by Fred Adetiba

I hate religion, and I do not subscribe to any. I am not a Christian, but a Kingdom believer who subscribes to the values and principles of the Kingdom of God as taught by Jesus Christ. 

The average religious mind will shudder upon seeing this title. I cannot overemphasise how much I despise religion in its entirety. Religion dulls the spirit and kills the brain. It pollutes and perverts the ways of God, replacing them with what may seem to have originate from man, but which actually originates from the master of deception himself, Satan. It is the spirit that has not only given those who subscribe to the values and principles of the kingdom, a religion called Christianity, but also carved a Christian-god for them.

Man has always had the tendency of being ahead of himself, without recourse to the Creator on what next step to take per time. Social, political and economic systems of the world are falling apart today because man thinks he can navigate through life without God. This is the same posturing of religious spirit. Rather than seek direction and definition from God, man continues to do as he pleases. It is this spirit that has placed Christianity alongside other religions of the world, with its own god. That is why Christians have certain dispositions toward other religious people. Whenever this Christian-god is being projected, I wonder if He is the same God that created the heavens and the earth, everyone and everything in them as recorded in Genesis 1. I also wonder if He is the One that said “I am the Lord, the God of all flesh…” (Jeremiah 32:27). The God I know and serve, created everyone including those who do not believe He exists.

The same God after years of man’s inability to find his way back to Him (conforming to God’s design for man), paved the way through Jesus Christ (John 14:6). As much as He is the God of those who have found the Way, He is the God and Creator of those who are yet or may never subscribe to the Way. The idea that there is a Christian-god, places Christianity on the long list of world’s religions. This is one of the manifestations of religious spirit that has invaded the Church, which the Spirit of God is exposing as He prepares the saints for the accomplishment of His end time agenda, and the eventual closing of this age. It is the same God who “…makes His sun rise on the wicked and on the good, and makes the rain fall upon the upright and the wrongdoers [alike]” (Matthew 5:45). This is the God I know, serve and worship and not the one that is only concerned about a sect called Christians.

There was an engagement on social media recently where someone said that a Christian must be the next governor of Lagos State. And because this fellow is a serious professing Christian, I decided to take him on that statement. I asked him who a Christian was. I asked if it’s the President Obasanjo or President Jonathan’s type of Christian for example. I picked on these two leaders as examples because they are both public figures who profess Christianity and who some people supported as a result of that. If it’s because of the quality of life these two lived as public servants that informed the call for more Christian leaders in Nigeria, then I beg to say that I am not a Christian, as much as I do not know or serve any particular Christian-god. It is at this point that people are quick to say: “do not judge”, out of ignorance. This is not judging, but stating the obvious. Judging them would mean sentencing them to irredeemable condemnation, which no one can do. As long as we remain in time, everyone (including atheists) stands the chance of accepting the gift of salvation and making it back to God.

Religious spirit in some minds will begin to somersault upon reading that I’m not a Christian. Let’s take a look at the origin of the term Christian for a moment. In most translations of the Bible, you would find the term Christians appeared once in Acts 11:26, when the disciples were referred to as Christians because the people observed they had being with Jesus Christ. Those who subscribed to the values and principles of Jesus Christ were mostly referred to as believers. And what distinguished them from the rest of the people is their lifestyle and not because of any particular term or tag. I said I am not a Christian because there is no where in the Scripture where the God I know and serve said I should wear any particular tag. I am also not a Christian because I have seen that it’s not everyone that wears the tag subscribes to the values and principles of Jesus Christ. Therefore it is possible to be a Christian and not be a member of the Body of Christ, the Church. In the Book of Acts, it is those who got saved that became part of the Church and not those who wore any particular name-tag (Acts 2:47).

God is judging and exposing religious spirits that have long ravaged the Church. It is the spirit that makes supposed leaders in the Church see Nigeria as made up of Christians and other religions, and therefore an individual wearing the tag Christian must be supported to lead the people. They do this without seeking out the mind and the purpose of God, because they have been blinded and are being led by this religious spirit, which does not recourse to God. The same spirit prevents these leaders from seeing the global purpose of God, thereby confining them to narrow and parochial perspectives with which they also lead God’s people.

I hate religion, and I do not subscribe to any. I am not a Christian, but a Kingdom believer who subscribes to the values and principles of the Kingdom of God as taught by Jesus Christ. So when next you are told to vote for a leader because he or she wears a particular religious tag, I hope you would ask the right questions. I hope you would also ask questions whenever you are pointed to a god of a particular sect or religion rather than the God of all flesh, the Creator of heaven and earth. Most importantly, I hope you would ask yourself the right question of what you really subscribe to; a Christian religion or values and principles of Jesus Christ that is lifestyle driven.

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This article was published with permission from Premium Times