Skillful Yet Not Faithful: Unveiling the Duality Among Brethren
I, just like anybody else, would normally applaud any task well done; the same goes for church activities, especially teaching, sermons, and song leading.
When some brothers mount the pulpit to teach or sing, they do it so well that you love them for it. Is it prayer? Some could pray, and you would think rapture would happen after the prayer. Some sisters sing so melodiously that you can’t resist applauding them.
But there is another side we are not even exploring yet; hold on a bit.
In a corner, there was me, a dark dude trying so hard to improve myself and overcome my pronounced speech impediment garnished with Glossophobia.
I wanted to be able to teach, sing, or pray very well, if not for anything, for the public admiration, the several hugs from sisters and subtle “feeling of oneself” that goes with it.
So over the years, I started getting closer to the people who could do it well in order to learn from them, but this opened my eyes to a deeper side of what I never knew all along.
Growing up in the church, many of us had this mentality of seeing brethren as saints; if you are active in the church, you are regarded with higher esteem.
We naturally expected every member of the church to be upright and holy (well, as it should be), but in reality, that is not how it is, in some cases, it’s far from it.
Several brotherly and sisterly “sheges” have proven otherwise; the truth is, irrespective of who you are in the fold of God, many of us are actually growing, struggling, recovering, while some have gone reprobate in the faith.
I discovered that many of my church people are just SKILLFUL; some with little or no iota of faithfulness yet they can skilfully teach, sing, and pray very well; some are naturally talented, some learned it.
As human as we all are, we naturally attribute skilfulness/activeness for truthfulness, We usually get carried away with how well a brother delivers a teaching/sermon or officiates an item of worship that we naturally expect them to be faithful and truthful.
We hold active brethren in high esteem and expect a lot from them because they are skilful; that’s why you get highly disappointed when such an active brother/sister falls.
My growth over the years made me realize that there is a clear distinction between SKILLFULNESS and FAITHFULNESS; a brother can finish fornicating and still come to teach, and he would deliver the teaching excellently well; well, he is SKILLFUL!.
Some female members with sonorous voices hold more than the mics in church (if you don’t get it…). So many unheard scandals in the fold would make you feel like an unbeliever.
You can be a chronic sinner and still handle church activities very well, wowing members with your skilfulness, but maybe God is not moved an inch because he knows you are not faithful.
I know as humans we can only access and judge what we see/know; a bigger reason a lot of church folks love to keep their lives extremely private from brethren, but you can’t play God anyway.
Most times when we quote Matthew 7:21, we usually quote it for unbelievers, not knowing that it applies to a whole lot of us in the fold.
Let’s go over those verses again.
“Not everyone who says (Skillful) to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven (faithfulness/ truthfulness). On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name (skillfulness)?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness (not faithful).’
(Bracketed emphases mine)
Understanding the difference between skilfulness and faithfulness would make you feel the weight of
“This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me,”
as mentioned in Matthew 15:8; like, woah!
This justifies the possibility of people being far away from God even though they appear outwardly close to him.
We have sugar-coated brethren even in the fold; some sugarcoating is in-built; some learn it.
Eloquence is not the same as faithfulness.I can be eloquent and very vocal about something and not do it, or I may be doing the exact opposite.
Just look at most of our politicians; look at the people who serve in executive positions; check their manifesto and their eventual delivery; you will understand that TALK IS CHEAP. In fact, talk is cheaper when you can talk very well with charisma.
We all naturally fall for those who can talk and handle tasks effectively, displaying outward perfection. Yeah, it’s cool, but more than that, we need people to not just be skilful but faithful!
Most times, the weight of your sin is usually (humanly) measured by how active or skilful you are. Let me explain.
So, if you are a brother or sister who just comes to the place of worship, you breeze in and out once in a while, or you don’t get involved much in church activities, many people don’t really know you. If at all your shady stuff gets exposed and you get disfellowshipped, don’t worry; it won’t carry weight.
After all, you are not preaching against your sins, so many people won’t be disappointed. But if it were to be a ‘vibrant’ brother, the whole church would hear it. People would hold the news for weeks and months because you are very active and skillful. And in your skillfulness, you have probably preached against the sin you were called out for.
If you have been unlucky to be in the middle of some mild gossip about the escapades of some brethren, you will marvel at how our lives don’t match up to our activeness in the church, and you still see the same set of people skillfully delivering the church tasks. Some even go as far as adding flavors and extra effizy.
It’s even worse when some of these people hold respected positions in the fold. Imagine how cringy you feel when you hear about the scandals of popular denominational pastors.
I have been privileged to hear people murmuring when they see some particular brothers mount the pulpit, like
“what is he going to teach?”, “he does not even practice what he preaches.”
Almost everyone wants to mount the pulpit; people want to be seen as active But it goes beyond just knowing how to teach very well, leading songs, knowing how to pray fervently, you may get human applause,
but human applause is way useless when God does not applaud you.
Let me quote from the verse of Kelvin Burgess in his Christian rap Church clap:
“if I can Make the whole church clap and there is no clap in heaven, that clap is just a clap clap.”
People are probably exercising their hands.
Some even fight for the pulpit just because they want to show off their skill or knowledge (knowledge puffs up[1 cor 8: 1]).
I am not writing this to diss our skilful folks. Do not get me wrong; we need the work of God to be done well (skilfully), while at the same time, we need to be faithful and truthful to God and the faith we profess.
It makes no sense if you could lead others to God and you yourself are far away from him.
In the golden words of Paul,
lest by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
(1 cor 9:27)
In conclusion, the journey of faith is not solely paved with skilful performances but deeply rooted in the genuine faithfulness that resides within our hearts. As we navigate the intricacies of church life, let us remember that while skill can captivate human attention, it is faith that truly captures the heart of God.
May we strive not only for eloquent teachings, powerful prayers, and captivating performances but also for a heart that remains steadfast in its devotion to God’s word and His will. Let our actions mirror the integrity of our intentions, and may our lives resonate with the harmony of skill and faith.
In a world that often prioritizes appearances over substance, let us stand as a testament to the power of genuine faithfulness. For it is not the applause of humans that ultimately matters, but the smile of the Divine that lights our path.
So, let us embrace this truth as brethren, recognizing that the dual nature of skill and faithfulness can coexist beautifully. As we continue to grow, struggle, and recover, let us constantly seek to bridge the gap between our actions and our hearts, allowing faithfulness to be the cornerstone of all our endeavours.
In the end, let our lives be a symphony of authenticity, where our faith and skill harmonize to create a melody that resonates not only within the walls of the church but throughout eternity.
Shallom
Ajala Mayowa Felix (Amfstacks)
