Pastor Tell Mi Sey...
-A True Disciple-
By J.S. Ramkissoon
I was having a conversation wid mi Pastor di odder day. It was a lovely, sunny day and so wi did sidung out a door a labbrish. Mi go faas gone talk bout mi uncle wey ben de drink alcohol like a water, an’ how much mi granny use to pray fi him. A sey to him dat di prayer neva get answered while granny was alive but a tek up di batten now and every day mi ben deh pray fi mi uncle.
Hear wey mi pastor sey: ‘Are you trying to say its wrong to drink?’
A sey to him ‘no sah! A not trying to sey anything odder dan dat when yuh indulge in such a behaviour and don’t apply control, yuh become a vessel fi di enemy’. Im look pon mi wid rage in a im yeye like sey mi just cus bad wud. Den im musi feel bad after dat, so hear im:
‘We are not always the best ones to witness to our relatives because they see all our weaknesses…’
Well I neva! Look like sey I did step pon a soar corn - cause de conversation stop brup. But today I was in di kitchen a bake mi sweet-potato and cornmeal pudding when all of a sudden di sinting just tan up infront of mi. A turn mi eyes to heaven and shout out:
‘Is wha dis now Lawd! Look how long dis thing tek place, what a mus do wid it now?’
I ignored it but as a whisk di butter I started to sing an praise mi God. An den every-ting start to come togeda. Well, di response come long after pastor gone cos it happen bout a year now even dough it seemed like just di odder day. But it wi serve fi educate smaddy else cause I pick up di paper straight away and start to write dong everyting dat was coming to mi. See it deh now, I write it down plain English so everybody can understand it. So tek heed! Me done talk….
“If you’re not living a life pleasing to God, then don’t try preaching to children of God because they will see right through you.
When you accept Christ as your Saviour, you have entered a life of freedom – not to do your own thing but to do HIS will. So in effect, you have become a disciple of Christ. A disciple is a witness for Christ so you just cannot afford to say things like
‘I’m not the best one to witness to my unsaved family and friends’.
Your life should be Christ-like and that means when you are at home, school, work, out shopping, out & about or at church, other’s can see Christ in you and come to know HIM for themselves.”
You have to be a witness in your home. ‘Train up a child in the way he should grow’. That child won’t learn because ‘you said so’, he/she will learn by the example you set.
"I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does" ( John 5:19).
This applies to all God’s children, not just to your own child:
The unsaved partner will not come to church with you just because you told them to come. You have to be a witness to that partner by the way you live your life at home.
The way you treat him/her will determine whether Christ is shining through you or not. Wearing a title don’t make you a Christian, so the fact that you are a pastor, a deacon, a teacher or hold some other form of leadership in the church, does not automatically evoke respect or entice your unsaved friends and relatives to come.
You have to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and live the life daily; not just when it pleases you. You cannot chose the parts that you like or are less controversial, and ignore the rest because the bible is there as your guide. Learn from the Word of God and teach from the Word. Don not live a less than fulfilled life. God wants you to have life in all its fullness – life in abundance. When you achieve this lifestyle, you will not want to keep it to yourself. You will want to share it with others, and that is where your witness begins.
… Well, having written it all down it sounds familiar. Maybe I did read it in the bible. I then went and check for reference to the familiar phrases I had written down and found the following:
Matthew 28 verse 19 – 20. ‘…Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations…’ Dat mi fren, means sey yuh family included in a it. ‘All the nations’ – it mean sey everybody included even di man dung di road wey yuh claim sey yuh nuh like. Di bible sey fi witness to him - a dat it mean when it sey fi go mek disciples. But hear di joke - if yuh claim sey yuh noh like di man dung di road den yuh caan call yuhself ‘Christian’ and so, yuh caan go witness to him, for im wi laugh afta yuh and tek it mek joke.
John 15:17. ‘I command you to love each other’;
John 13:35.‘Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples’ So fix up yuhself fus, before you go a road a try fi mek disciple. For di bible tell yuh what Jesus sey about discipleship:
John 15:8. ‘My true disciples produce much fruit. This brings great glory to my father’. So, are you bringing glory to the Father?
He went on to say that ‘I appointed you to go and produce fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name’ (John 15:16b). Are you still waiting for that long awaited blessing? Check your walk with Christ.
C’mon, a time fi fix up!
