So near yet so far

Meet Paul and Rachel, two fictitious characters.

Paul has been a Christian for over a decade and he has read the Bible from cover to cover, not on one occasion. He is recognised as an elder/deacon and he has led many organisational and structural changes in his church; he has also led many bible-study groups, and seamlessly steps in for the ‘boss’ on important occasions in the life of the church.

Rachel often wears different hats in her church – when she’s not singing, she’s a steward, helping newcomers, and always volunteering to prepare assorted dishes in the kitchen in a bid to enhance the communal life of her church. She has been through different churches with different systems, practices and forms of governments, but she’s dubbed ‘mama’ everywhere she goes; she is an active financier of the church and she definitely has the lingo and external attributes of a Christian.

Having built a reputation of trust overtime, both Paul and Rachel have spare keys to the church building.

Time – a visible element common in both lives.

Folks with report cards like those above are assumed to be thoroughly grounded in the ‘truth’ they’ve practised for so long. In reality however, that may not be the case, especially when certain questionable traits creep up habitually, not the least some less obvious symptoms of false familiarity.

An inexhaustive list

Think grumpiness as opposed to joy; a seeming lack of rest and contentment; endless routine of church activities with no genuine or vibrant love for Jesus or for other members of the body; little or no concern for those yet unsaved or prayers for enemies and those who wrongly use us; participation in church to satisfy social needs; going to church with an ungodly fear that is as a result of ‘horizontal level’ expectations; perceived growth in godliness only as projected to the public but not attested to by those close to us; a sceptical and critical attitude towards the body, perhaps displaying trademarks of bravado that is coated in pride (of course, criticism itself is not bad, but destructive criticism from within is)…

But is familiarity the real issue? Perhaps not; rather, the lack of it.

The dilemma of familiarity

 “Familiarity breeds contempt”, a well-known maxim that holds true in most spheres of human life. I suppose the danger of familiarity is in knowing, while taking for granted the implication of what is known. An American author, Jodi Picoult, remarks that “identification is not the same as knowing someone through and through.”

The truth is that none of eloquence, activity, vibrancy, etc. in church is the true proof of one’s claim to Christianity. Rather, the Bible paints a picture of ongoing growth in godly character as both the goal and evidence of abiding faith.

The aim here is not to offer a yardstick for measuring others, but to get us looking in the mirror and rethinking our notion of familiarity (or lack of it) with God and His word.

In other words, are you growing in godliness? Or are you so near yet so far away?

Thanks for reading!

Sike Osinuga.