Recently, I heard a media personality say: “Dear God, you did this one. You have completely changed my life. You opened this door that nobody can shut. You make all things beautiful in your time, and this is just perfect… You truly are the God of time and chance. Listen, God is never late, and God can be trusted.”
I want to believe these statements reflect her deep conviction that her pregnancy, though outside the context of marriage and therefore contrary to God’s design, is still a divine blessing from Him. It is even possible that she prayed fervently, perhaps even fasting during that period. So, it is understandable that she, and perhaps you, might feel strongly that this is authentic Christianity: that good things come from God to those who please Him, and therefore cannot be criticized. The thinking often goes like this: If I had a problem, and I “sought” God, and He answered, then surely I must be pleasing to Him and seeking Him sincerely. Otherwise, why would He give me what I asked for? And so, any criticism of this is quickly and strongly condemned. Sometimes, it is like this: “as long as you’re giving God His due, he’s largely unconcerned with what you do in other aspects of your life.”
While there are false dichotomies and problematic assumptions here–which I may address in another post–my focus today is a deeper misunderstanding of what God is calling us to when He calls us to love and serve Him. This scenario and some of the responses I have seen often reveal a troubling motivation, and that’s what I want to explore.
In 2 Kings 17:24–41 (a long passage worth reading carefully), we see a piece of history that sheds light on this danger.
At that time, the northern kingdom had just been exiled. Verse 18 says: “So Yahweh was very angry with Israel and removed them from His presence; only the tribe of Judah was left.” Israel had sinned against Yahweh (v.7), adopted the practices of surrounding nations (v.8), secretly committed evil (v.9), worshipped idols (vv.10–12), rejected God’s law (v.15), abandoned His commandments (v.16), and even practiced child sacrifice (v.17). Because of this, Yahweh rejected all the seed of Israel and afflicted them and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them from His presence (v20).
Through Assyria’s deportation program, new people were brought into the Promised Land– not because they placed personal faith in Yahweh, so inherited the blessing, but through political relocation. How did God respond? Yahweh sent lions among them, which were killing them (v25). However, these new settlers, I should say, were more noble than the previous occupant, and seemed at least concerned with honoring “the god of the land” (v26). (See the parallel? Something you don’t want is happening: no child, no husband, no money, no job, you reason that whatever you are doing right now isn’t working, so I will seek the other “God”, who everyone says can do these things for me.)
So, the king of Assyria sent back a priest to teach them the “custom of the god of the land”–Yahweh. The real question is: did they seek the king’s help because they wanted to fear, love, and serve Yahweh, or simply because they wanted to get rid of the lions?
When the priest arrived and instructed them how they should fear Yahweh (v28), we have to assume, even if it was only temporary, that the lions disappeared (I have my doubts about the preacher and what he preached; I have to take a priest from the northern tribe with a grain of salt). That must have felt like success. So many testimonies would be going around. “So, this is all it takes?” they might have thought. “Start attending church with a bit of frequency? Start watching my favorite pastor online? Start joining a popular prayer meeting online? That’s enough to get rid of the lions!” Surely you’ve heard this said (or you perhaps have said) to someone you know who was in a bit of a mess.
However, v29 starts with a but precisely to interrupt our optimism about them and their new “fear of Yahweh”. They were “fearing Yahweh” but in their own way. The fear didn’t preclude them from making gods of their own! (v29) While still “fearing” Yahweh! (I take v29 to be parallel to v32 and v33, which start with “They were fearing Yahweh,” but in addition to other things. For example, v32 says: They were also fearing Yahweh and/plus, and v33 reiterates that: They were fearing Yahweh and/plus. It is right to then read v29 as “They were fearing Yahweh, and/but each nation was still making gods of its own”).
So here is the thinking: “I served God in a certain way, He gave me what I wanted. Surely He doesn’t find anything wrong with me”. This is precisely the problem. Their “fear of Yahweh” did not exclude their idols–it merely added God to the mix. Isn’t that the picture of much of modern Christianity in Nigeria? We say we serve God, but in reality, we bow to the same things that rule our culture. We pack churches every Sunday, yet our motivation is often God’s blessing in wealth, cars, contracts, jobs, and houses. Offerings become “investments,” with the expectation of financial returns. Politicians climb pulpits quoting Scripture, yet their leadership is corrupt and self-serving–and still they are hailed as “God-fearing.”
