FROM AN INFIDEL TO A NOMAD

A Missionary is basically a disciple of Jesus Christ living among those people who are not, one committed to the  fulfillment of the great commission: Preaching the gospel of the Kingdom, Baptizing and Making Disciples as instructed in Matthew 28:19-20. By this definition every Christian, follower or Disciple of Jesus Christ should be a Missionary by default, living solely for the purpose of advancing the kingdom irrespective of whatever capacity or sphere of influence he she commands. This task of preaching the gospel and making disciple of all people in our sphere of influence and beyond is not and should not be restricted to a few people through making of distinctions between “the Clergy” and “the Laity”, after all Christianity was never intended by God to be another religion because enough of those religions existed before Christ came. Rather it was intended to be a Movement where a disciple follows his master or teacher everywhere he goes, does what his master does, and goes on to become like his master reproducing others like he too was reproduced.

Living the life of a follower or disciple of Christ entails living like Nomad. Whether at home, among fellow Christians, or abroad, among the heathens. It simply means living with eternity in view and always reminding oneself of the fact that we are just pilgrims (Strangers, Foreigners, Travelers, or Sojourners) on this Earth as the Bible makes us understand from Hebrews 11:13 in a beautiful conclusion of  the “Faith’s Hall of fame” and 1Peter 2:11. Even Jesus himself instructed us in Matthew 6:31-33 not to be like the Infidels who care and live for nothing but for what to Eat, Drink, Wear, Drive and where to Live(Settle-down) among many other self-centered mundane things. Rather Christ instructed us to live the simple Nomadic lifestyle of one step at a time trusting God for everything and seeking the advancement of His Kingdom in the Hearts of all Men and Women.  This ought to be the lifestyle of every disciple of Christ, but sadly this is not the case with most Christians today.

My realization of this truth, hit me really hard on the 28^th of August 2013 like a thunderbolt and made me give-up my mundane personal dreams and ambitions of the years I’d live so far. Never in all my years of Religious Christianity or “Churchianity” did any truth of God’s word move me into such a Decisive step! Sad to see that many more Christians are yet to come to this realization, really disheartened to see most of my contemporaries still engrossed in a wild goose chase of selfish Ambitions at the expense of the dire need of this generation to be ardent God-Chasers considering the recent trend of global events indicating that we have little or no time before Christ returns for His Church. I know there are many out there who are aware of God’s need for their lives but they simply can’t release their all to Him for fear of so many Uncertainties, they’d rather hold-on to “the earthly things which are seen” because that’s what they’re used to. In most cases of those who keep ignoring His call God simply bypasses them and goes for those who are available thereby choosing the foolish, weak, unqualified, unattractive and despised people of this world to shame disgrace and confound the wise and seemingly indispensible, according to 1Corinthians 1:27. But in other cases he abruptly interrupts the finest of men he chooses for his divine purpose.

At the point of my discovering God’s plan for my life, God simply replayed highlights of his dealings in my life in which he spoke to me through various means at various times including:

v August 2010   -  God spoke through a Dream

v August 2011   -  God spoke through a Prophecy/Word of Knowledge

v May       2012   -  God spoke through a Dream

v May       2012   -  God spoke through a Prophecy/Word of Knowledge

v August 2013   - God eventually interrupted me through a Question I couldn’t answer, (Why are you not a Missionary?) This broke my Defiance and marked the Climax of my transformation “From an Infidel to a Nomad”. But you may not have to wait for all these to happen to you before you make yourself available for him, God uses people that are available, not necessarily qualified.

One classic example of people who God interrupts abruptly is Paul the Apostle, who in his days was a Brilliant Lawyer (Probably a Senior Advocate Acts 22:3), trained by the finest Professors of Law in the person of the very renowned Gamaliel(Acts 5:34), he was a Religious/Political Activist and a fast rising Star in the Jewish Political Scene then dominated by the Romans . Even in contemporary times, he still does interrupt people, like the case of a young budding ambitious journalist who aimed to be in the league of internationally famous news casters. Just the way I too was interrupted in the midst of my quest for a Masters in International Law and Diplomacy MILD at the University of Lagos. I had set out goals leading to becoming an E-marketing, E-branding, Ideas and Strategy genius for Multinational companies or Politician on the Social-Media, and possibly ending-up as Nigeria’s High Commissioner to Canada, Ambassador to France and/or Ultimately as Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, and I was going full length to achieve these goals. Very crazy, bogus or lofty ambitions these may seem, but God’s will ultimately prevailed simply because none of these things can compare to His plan for me in His Global agenda for this age. I had initially felt I was sacrificing too much for this cause until I saw Brethren with better qualifications that I was gunning for.

When God interrupted me, I felt God was unfair considering the implications of being God’s own Ambassador (Missionary) among the Nations (which I found to be my primary raison D’etre). The cost of being an Ambassador of the Cross is no Child’s play at all, considering what exactly God wanted done and where he was leading. God was truly changing my status “From an Infidel to a Nomad”. Of course this new status in Faith-based Cross-Cultural Mission has its challenges and as expected came with truck-loads of questions, worries and genuine concerns from friend, families and even myself as I had little or no clue of what I’d just opted into.  However God has progressively provided and is still providing answers to all of that in the last one year as events keep unfolding and falling in place like a Jigsaw-Puzzle. It may indeed be a fact that being a Missionary in Certain Restricted parts of the World (which my Dad calls “the Devil’s inner Pockets”) can sometimes be a suicide mission as Risky as being an American CIA Agent on Russian soil, a Russian KGB in the Pentagon, an Israeli MOSSAD Agent in Tehran, or even more dangerous imagine an Iranian, Spying on IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) in Tel-Aviv. The truth is that God doesn’t send anyone on a Mission and not assure such person of his Presence and the protection of the Heavenly host, but even if God permits the Undesirable to happen, like C. T. Studd I believe that. “if Christ be God and Died for me, then no Sacrifice can be too much to make for him”, besides we are not like those who die without any hope or assurance of Salvation.

Now I feel a deep sense of fulfillment for being considered worthy of enlistment into God’s Navy to rescue those trapped in the Sinking ship of a Violent, Oppressive and Blood thirsty Religion of the Sword.