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Lukeaneke@aol.com Westbury, NY, USA

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CHRISTIANITY: A SPECIAL INVITATION TO REMI OYEYEMI

dmittedly, I am one of those who have been following the ongoing debate on Christianity between our brother, Remi Oyeyemi, on one hand, and our other brothers, Samuel Arowolaju and Steve Nwabuzor on the other. The debate, which was initially healthy, from my perspective, centered on whether Christianity was built on rock or on quicksand. A few other contributors added their perspectives to the debate but, by and large, it centered between the above-mentioned parties. However, when Oyeyemi came out with his latest article, "TYRANNY OF CHRISTIANITY: OF FANATICS AND FOOLS", I felt compelled to make a few comments.

In the practice of medicine, at least here in the United States, when a patient is diagnosed with a serous medical illness, like cancer, and he/she, for whatever reason, refuses treatment, we don’t get into an endless argument with him/her. The approach is to seek help for the patient from social workers, clinical psychologists, psychiatrist, chaplains, etc. I know and believe that our brother Remi is not sick and remains one whose overall intellectual debate is challenging and stimulating. However, when in his article, Oyeyemi began to revile God, deride the bible, and discredit the actions of Jesus Christ, on one hand, and celebrate the deities, Sango, Oya and Ogun, on the other, it immediately stuck me that he needed some help and intercession, rather than charges and counter-charges.

I am glad that the help he needed came, and timely too, in the form of "THE CASE FOR CHRIST - OPEN LETTER TO MR. OYEYEMI" by Femi Awodele on Wednesday, September 3, 2003, in Nigeriaworld.com. I believe that the article addressed a good part of Oyeyemi’s problems as revealed in his article. Hence, this present article is partly to compliment that work that Femi Awodele has done, and also to contribute an answer to two of Oyeyemi’s most important questions: why Jesus cursed an innocent fig tree and why Christians like Samuel Arowolaju and Steve Nwabuzor still live in this "sinful world", instead of leaving it for the Oyeyemis.

The internet, by God’s grace, has made the world one giant school auditorium where one can indeed interact with others mentally, spiritually, and intellectually without the necessity of physical proximity. I felt compelled to write this article largely because God said in Ezekiel 3:18-19 that: "When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul". (KJV). Let me say to my brother, Remi, that the term "wicked" here, is not necessarily the usual lexiconal meaning. Rather, it denotes anybody who has set himself up against God or the interest God.

In real substance, let me start by telling my brother, Remi, that every single entity, physical or spiritual, that had picked a fight with God or poised itself against God has lost, and lost woefully, without exception. The list is endless and can be verified from the bible, whether you, Remi, believe it or not. The bible describes God as the "Rock of Ages". If you kick the rock, you will be broken into pieces and if the rock falls on you, you will be ground to powder. It is simply saying that an adversarial relationship with God or the interest of God is a loose-loose situation, whether you believe it or not.

Lucifer, the most highly decorated angel, learnt this lesson, too late and at great cost. Others include the Pharaoh of Egypt (Gen. Chaps 3-15), Nebuchadnezzar (Dan 4:28-37), his grandson Belshazzer (Dan 5: 5-31), king Jeroboam (1K 13:4-6), king Ahab (1K 22:34-35), Jezebel (2K 9:33-35), king Sennacherib (2K 19:35-37), king Herod (Acts 12: 20-24), Bar Jesus, also known as Elymas (Acts 13: 6-12), Sani Abacha, etc. etc. The list is endless. Pharoah had Egypt devastated by plagues, Nebuchadnezzer ate grass for seven seasons, Jeroboam’s right hand was instantly withered, Sennacherib lost 185,000 troops in one night and was later killed by his two sons, king Herod was eaten up by worms and Elymas, who tried to impede evangelistic work, went away with instant blindness. We all know about the shameful death of Abacha. That is why the bible says that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hand of the living God.

My next advice to Remi is that he should not base his relationship with God, for good or bad, on the conduct and character of Christians. Christians in the New Testament and God’s people in the Old Testament are/were never perfect nor is perfection claimed by them as an attribute. Christians live in mortal bodies that are carnal and sinful, but God knows of their tendency to commit sin and therefore has made allowance for the forgiveness of their sins, cleansing and restoration (1 John1:9). That is why the bible says in Psalm103:10: "He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities" and Psalm 130:3 says of God: "If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand".

