Gods new tribe - John Kpikpi
God’s New Tribe
If in the western world it is ‘money which talks’, then in Africa one can say that it is the ‘tribe which talks’. If it is money which divides up the western world into social classes and, directly or indirectly, gives them their identity, then it is tribal identity which fragments Africa. Each tribe thinks of itself as being better than the next and is shot through with deep-seated prejudices. Such prejudices underline the coarse and offensive jokes we find people of one tribe making about those from another. They lead to hidden or open discrimination in business and politics. In their most extreme expression, they result in horrific wars in which battle lines are drawn along tribal boundaries. As a matter of fact, most of the wars in Africa have been fought between two tribes (often within the same country) rather than between any of the modern nations of Africa.
Almost anybody who tries to build anything involving people in Africa – weather it be a family, a business, a government, a state or a religious movement – will very quickly hit the ‘barrier’ of tribal allegiance (people continuing to see themselves as being first and foremost a member of their tribes and therefore giving their first loyalty to the tribe rather than any other person of group). Any attempt to build Africans together which ignores tribal commitments will, at best, be superficial only and, at worst, a complete waste of time and resources.[1]
The sin behind tribalism is human pride and arrogance.[2]
If God has the answer to tribalism it should be evident in the churches are a visible expression of the invisible God.[3]
When we look up the word ‘church’ in a thesaurus, we find the following words offered as synonyms: basilica, cathedral, minster. For the word ‘tribe’, the same thesaurus offers: family, clan, people, ethnic group. Thus whereas the word ‘tribe’ clearly refers to a people, the word ‘church’ seems to be understood as applying to a wooden, brick – or stone building. If these are generally accepted definitions then we have a clue as to how the error of tribalism can persist even within the church: if the church is no more than a building made by human hands, then a tribe can happily ‘go to church’ (that is, go into a building) and come out again exactly the same as the tribe that entered. Everything is left intact.
However, if we recover the true and Biblical meaning of the word ‘church’, we will find that there is no room at all for the tribe to remain unaffected.
God’s New Tribe
The church is described in the Bible in several different ways. For example, we find the church described as:
· A chosen people (1 Peter 2:9)
· A royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9)
· A holy nation (1 Peter 2:9)
· A people belonging to God (1 Peter 2:9)
· The body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27)
· The bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:25-32 and Revelation 21:2 and 21:9)
These descriptions – in each of which the church is pictured as a multi – membered body or as a people – make it clear that the church has people as its building blocks – not bricks or stones or concrete blocks.[1]
In Genesis chapter 11, we find an account of a crucial phase in the human history of humanity and the emergence of different tribes and languages. Tribes had been emerging slowly before this time (see Genesis 10) but now the people decided to build an edifice in which they could take pride: ‘… so that we may make a name for ourselves…’ (Genesis 11:4). This attitude so enraged God that he shattered the project by taking away from the people the valuable tool of communication. Up until this time ‘the whole world had one language and a common speech’ (Genesis 11:1). Now God gave them different languages and scattered them over the face if the earth (Genesis 11:8 – 9).[2]
The restoration of the people of this world should involve the reuniting of these scattered peoples under one God’ with the shared intention of pleasing and honouring God rather than one of making a name for themselves (or for their tribes!)[3]
From Abraham onwards it would only be those who were dependant on God alone – those who lived by faith in God – who would enjoy His full blessings (Genesis 15:6; Luke 7:50; Romans 3:22a; Hebrews 11:6)[4]
God’s New Tribe
Abraham did not receive a call to attend a meeting once a week whilst continuing to live for the remainder of the week like all the rest of the people in his tribe. Rather, he was called to come out from among his people in order that a new people might be formed through his union with God through faith.[1]
In the same way, we are free to continue with those aspects of our cultures which are good or ‘neutral’ in God’s eyes and we should discard those which are evil.[2]
However, we must exercise some caution here. We can sometimes value the good aspects (and even the neutral aspects) of our old cultures too highly. The good way we had of offering hospitality is not the only way of offering hospitality. The way we like to cook our food is not the only acceptable way of cooking it.[3]
God has a great, big, massive inheritance for us, his people whom he is calling out of the murk and mire of every tribe and every nation today. We all need our hands and hearts open and joined together to receive this inheritance. Let us not miss what God has for us because our hands and hearts are full of our commitments to the very things that we have been called out of. This is a renewed call to us to embrace the new things that God has for us.[4]
