The Dare—a note to the churches in Nigeria
Some nights ago, my sister shared
on a ladies’ “what’s app” group a conversation she had overheard earlier in the
day. It was a conversation between two filling station attendants; they talked
about how they didn’t think Christians were loving enough and how, most times,
Christians tend to keep to themselves instead of reaching out to people in
need.
Her post got everyone in the
group talking about how it’s important that we step out of our religious
practices and make real impact in the lives of people around us. More
importantly, it got me thinking. Churches make a lot of money from tithes and
offerings, but what percentage of that goes into maintaining the parsonage and
church building, and what percentage goes back into helping the community?
So I decided to write this note
to the churches in Nigeria and issue a dare: Wonder what will happen in Nigeria
if, in the next 12 months, all churches take 85% of the tithes and offerings
they receive and use it for one community project within a five-mile radius
from where the church is located?
Now, I’m not talking about
setting aside one Sunday in a month and taking a special offering and using
that to buy food for people living on the street. No, that’s good, but not
great. I am talking about looking into the community your church is located in,
identifying a need that that community has—say, bad roads (God knows we have a
lot of those in Nigeria), water shortages, ill-equipped schools, health care
facilities, anything at all—and then deciding that for the next twelve months,
as the church in that neighborhood, you will fix that problem.
If churches did that, imagine
what our neighborhoods would look like in twelve months! I tell you, there can
be no louder preaching that can be done than meeting the needs of people. If we
really want to make real changes in the lives of people who don’t know or
believe in God, we need to stop investing our funds in building and maintaining
massive structures or popping up a church on every corner; we need to start
investing these funds in the people we are trying to reach out to.
So here’s my dare to all the
churches, especially in Nigeria: transform the community you are located in,
and you’ll reach the hearts of the people in that community more quickly than
you ever would have if you were giving out tracts or screaming with a
megaphone.
Something to think about: “Everyone was filled with awe at
the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were
together and had everything in common. They
sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day
they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their
homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts” Acts 2:43–46
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