There is an endless litany of Christian imperfections. Abraham, the father of faith, who spoke with God face to face, fled famine in Canaan, went to Egypt and lied about the identity of his wife. Why should someone who spoke with God face to face run from famine and fear a conspiracy to be killed because of the beauty of his wife? Because he was not perfect after all. Noah, whom God called the preacher of righteousness, got drunk and naked and had to be covered by his sons. Moses, whom God called the meekest man in all the earth, yielded to anger in a brief moment and twice struck a rock he was told to simply speak to. King David, whom God called "my servant, David" and "a man after my heart" committed one of the most horrendous crimes known to man, adultery and murder, but yet, he is not in hell today, because Christians are not perfect, but forgiven. Elijah, the mighty prophet that commanded fire from heaven and killed 450 prophets of Baal, was overcome with fear at a mere verbal threat from Jezebel and fled and begged God to take his life. The apostle, Simon Peter, was preaching that Jews and Gentiles are the same in Christ. But when he was eating with some Gentiles (Gal. 2:11-14) and some Jewish emissaries came from James, he withdrew from the Gentiles and separated himself to avoid grilling from the Jews. I can go on and on and on.

Also, Oyeyemi’s grudge as to why God chose the Jews as his special people and not the Yorubas or the Zulus is an unnecessary dissipation of energy, because that issue is now moot in Christ. In the Old Testament, human beings were classified into two groups: Jews and Gentiles. However, in the New Testament, humans are classified into three groups: Jews, Gentiles and the body of Christ (1Cor 10:32). Hence, this is not a time for the Igbo, Yoruba or Vietnamese to envy the Jews as the chosen people of God because in the New Testament, the body of Christ (church of God) is now the people of God and both the Vietnamese and the Jew must strive to become part of it before they can see God, whether they believe it or not. Outside the body of Christ, both Jews and Gentiles are destined to hell:- a real place (see Luke 16:19-31 for a rich man who did not believe in hell until he got there).

Now, why would Jesus curse an innocent fig tree? Well, that’s a very good question! The problem is that the carnal mind not only does not understand the things of God, but indeed cannot (Rom. 8:7; 1Cor. 2:14). How do you explain spiritual things to the natural mind? How do you teach engineering to one without the basic knowledge of mathematics, physics, and strength of materials? How do explain the space program to one without the basic knowledge of gravitation, acceleration and weightlessness? It is the same problem that will be encountered if you try to teach the things of God to a canal mind that do not, and indeed cannot, perceive the things of God, because they are spiritually discerned. It is like trying to measure temperature with a ruler or velocity with a thermometer. They simply will not work.

However, let’s explain why Jesus cursed the innocent fig tree. Before we go to the real answer, let’s take up this scenario. Why should Remi Oyeyemi or his family go to the goat market on Christmas and buy an innocent goat and kill it and eat? Is that goat or sheep or chicken less innocent them the fig tree? The answer is no. They are just as innocent as the fig tree cursed by Jesus. The reason we can kill those animals and eat, despite their innocence, is that God, (who created the goat, and other things) gave us (who cannot create a grain of sand) dominion over the animals he created including the goat. (Gen.1: 28). So if we, who cannot create, can kill an innocent goat and eat or cut down an innocent tree to give light to our garden, then what more he who did the creation?

Another answer is in Revelation 4:11, which says "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created". Notice two important facts here: One, he created all things. Two, all things were created for his pleasure. Hence, if it pleases Jesus to curse the fig tree (or an apple tree), he is fully entitled to that. He owes nobody explanation and you cannot quarrel with him (Is 45:9). Finally, a third answer is that Jesus cursed the fig tree because, if it pleased him, he could restore the fig tree back to life, which I and Oyeyemi cannot do to our Christmas goat.

Now, let’s deal with why Christians like Samuel Arowolaju and Steve Nwabuzor still live in this "sinful world", instead of leaving it for the Oyeyemis. Again, whether Oyeyemi believes it or not, Christians, notwithstanding their imperfections, are the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Matt 5: 13-14). We know that a common denominator between salt and light is preservation. Both of them preserve, and that’s what Christians do in the world. Believe it or not, a lot of good things happen to non-Christians just for the sake of Christians. Without Christians in the world, life will be meaningless, if ever it would exist. Let me concretise this with a few examples.