Today we have become used to a gospel which presents our saviour as little more than a medicine bottle which we keep in our pockets and take little doses from every Sunday in order to ward off dangers and bad omens and to add a little ‘sparkle’ to our lives once in a while. The true gospel however is very far from anything like this.[5]
God’s New Tribe
of men who have chosen to live without faith in god, we begin to get a feel of the scale of the disaster blighting homes and communities in our day.[1]
Ultimately, God has provided for the needs of the whole world in the person of Jesus Christ. Born in Bethlehem (‘the home of bread’), Jesus is the ‘bread of life’ for the whole world, bringing the famine and devastation and the human disaster story to an end (John 6:35and 47 – 48). Everything is ready. We can go and tell everyone that it is party time in the house of God! It is time for a party in the City of God![2]
With everything now ready, God called for his beloved daughter Naomi to coma and receive. This is always the second stage in God’s plan for saving people: He sends His word. This makes the prophets and other messengers of God indispensable in any saving work. They must announce the good news. They must declare that God’s party time is here! People can come and eat and drink and have a ‘riotous’ time in His house! Away with a presentation of Jesus as one who takes every bit if joy and celebration out of life and leaves us with misery and dullness and suffering! Let God’s good news be delivered as the good news it really is.[3]
The moment she believed, a dramatic turn – around took place in naomi’s life: she decided to leave Moab and the tribe with whom she had become so closely identified, and set her sights on another country, on another city, on another God (Ruth 1:6 – 7). Faith in God always changes our position – not only spiritually (Ephesians 2) but also, very often, geographically.[4]
Whenever God calls a person He has much bigger things in mind to accomplish through the call than any human being can imagine or hope for. Because of the size of what God wants to do, he needs a company of people to be joined to the person first called – no one person can receive what God wants to do. His call is therefore followed by the formation of this people is a crucial outworking of God’s purpose. We can find many examples of this – for example, we can recall Joshua’s army (Joshua 1); Gideon and his army (Judges 6 and 7); and David and his fugitive army (1 Samuel 22). Even Jesus had His company of disciples.[5]
Some men decide to run away from their wives and children in times of hardship. At the root of this decision is unbelief: “I do not think anything can be done about this situation; not even God can help!” These men are as good as dead to the families they have left behind. Sometimes they cause further havoc by seeking to form new families. Thus the devastation caused by their bad decision affects many lives. When we consider the millions
God’s New Tribe
Peter, like Naomi, was at the dawn of a breaking down of hostilities between Jews and Gentiles, making them one in Christ Jesus, but he was trapped in his nationalistic theology. This needed to be exploded to make way for God’s big plans. Peter, like Naomi needed a paradigm shift.
The tendency to close our minds to ne revelation from God is quite common. Whenever the Lord begins to move powerfully in a new way, it is not unusual to find some who flatly reject the new thing that he is doing because it fails to fit into their existing (limited) conceptions of how God works. Even if we think we have got our theologies pretty well worked out we should always remain humble before God and open to the possibility of Him coming in and changing our understanding of Him and so moving us on to greater things.[1]
He is the wisdom and the power of God. When we have truly seen Him, we will let everything else go so that we can take hold of Him and experience him more fully.[2]
I believe that written over them (Ruth and Naomi) in the spirit would be the words: ‘THE NEW TRIBE OF GOD!’ Joined together by deep and unchanging loyalty and friendship and a real faith in the God of Israel, both women had been changed. I believe that they had been formed into a totally new person – one who was neither Jew nor Gentile but rather a shadow of God’s ‘one new man’ in Christ, created by God to inherit the promises of God.[3]
Previous commitments to families, tribes, races, social classes or sexes are no longer relevant as far as God is concerned. There is, therefore, no room at all for pride in the achievements of their family, tribe or race. From now on, they are to boast in one person – Jesus Christ; and live for only one person – Jesus Christ; and worship only one person – Jesus Christ; and consider themselves as belonging to only one person – Jesus Christ; as having drunk of the same blood and eaten of one body – Jesus Christ – they submit to one person – Jesus Christ; and are prepared to die for one person – Jesus Christ.
A most Radical community of people, very different from any other people, will emerge if we dare to work out these truths in our lives together. The result will be a people – a holy people: God’s new tribe.[4]
God’s New Tribe
God blessed Ruth with the knowledge that her desire to love Him, honour and obey Him would remain meaningless unless she worked these things out in practical ways with God’s people – the visible representation of the invisible God. We can almost ‘hear’ God compelling Ruth: to be joined to me is to be joined to my people! To love me is to love my people. To serve me is to serve my people. There is no such thing as truly worshipping me if you would not have anything to do with my people.