Even we are drawn to people who live openly against God’s commands, but because they sprinkle “God” into their language, a verse of the bible on their Instagram profile, so we quickly label them “God-fearing.” So many practice a “Christianity” that permits them to hold charms and consult “prophets”. A faith that requires them to buy handkerchiefs, water, and oil, or climb so-called mountains–and then excuse it all as “God works in different ways.” In truth, it is serving two masters. And for many, our lives are shaped far less by God’s Word and far more by Nollywood storylines, social media trends, and weekend parties.
We fear Yahweh and cling to these things, these “idols”. Nothing fundamental changes–except that we now say we “fear Yahweh.”
But God says otherwise: “To this day they continue to follow their former practices. They neither worship the Lord nor adhere to His decrees and regulations, the laws and commands that the Lord gave” (v.34).
That is the danger of a Christianity motivated only by the desire to seek God because of something you really need or because you want to avoid life’s discomfort–poverty, sickness, failure, or rejection. A Christianity that sees God merely as a tool/means to “get rid of the lions” is not biblical Christianity. A Christianity that requires no transformation, that lets us keep our old ways while sprinkling a little “fear of God” on top, is counterfeit.
But let me ask you a question: isn’t it obvious? To you, this has become a game of numbers. If I treated you this way–seeking you only for what you could give me–would you not see through it? Do you think the all-knowing God doesn’t? Is He fooled by the performance? Does He not read the heart? Is darkness not as bright as day before Him? (Ps 139:12)
When your Christianity looks like this:
- You don’t read your Bible daily.
- Prayer is optional.
- Church attendance depends on your mood or energy.
- You know more popular songs than Scripture.
- Social media outranks time with God.
- You never miss Netflix releases, but can’t remember the last time you meditated on the Word.
- You carefully care for your face and body, but neglect your soul.
Can you not see that this is counterfeit? These may be the popular versions of Christianity, but it is not the Christianity of the Bible.
Biblical Christianity, according to 2 Kings 17:36–39, is paraphrased thus: “The Lord, who brought you out of bondage with great power and an outstretched arm, you shall fear Him, worship Him, and sacrifice to Him. The statutes, laws, and commandments He wrote for you, you shall always be careful to keep. Do not fear other gods. Do not forget the covenant He made with you. But the Lord your God you shall fear, and He will deliver you from all your enemies.”
Not just the lions–all your enemies: sin, guilt, shame, corruption, and ultimately death itself (1 Cor 15:26).
That’s why scenarios like the one in my opening paragraph are fundamentally flawed. They are motivated by love for the world, by utilitarianism–using God as a means to an end–and by the deception that we can serve two masters when Jesus Himself said it is impossible. It is, at its root, rebellion against God: resentment at His demands, coupled with laziness to obey. Jesus called such attitudes “wicked”, as in the parable of the servant who claimed his master was “a hard man” while refusing to act (Matt. 25:26).
True Christianity is the joyful surrender of everything in order to gain Christ. It is treasuring the pearl of great price and abandoning all else to obtain it. It is loving, serving, and fearing God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Will you listen and turn from your former way of life? (2 Kings 17:40). Because if you refuse, your outcome will be no different than that of the man in Pilgrim’s Progress who found himself in the iron cage of despair, unable to repent.
““He asked the man who he was. And the man replied, “I am what I didn’t use to be.”
Christian, then asked him, “What were you before?”
He replied: “I was once a flourishing professor (of faith), both in my own eyes and in the eyes of others.”
“What now happened?” Asked Christian.
“I am now a man of despair”, he answered. “I am shut in this iron cage and cannot get out.”
“How did you get here?” asked Christian.
“I stopped watching and praying. I stopped mortifying my sinful desires, I sinned against the light of the word, and the goodness of God, I have grieved the Spirit, I have provoked God to anger. He has left me, he has hardened my heart, I cannot repent.”
“Is there no hope for such a man?” Christian asked.
“None at all”, he answered.
“How did you bring yourself into this state?” asked Christian.
“For lusts, pleasures, profits of the world, enjoyment,” he answered.
“But can’t you repent?” asked Christian.
“God has denied me repentance,” he answered.””
But God still calls:
“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Why spend your money on what is not bread, and your labour on what does not satisfy? Listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in abundance. Incline your ear, come to me, hear, that your soul may live.” (Isaiah 55:1–3)
