Today’s Sermon : Understanding Transformation

Isaiah 61:1-4; The spirit of the lord God is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. And they shall build the old waste, they shall raise up the former desolation, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolation of many generation.

The birth, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ signify the salvation, glorification and the manifestation of God’s glory and also the reign of a new Government and restoration of the Glory of God on earth.

Before the birth of Jesus, the earth suffered from the curse of sin inherited from the Adamic generation as a result of their disobedience to God’s correction.  This brought the independence of man as man had to search for means by which they can make end means. During this process, man had to subject to some of the immoral and unethical behaviors to get his desired results; These unethical behavior includes, oppression and forcefully ruling over fellow human being, insincerity, theft, murder, and of course corruption as they were determined to go to any learnt to see that their desires are met.

This being not the original intention of God for man, as His intention was to replicate the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and enable man to utilize and maximize the abundant resources on earth, He had to sacrifice His only son to stop the various unfavorably happenings on earth, to birth a new Government and teach what the proper conducts of the individuals, servants, masters, churches and leadership should be.

Jesus’ mandate was people and service centered as he knew, for the world to experience a rapid change (transformation), he needed to live with people and teach with close proximity the conducts of the kingdom. He needed to “instill” the kingdom attribute in every individual he encountered.

Nigeria is a nation blessed with the earth’s natural resources, yet still remains a “developing state”. Despite her great Human capital/ asset, lack of creativity and slavery still remains at its peak. There are lots of unfavorable circumstances still experienced as a nation which has been as a result of the unethical and unpatriotic behavior of those who have led the nation, as the focus has always been on how their selfish interest can be met; they subjected to any vices in order to get their desired goals achieved.

We have had individuals who have led this great nation Nigeria with the intention of changing the circumstances and make a new Nigeria, various mechanisms has been borrowed, deployed and employed, yet, there is little or no change.

I have discovered that what is needed in this nation is not change but Transformation. Nigeria citizenry don’t seem to understand the difference between change and transformation as change to ‘us’ is a quick modification of an unfavorable to a favorable position. We believe change is a fast route to our desired future.

Here is Transformation…

Transformation is the process of profound or rapid change that orients an individual in a new direction. (Business Dictionary)

In this definition, the only thing that caught my attention is the term “Process”. Hmmn… a process is a term very different from fast, or rapid. It could also mean progress, stages, phases, steps, procedure, formation and proceeding.

In essence, while change is expected to be a fast and rapid turnover, transformation is a gradual event. I can therefore deduct from the above explanation that transformation means a gradual change from a stage to another (usually from an unfavorable to a favorable one).

The most difficult part issues we are currently facing as a nation, is not the low oil price, inflation rate, unemployment and underemployment rate, insurgency and oil theft, among others but the mental concept of the citizenry. Be reminded that the number citizen of the nation is the president.

The mental concept is the mind positioning and ideology of an individual, organization or a nation. This has a great influence on their external results as it sharpens the decisions been made.

The circumstances encountered by the nation could be easily changed, but once the mental concept remains backward or stagnant, true transformation cannot occur. The mind problem Nigeria citizenry currently has can be traced as far back as the colonial rule.

Nigeria gained independence from the British rule over 57 years ago; after several years of slavery and deprivation from her resources; these period is called the Colonial Era.

Colonization can be defined as the governing authority an imperial power exact over a colony; thereby depriving them from access and utility of their resources, taking advantage of both the natural and Human resources.

The effect of colonization on Nigeria as a nation caused more than good as they were mentally and physically oppressed, deprived of their natural resources and enslaved, there by resulting to low self-esteem, self-concept and image in her citizenry.

During Slavery, the oppressed is usually not allowed to own properties, undertake certain responsibility based on their discretion and right to work or think for themselves. They were directed and instructed to act on the masters’ directives. This Slavery experience brought about vested interest, corrupt dealings and moral abuses which the individuals that were oppressed as of that period learnt through observation and imitation.

The overall goal of the colonial masters was to possess the colony, establish a new kingdom where the culture, tradition and belief system of the Home country is replicated in the colony. Often, their general aim is to input a new mentality into the oppressed that would make them function and act like they are.

Consequentially, these new mindset and belief system has posed more harm to the growth of Nigeria as all developmental policies that has been formulated don’t seem to work. This is because it involves the mental positioning of the individuals.

Some of the leaders who still lead now were alive during the colonial rule and inherited from this mentality and they also deemed it to pass to the younger generations.

Every political office holder (both aspiring) now have the mindset of attaining the position, satisfying their personal interest, stealing from the Government treasury and depriving the masses of the rights and resources they should benefit. This was the slavery mentality inherited.

Therefore, if we are seeking true transformation, it’s an individualistic work and not the Government’ to do. For the Government can only change but it takes the joint effort of all citizenry to transform. To experience transformation, we all must take the responsibility of changing our mindset from casting the blame on the Government and thinking of how we can personally transform the nation through of inventions, business and charitable deeds.

Remember, you cannot put a new wine in an old wine skin.

We could be delivered (independent) as a nation and still not be free. That means, we could physically leave the presence of the devil and still dine with him.

OYEDARE ISRAEL