Understanding begins to come when I ponder at the creative genius that God is, with face enlightened by the mystery of His wisdom, my heart knows that it is a small thing for the God who made this universe to put His Spirit in me and in all who so desires. It is like downloading an operating system, to join a community of devices running on His OS; yes, everyone has the full stuff, yet it is in everyone. It is this Holy Spirit that lives in me that makes me the son of God too; the purpose of Christmas is to remind ourselves that the Son came that we too might become sons of God. The He might reign in my life too.

But There is a Virus in Me

I am not perfect, but I can be. This hardware of mine has a virus of sin – that desire to lead myself where God wouldn’t go. But God know it does, and have made a remedy in His Son too. The sacrifice of the cross assures us that the power of this virus has been broken in all who takes on His Spirit. Howbeit hard, anyone, and this includes the chronic sinner and the random sinner, who comes to the grace and mercy of the cross would find an ever-willing God. He can deal with the many sins of our lives.

My Throne, God’s Throne

God wants to reign in my life, He wants to do that with me. He wants to reign in your life too, and He wants to do that with you.

The demand that Christ makes is not that you kill yourself for Christ but that you live as a living sacrifice for Him. Now, the joy is that if the God of the whole universe reigns with me, it would only lead to glory. That, my friends, is the good news, that anyone who would allow this King to have His kingdom in him would partake of the life of the King. Sincerely, I see no better option, because the joy, beauty and wonders of the life of this King begins here on earth, and when in my folly I miss my way, He comes to me in His strength and wisdom, to lead me back to Him.

Merry Christmas my dear friend, please live and reign with the King who must first reign in you.

“God Almighty has set before me two great objects, the suppression of slave trade and the reformation of manners”

William Wilberforce (1759 -1833)

At age 21, William Wilberforce was a member of the British Parliament, a self-described whoring playboy. On having a life changing conversion experience in 1785, he thought to do the most rational thing; resign from the British Parliament and pursue a more “holy” calling. God had a better plan and with the instrumentality of former slave trader, John Newton, Wilberforce was convinced to stay on in politics and to seek God’s will for his life. Two years later, he entered the above in his diary – “God has set before me two great objects…” and for the next twenty years and much more, Britain saw a determined Parliamentarian argue with evidence and against many oppositions, the abolition of slavery. He was just twenty-eight years old when he took on the odds, and thank God he did.

Just three days after the passage of the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833; William Wilberforce passed on, his eyes had indeed seen the salvation of the Lord. Before then, a minor victory had come in the form of the Slave Trade Act of 1807 which though abolished slavery on British soil did not stop it from happening elsewhere.

With the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, Britain made herself the conscience of the world and literally stamped out transatlantic slave trade.

His story remains a classic example to all believers who are seeking God’s will for their lives and provides much lessons on classic Christian advocacy in the public square. It took a pretty long time, however, Wilberforce lived those years with purpose and with vigour. He showed that the minority once their purposes are founded on truth and executed with truthfulness and vigour can indeed attain to the promises of God in their heart.

Is there a Specific Call on Your Life?

Yes, there is; the parable of the ten talents tell us there is. It tells us that though God’s guidance and presence is available to all of us, there is a dimension of God’s dealings with us that is a lot entrepreneurial and if I would dare say, unguided. The servants of the master got their talents from the king and he expected them to use their initiative in the right direction.

To show the intentionality of the exercise, he came back for evaluation. Our callings are in a way, our tests. Hence, though they are different, the rewards are quite commensurate to individual performances.

Like the one talent individual, not all gifts are dramatic; yet they all provide us with an opportunity to partake of what is in the mind of the giver. Wilberforce was already in the Parliament, astute politician, it took him two years to figure out that God had a plan for his political platform.

His obedience and faithfulness affected all of us in Africa, in fact, one could stretch it to say that the world would have been a lot different if not for the responsiveness of one man.

William Wilberforce was Caucasian yet God called him to fight for the Negro cause; I believe many more Christians in Nigeria are called to the Nigerian cause by no other person than God Himself.

You Probably Are Not Called to the “Ministry”

Personally, I almost made the same mistake to think of my calling as entirely ministerial – that is, of being a pastor in a church. Though there is nothing wrong in being a pastor or serving in the ministry – Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers; we often restrict these gifting to the local church assembly. In a sense they extend beyond those; for me, I am a teacher both to the body of Christ and to the entire nation. God has gifted us uniquely and responsibly. The life of faith can be lived as a farmer with as much relevance and recognition in the sight of God as an ordained pastor. Abraham’s story is quite remarkable; his entire walk of faith was more of the sojourn of one family, yet he is the father of faith. We should look to him.

Do What You Are and Make Thy Tents

Just like we would expect a teacher to teach and the gifted musician to sing; there is a bubbling forth of the gifting of God in your life that is almost unmistakable. Please attend to it; and while you are it, do note that this fallen world cannot fulfill you; in other words, don’t expect that it is your calling that would necessarily put food on your table. Apostle Paul made tents for a reason, to keep body and soul together. Some of the challenges we see in the body of Christ today is because of the false notion that our callings must feed us; a lot of today’s secular musicians started in the church but eventually migrated to a more lucrative genre – Paul knew better, preaching or singing could be done even if something else pays the bills.

Personally, I am persuaded that once we adopt this posture of making tents and yet attending to the most important part of our calling, we more easily achieve a robust and very sustainable influence that is not bound to the whims of our audience. Don’t forget, we all are full time Christians, all of us and until we see ourselves like that, our light would not shine as it ought to. Yes, the calling includes our occupation but occupations are not necessarily at the heart of our call; for some others, it is.

“Calling is living before the audience of one” Dr. O.S. Guinness

At the end of the day, it is the “well-done…” from God that would make the difference. There is no calling without a Caller and God is that Caller.

May you live to find and fulfill the calling of God for your life in Jesus name!