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Tackling the ControVerse Pastor Sam Manyika
THE Christian religion through its mouthpiece the Bible, is probably the only one that is candid and honest about the exploits of its heroes regardless of whether they are positive or negative. From Genesis to Revelation we read stories of incredible bravery, corruption, disobedience, obedience, deception, manipulation, faithfulness, betrayal and commitment.

I used to wonder whether it was really necessary to mention the weaknesses and failures of such great heroes of faith like Moses, Abraham, David, Solomon, Peter and others.

Wasn’t it better to portray their “strong and successful” side only instead?
I later realized that God is not preoccupied, focused on or struck by that which is excellent, but by that which HE turns from unimpressive, failed, rejected to excellent through his grace.

If we always want to identify with that which is perceived as already beautiful, successful, elegant, clean, strong, powerful then that places us in the league of the false, fake, hypocritical and flaky.

Remember God does not wait for people to take a bath, cleanse themselves from any foul smells and bad breath, get new clothes, education, money, cars and all those cheap things that we use to place value on people. He would rather meet people where they are. He then takes pleasure and joy in taking part in their transformation.

When Jesus came down from heaven and took on the human form he was not just coming down from a high place since we consider heaven to be up in the sky, rather this was a deliberate act of rejecting loftiness, an embracing of humanity with its shortcomings and weaknesses.

I have always had problems with teachings on “excellence” which ignore human nature and frailty. The hypocritical part about most of those who emphasize this teaching is that they are totally incapable of, neither are they committed to developing or investing in new or raw human material or talent. If it is ministries they go around poaching and enticing those who were birthed and bred in other ministries then they parade their “excellence” as a status symbol or something of their own making.

Unfortunately they also misrepresent the heart of God to those that they claim to be trying to reach.
No one is born with excellence, excellence in performance and behaviour are by-products of someone’s patience, diligence, material and emotional input into another person’s life.

So God in his wisdom highlights both weakness and strength, failure and success in his word so that we as weak and fallible humans can identify with those who failed but realize that it is possible to arise from that state to one of strength, success and excellence.

When we exaggerate the place of excellent performance we put unnecessary, unreal pressure and expectations on those around us. It has to be more of “I love as you’re, however I know this isn’t the best of you, I commit to walk with you until the IMAGE OF GOD that you were created in is reflected in you and through.”

This takes away artificiality in relationships.
Yes it is true that there are some people who are never serious about anything and want to waste our time and abuse our patience and resources. If we allow the spirit of God and simple wisdom and discernment to help us we can identify these.

However there are thousands more who are willing to respond to God’s call to excellence.
In our Christian walk we should also never fail to remember that even those that we look up to are fallible and have not attained yet as Paul indicates in the following passage.

Philippians 3:12-16
“12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.15 Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. 16 But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.”

When we exalt or lift men to the position of infallible Gods we set ourselves up for excessive disappointment when they fail us or fail in their walk and endeavours. This is why many people either backslide or irrationally support their leaders even when they have done stupid and abhorrent things.
You are not supposed to condemn anybody but rather separate issues. You must learn to say “I love him/her/you but I believe what they/you did is wrong.” It may also be necessary to communicate your feelings and opinion to them so that they realize their error, repent and continue on the path to excellence.

Also when we deify people we make it almost impossible for them to arise again when they fall because gods do not fall. It also puts a lot of pressure on them to lie and cover up their failure because they will supposedly have ceased to be human in the eyes of their fans and followers.

This is also the reason why ministers end up lying about miracles and their exploits and other things because they have to live up to expectations of excellence in performance. The Bible tells us in Matthew 13:53 that Jesus did not perform many miracles in his own country of Nazareth because of their unbelief.

It is also important to always remember that genuine excellence is actually a gift of God and we are simply reflections and channels of that. It is that point when we do what we do with the utmost sincerity, honesty, accuracy, purity of motive, conscientiousness and diligence.
This is what we should strive for regardless of the number of times we may fail.