The Gospel Is Not Legalism

A reverend shared something with us once, and it has helped me to appreciate the place of cultural imprint in light of Christian values from a global perspective.

The reverend I refer to is Reverend Samson Ajetumobi of Men of Issachar Vision.

He is a very conservative Yoruba man whose ministrations are backed by transformative exploits globally.

He has missionaries in many nations who are daily winning souls for the kingdom.

He said he and his wife travelled to Hawaii for the purpose of evangelism some years ago.

They arrived on Saturday, and by Sunday morning, they dressed up to look for a church to attend so that they could introduce themselves to the local preacher.

The intention was to get some real-time information from the local preacher about the people and see where they would start their assignment from.

When they got to the church, they discovered the pastor was in shorts, a loose shirt, and had tattoos all over his body.

His members were also in shorts and bikinis, and most of them had tattoos on their bodies.

He said he and his wife were the only ones in a suit and they felt they really needed to get these people born again because of their appearance.

He said he listened to the sermon and he realised the pastor was sound in his doctrine.

They also prayed and he realised the pastor was full of the Holy Spirit.

After the service, he asked the pastor why he and his members were dressed that way.

The pastor said, "Would you have asked this question if you were in Saudi Arabia or Egypt, or Dubai and you saw me wearing a Jalabia with a turban on my head?"

I have to identify with the locals here and blend into their local culture.

We are not a suit-wearing people, it does not suit our weather.

We are seafarers, and we dwell on water.

That was the practical lesson he learnt from the scripture "To the Greeks I became a Greek".

We are not a suit-wearing people; it does not suit our understanding of the gospel.

Another Minister, Andrew Wommack, talked about his European tour of the gospel.

He got to Germany, and the hall was filled with people drinking beer before the service began.

The Germans, however, said Coffee is for unbelievers.

He got to Romania he found believers drinking coffee.

The Romanians said beer is for unbelievers.

He got to England, and he found the Reverends of the Baptist church smoking and drinking with members after the service.

Drinking scotch and whiskey, and smoking cigarettes and a pipe

He said he grew up in rural America and has never drank coffee before in his life, not to mention any of the other things he saw fellow Christians doing based on their culture.

He said that in none of these places did the Holy Spirit call them unholy or unworthy.

Drinking scotch and whiskey, and smoking cigarettes and pipe, and were filled with the Holy Spirit.

Most religious people have replaced the pharisees in their conduct.

They only preserve a form of godliness without having a true knowledge of God.

-GSW-