In Daniel chapter 2 a sudden death sentence was passed on the wise men of Babylon because they could not interpret or recollect king Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. This death sentence affected Daniel because he was one of those that attended the school of the wise men. However, God, in the process of saving the life of Daniel, revealed King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and its interpretation to Daniel and in the process saved not only Daniel, but the Babylonian wise men, soothsayers and astrologers who were slated to die. Without Daniel, all those men would have been killed. In Acts 27, during the Apostle Paul’s voyage to Rome, the soldiers were given instruction, in the event of an emergency, to kill all the prisoners, over 200 people, rather than allow any of them to escape. But the bible says that because of Paul, the commander rescinded that order when the ship was wrecked and spared the life of the other prisoners. (verses 42-43). Without Paul in that ship all the prisoners would have been killed.

The same thing happened when Paul and Silas were imprisoned in Philippi for casting an evil spirit out of a lucrative damsel. God, in the process of freeing Paul and Silas, freed the other prisoners when he used an earthquake to shake down the prison. (Acts 16: 25-34). Similarly, as with Daniel and the Babylonian wise men, and as with Paul and the prisoners, so it is with Christians and non Christians in the present world, If the Christians, the salt and light, of this world are removed, the Oyeyemi’s will have no mouth to tell their story. Notice also that the prison warden in the Philippi jail, who had persecuted Paul and Silas with chains and fetters, was also converted, with his whole family, and became a Christian.

I read portions of brother Oyeyemi’s article where he was quoting Harvard law professor, Allan Dershowitz, on matters affecting the Christians. It is all well and good to quote the likes of Dershowitz on rational and worldly matters. However, when it comes to spiritual things and the things of God, Remi may be surprised to find that Allan Dershowitz is no better than him. That is the nature of God and who he chooses to reveal himself to. When it comes to spiritual things, an Ivy League tenureship is completely helpless and immaterial.

Before I close, let me say a few things about the bible. Undoubtedly, the devil is the force behind so many of the attacks and skepticism on the bible today. Unfortunately, however, the devil, after deceiving those he can captivate, goes behind to read and quote the very bible he dissuades others from reading and appreciating (Luke 4:3-12). Notice the devil in Luke 4:10-11 quoting verbatim from Psalm 91:11-12. So, who is deceiving who? The bible contains the word of God, believe it or not. Unlike the word of man, the word of God does not need an ear, a cranial nerve and neuro-synaptic apparatus to be heard. The word of God is heard and obeyed by inanimate objects like dry bones, fig trees and hurricanes. And when you have spent sometime reading the bible, you will have no doubt that it is the handwork of God, and you will see the difference between it and the works of Shakespeare, Sheridan amd Chinua Achebe.

I will end this piece by revisiting the caption of this writing:- a special invitation to Remi Oyeyemi. My brother Remi, my prayer is that you’ll come and see what Christianity is all about. The key to Christian evangelism is: come and see! Come and see why king David of Israel cried to all and sundry to come and taste the goodness of the Lord. Come and see why Saul of Tarsus abandoned his Jewish and Pharisaic privileges to embrace Christianity, and became Paul the Apostle. In John 1: 45-51, when Nathaniel was invited to come and meet Jesus Christ of Nazareth, he ridiculed the inviter by saying; "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?". Come and see why he later swallowed his skepticism and became an adherent disciple.

Come and see why the worshippers of the goddess, Diana, in Acts 19:18-19, burned their occultic books and instruments and converted to Christianity. Then you can see why Sango, Oya and Ogun are nothing but pieces of wood. Come and see why the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers abandoned their humanistic philosophy and teachings and followed the apostle Paul in Acts 17: 18-34. Come and see why the "who is who" of the occult are fleeing darkness in droves today and taking shelter in Christianity:- the solid rock. My brother, come and see! That is my prayer for you and I hope the Holy Spirit will enlighten your heart and reveal the truth to you. I pray and hope that you will come and see, and make the right choice.

May God bless Remi Oyeyemi, and all of us.

Dr. Nnaemeka Luke Aneke, a practicing physician and attorney at law, in Westbury New York, is a bible teacher and associate Pastor at Hope Restoration Pentecostal Ministries headquarters in Queens Village, New York. He is also the Vice-President of Health Care Workers for Christ (HCWC) an evangelistic organization in metropolitan New York