The ManicaPost
Morris MtisiPost Correspondent—
SPEAKING at the Youth Conference of his church assembly at Gombakomba three weeks ago, Evangelical Anglican Church bishop, Elson Jakazi said if he saw at least five youth members grow into real apostles, he would die a happy man of God.
“I am not looking for 50 or 100 really strong committed apostles from this church. Only 5, that’s a lot and enough between me and my God,” said the veteran bishop, “but an apostle does not refer to an ordinary church member. It takes serious spiritual dedication and commitment, not just to know Christ, but to live him and walk with him, hook, line and sinker.”
The former bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Manicaland said these were the kind of young men and women he was looking for in the Evangelical Anglican Church which he is now leading. The formation of the Evangelical Anglican Church followed a dramatic in-house struggle which forced Bishop Jakazi out of the church he founded, the Evangelical Anglican Church International, which he founded after breaking away from the traditional Anglican Church.
The EAC bishop who calls himself The Tent Maker in passionate admiration of the apostle Paul who made tents to earn a living if he was not on missionary work, is a brave and hard-working Christian leader who cannot be swayed by blowing winds.
“I am one type of leader with an unbreakable spirit. I will never yield to petty jealousies and useless power struggles. The world is full of sheep looking for shepherds and I will never fight for territory in the Kingdom of God so vast and divinely spacious,” I remember him one day telling me his sentiments about how the devil had several times used people including his friends to rip his ministry apart and frustrate his calling.
Bishop Jakazi succinctly articulated and emphasized his determined hunt for genuine young apostles in the EAC. He said this in his brief but powerful introductory remarks to mark the official opening of the two day youth conference at Gombakomba Secondary School.
The import of this last episode of a three-part series is to capitulate what Mr Morris Mtisi had to share with the Evangelical Anglican Church youths at the invitation of Bishop Jakazi, his personal old time friend in Christ and spiritual brother.
My topic for discussion with the youths was THE CHALLENGES YOUTHS FACE IN FIGHTING TO GROW INTO RESPONSIBLE ADULTHOOD. Very interesting topic indeed!
The previous presenter, Mrs. . . .quickly rounded up his group reports from the youths who had listed down examples of the challenges of growing up in their respective schools and communities as soon as the good bishop and I arrived. Some of the problems the youths had listed are the following: social classifications based on having (wealth) and having not (poverty), social background, level of learning (education), looking down upon each other sometimes on the basis of very basic differences like complexion, height, degree of physical or facial charm versus what some consider to be ugliness or left-handed beauty. The latter seemed to have been special worry for the girls at the conference. “Some girls claim they are very beautiful. . .and they look down upon those they deem not-so beautiful,” one group reporter asserted.
Another of the girls cited parents’ lack of understanding. “Sometimes our parents don’t understand us. This is a serious problem,” said the Form 6 girl ready to go to university, obviously or seemingly making a complaint shared by many at the conference. “Sometimes our parents condemn us for our addiction with the cell phone and accuse us of wasting time chatting with boyfriends. Do they not know how useful a phone today is in researching important information for our projects and assignments,” she asked visibly unimpressed by what she called “cheap conclusions.”
What a suitable entry point the youth’s list of grievances against each other and their parents had set for me!
First I wanted us to agree that if parents understood us from birth, when we were hungry, sick, hot, cold whatever discomfort, it could only be stupid for us to think now they don’t understand us because we are what we think is ‘grown up’. I didn’t invite debate on this because it was downright wrong to think for one moment parents don’t understand us. They do, but we are often too big–headed and think we now know how to go about our lives. And we don’t!
I didn’t want to reduce my presentation to a debate. No. I came to the conference to speak knowledge, experience and maturity, to share with them-not to entertain them with long pieces of rope with which they would end up choking themselves with. Not to listen to their stories of I came here to teach them, not to be taught; to morally rearm them with guidance and counsel-not to be a student of their cosmetic world characterised by wild imagination. That is not my style of teaching. I conjure courage in my listeners-in my students; courage to listen to the truth that many avoid to protect individual or personal rights. Handina democracy in executing moral rearmament to youths on the verge of losing the last two brain cells remaining to keep them sane (chifadzapwere). Chifadzapwere ichochi ndicho chauraya nyika nokuti vamwe vabereki vanoti vana mazai anoda kubatwa saizvozvo kuti vasapwanyike. And they kill them in the name of protecting them.
In point form or summary these were the. . .of the day:
- Education without God is dead. What does higher education mean if it is not growing higher towards God and Heaven?
- The challenges they listed were noted and appreciated but these were not problems compared to the real problems they have and may not be aware of.
- Lack of clear purpose in doing something is a serious problem. An example was everyone wants to get married but few know why? No wonder so many marriages occur in the morning and end in the evening. People get married because they see everybody getting married. This lack of purpose soon becomes a problem and it contaminates the marriage.
- If someone tells you are not beautiful and you believe it and become angry you are not yet grown up. The bishop intervened and said he may not be handsome but he is proud he is different. “What would this life be like if we all looked the same?” he asked.
- The worst problem youths suffer (and their suffering is no less than that of the elderly counterparts) is thinking that knowing Biblical chapters and verses thoroughly from Genesis to Revelations translates to salvation. There are no written or recitation examinations at the gates of heaven to determine entry. And simple minds begin to think this is the same as saying knowing these chapters and verses is wrong.
- Singing well in the church choir, tithing, paying offering, helping the poor-widows and widowers, healing the sick for those gifted with the power of faith healing, being baptised, preaching and teaching Sunday School or Bible studies, even being born again are highly commendable gestures of true discipleship; all perfect rewardable religious or church chores. But none of them will assure anyone of a place in Heaven. It is a sinless life rooted on a sinless heart that is the only passport to heaven. We can waste time pretending we don’t know what being sinless means or whether there is someone alive who is sinless? That is something else. And we can debate this quoting verses and speaking in tongues, but that will not, never is a better word, change God’s pass mark in the test of salvation. . .NO SIN!
- IF youths want to walk the journey to become real apostles, they must begin to appreciate their real problems in life, especially this modern life full of jubilant noises and boisterous merriment.
Youths need to differentiate between childish problems and really serious problems caused by ignorance and lack of wisdom.
- That churches streamline youths, men, women, widows, elders, deacons etc is simply for organizational astuteness and administrative convenience. In Heaven there are no Youth Leagues, Women’s Affairs departments Agapes or. . .each waiting to secure a place according to how they performed in those categories of church membership. There are no special sins for women alone, or men alone…for the youths in the Youth League.
God does not function like man’s court of Law where children, women or men are judged according to special sections of the Law and according to evidence argued or laid before the court judge or magistrate.
- We must all strive to hate sin and be sinless, though notwithstanding the ultimate salvation is by Grace and not just repentance culminating into sinlessness.
- These are the things youths don’t know and these are the things which are the real challenges; not being called too black and ugly or looked down upon etc etc. Youths, like adults, for age is not an extenuating circumstance in God’s judgment, must be able to distinguish between trivial problems that really don’t matter and really deep issues with God; issues that can find you in this or that other place up there.
The fact that Heaven and Hell both begin with H and E does not mean there are similarities in these two places. One is everything GAINED and another is everything LOST. . .simple. There is no neutral ground in the football games of Heaven.
There are no abstentions or spoiled votes in the politics of Heaven. Every vote counts and there are only 2 ballot boxes and 2 polling stations.
God bless Africa! God bless Zimbabwe! A happy New Year to you all!