The quality of relationship and depth of involvement with one another within the body of Christ to which Ruth’s words point cannot be found in a casual union. Ruth brought deeply into Naomi’s life – a far cry from the glib “see you Sunday!” whilst, in between times, we live completely separate lives. We still believe that our lives are ours! No-one is allowed to touch us lest they disrupt our carefully worked out time-tables or patterns. The deep union revealed in Ruth and Naomi’s relationship ought to be the benchmark for normal church life. We, too, need to buy very deeply into one another’s lives as benefits those who are members of the one body of Christ.
God is always looking for a people who are a people – a community. Such a people are not a crowd – like the people milling around at an international airport or the shoppers in a grand market or shopping mall. Nothing really holds such crowds together. After getting what they want, they go home and have absolutely nothing to do with the people they walked past or brought things from.
On the contrary, this community should be a people with one vision, one purpose, one body, one spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and father of all (Ephesians 4:4 – 6)[1]
Nationalistic theologies make us continue to see ourselves as being first and foremost English or South African or West African or Indian and only secondarily Christian. So when the chips are down, we take the sides of our nations rather than identify with the people of God, the new tribe of God. This is a great error and keeps us from living in the truth.
The truth is that all these identifying markers, which were formally our foundation for living, have already been blown away by the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ and His resurrection from the grave. He has given us a new basis, a new foundation, for life. Holding onto, and taking pride n, any of these old identifying marks is like studying very hard and preparing for an exam which has already been scrapped by the examination board and discontinued years ago.[2]
God’s New Tribe
In response to this word, we have gone out in faith to buy an acre of land; we have risen up buildings; and we have invested time and resources in training the church en masse – all in preparation for the thousands to come in. It would be true to say that, together with the world-wide family of churches which make up New Frontiers, we have entered into a greater inheritance than we could have if we remained independent on each other. And we can see God opening up even more doors as we press into the future together. God knew why He was bringing us together.[1]
We must refuse to exalt one part of the body of Christ over another or set them in competition with each other. “Let’s show them that we can also do something. We don’t need them!” – Such can, unfortunately, be the response to the pride exhibited by people from resource nations towards their brothers and sisters in needy situations. Such sinful behaviour, on the part of both, ought to be demolished by teachings of God’s grace so that the work of God will not be hindered.[2]
Dave Devenish suggests that in every culture there are items which are (in relation to the gospel) good and which can be accepted and used to advance the gospel. Other cultural items are of neutral value in relation to the gospel and we should be free to make use of these as necessary. There also exist in every culture, items which are negative and need to be demolished by the power of the Gospel to make way for Christ to shine out in that culture.[3]
Some people consider their culture in its entirety as being beyond the providence of Christ as being, in fact, a viable alternative to the life of Christ. They are happy with Christ only so long as he does not say anything about their way of life. As an agitated customs office on t he Benin Republic told us when we told him that our Lord Jesus Christ does not allow us to pay bribes, “keep your Jesus in the church, we do it differently here!” Such people will resist any changes to their deeply entrenched way of life. It is their culture and they are ‘proud’ of their cultural heritage.
In other cases, people have, in their thinking, made their cultures synonymous with the life of Christ (although anyone coming from outside that culture may see gross divergences between that culture and that of Christ). Again we end up with the same situation – no change will be countenanced.
God’s New Tribe
When we begin to take pride in our cultures in this way, the unfortunate result is that we begin to pitch our cultures (or what we think of as our expressions of the life of Christ) against each other. So we find in Christian circles, terminologies like ‘western theology’ and ‘the western church’ and ‘African theology’ (If it is recognised at all) and the ‘African church’ before long we arrive at the same derogatory ‘name – calling’ that characterises the world – right in the kingdom of God! References to the ‘African church’, the ‘European Church’ and the ‘American Church’ often leave one feeling that each continent has a different saviour and different Holy Spirit.[1]
Here in Africa, may people who live in areas with no electric lighting use kerosene lamps. In these lamps there is a glass shield to protect the light – giving flame from draughts. Often this glass shield becomes very dirty and occludes a lot of the flame burning within so that very little light comes through to be of use to anybody. The standard treatment in such a case is to clean out the glass shield using water or a wet soft cloth. The change is often staggering: the same lamp is able to provide enough light for reading and even for very close work if necessary. Depending on the issue at stake, different cultures, like the glass shield on a kerosene lamp, offer varying ‘degrees of dirtiness’ thorough which the light of Christ may shine. A culture may be so dark and dirty with respect to one particular issue that the light of Christ does not show through for a while, for a different issue, that same culture may be able easily to let the light if Jesus Christ shine through easily.[2]
Wherever we find any group of people seeking to be or act together, the need for leadership arises. John Maxwell has said that ‘everything rises and falls on leadership.’ God’s new tribe is no exception. Building new communities which reflect the glory of Jesus Christ as they seek to work out the implications of being God’s new tribe will require God’s chosen and anointed leadership.[3]
Leadership positions have been abused so often in many parts of the world today the concept of leadership has become almost synonymous with any or all of the following: oppression, ‘robbery’, authoritanism, harshness, dictatorial rule, plain wickedness and an attitude of ‘lording it over the people.’ In such contexts leaders become liabilities to the people they led rather than the blessing that God intended them to be.[4]
God’s New Tribe
Jesus Christ, God’s son, shows us the way in leadership. In John 13 He upturned all previous ideas about leadership and succeeded in overturning centuries of self-serving leadership, presenting in its stead a people-serving leadership. In a never-to-be-forgotten practical class on leadership, Jesus Christ took off His coat, wrapped a towel around His waist and, filling a basin with water, began to wash the feet of His disciples (John 13:4-5)
Now in Jewish culture at the time, the washing of one person’s feet by another was a service usually performed for a master by a servant girl. Thus, if anything, it should have been the disciples who washed the feet of Jesus but Jesus turned His cultural practice on its head just as fearlessly as he upturned the tables of the money changers (Matthew 21:12).[1]
Henceforth, this is the new job description for anyone who becomes a leader: attend to the needs of your people. Serve your people’s needs. All the power that has been given you – weather political, financial, intellectual or spiritual – is meant to be used to serve the needs of the people that you lead. This is the new definition of leadership.[2]
In Africa, an erroneous leadership model often copied and brought into God’s new tribe is that of the tribal chief who sits down in his impressive clothes whilst everyone attends to him. The very design of his clothes make it impossible for him to do any work of service. This leadership style, when imported into God’s new tribe, results in leaders choosing to don ‘very big clothes’ which prevent them from reaching out and serving the people but rather make the people rush to serve them. Such leaders are ignoring Jesus’ clear words about being dressed ready for service! (Luke 12:35) If Jesus was living on earth today and came to one of our church meetings, He would be dressed like everybody else and would be available to serve.[3]
A tribal chief will add several other titles after his name to establish his seniority so that others will serve him and many leaders import this idea using many titles such as Reverand, Bishop, Archbishop, Cardinal and Reverend Doctor. Let us not deceive ourselves: True spiritual authority does not rest in these titles and, more seriously, these titles can easily carry us beyond the place where true spiritual power resides – a position of humility and complete dependence upon God.[4]
God’s New Tribe
Leaders in God’s new tribe need to understand that these titles and ‘big’ clothes and robes which we use to separate ourselves from those we lead do not impress our Lord at all. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7b) Rather than externalities, what God really wants to see is genuine love flowing from within our hearts and manifesting itself as service for the people we lead.[1]
Customers receive poor service from apprentices who are not fully qualified, while the fully qualified person slowly loses his skills. Transfer of skills is also affected since apprentices are trained by fellow apprentices rather than the master.[2]
A friend from Sierra Leone recently told me that he knew of a particular tribe who are so numerous that a candidate from that tribe will win the elections every time if they should choose a mouse to be their presidential candidate! The sad thing is that the same can be said to be true for Ghana, Nigeria, the Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Zimbabwe and, in fact, nearly every country in Africa. No tribe would, in normal circumstances, be willing to submit to another tribe by having a leader from a different tribe over them.
Those of us who belong to God’s new tribe, however, have seen how the death of Christ on the cross dealt a death blow to any pride we took in our old tribes and has made us all equal and one in Christ. A person’s tribe should therefore not count either for or against him when leaders are being appointed in God’s new tribe. If we can sort this out among us, God will work it out in the nations we find ourselves in.
In God’s new tribe we need not look for those of a particular tribe but for those who God has anointed for leadership.[3]
In the Antioch church the leadership team cut across tribal and racial lines. We read in Acts 13:1 that: In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius or Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. Barnabas and Saul (Paul) were Jews, Simeon was a black man from Africa, Lucius was from Cyrene and it was thought that Manaen may have come from Rome. Paul’s very close confidante, Timothy, was Greek. Clearly, tribal origins were not important to God when appointing leaders for his work.[4]
I would like to highlight some key areas to do with building marriages in Africa which require urgent prophetic attention. These are:
· Making the right choice
· The marriage ceremony
· Honouring marriage
· Two becoming one[5]