Christians Works

Throughout the Bible there are many references to work. This is a term which has a moral, or physical implications as, for instance, when God works in creation, or reference to mans work in his life.

Work and labor of themselves are never held to be evil, but rather are thought of as man’s natural occupation in the world. Even in the state of innocency man as the apex of creation, the representative of all creation before God (Gen 2:15) was given work to perform as part of his normal existence.

Though man may be richly endowed with gifts, he cannot be anything but empty unless man realizes that the true purpose is of work is to glorify God. Paul sums it up in Eph. 6:5 and 1Tim. 6:1-2 that Christians should not be slothful in business, but fervent in serving the Lord (Romans, and in his exhortation to do all things to the glory of God (1Cor.10:31)

Christians must always regard work as divinely appointed task in which, as they fulfill their calling, they are serving God. This requires honesty and diligence in all that they do, whether as an employee or employer. Thus all honest work is honorable and should be performed as a divinely given commission to God’s eternal glory (Rev. 14:13).

Impact of Christian Works

According to recent statistics, 80% of Ugandans are Christians. This percentage includes all Christian sects. The majority of the Christian sect is Anglicans and Pentecostals classified under Protestants. Roman Catholics come second and others follow. The rise of Pentecostalism has become a formidable force and a threat to the main line churches as they are called.

The Catholics and Protestants have established themselves very well in all spheres of life. They have built schools, hospitals, commercial institutions, farms, orphanages, and have entrenched themselves within the political sphere of influence.

The remaining 20% of Ugandans are Muslims, animists, atheists, and others. These religious sects are on the rise, and the threat of Islam is so real.

The Catholics, Muslims, and Anglicans address the spiritual, physical, social, economical, and political needs of the flocks to some degree. Evangelicals emphasize on spiritual needs only. Thus the holistic approach to evangelism is lacking.

Threats

While Uganda boasts of being 80% a Christian nation, the Christian foundation is steadily and progressively under serious threat from various forces.

1.         Internal Conflicts
The greatest threat to the demise of Christianity in Uganda is internal conflicts. Feuding, corruption, unfaithfulness, lack of accountability, lack of vision, materialism, bad leadership, misuse of resources, suspicion, divisions, and prayerlessness.

2.         Complacency
The prosperity gospel has generally created a false sense of security when Christians become wealthy and live comfortably. Their way of life insulates them from real issues, for in their focus on material luxury look at wrong things. The danger is that new converts are not grounded on the word of God.

3.         Islam
Islam is a practical religion. It believes in physical works as opposed to physical works as the evidence of inner transformation. Muslims have a five fold strategy: (1) penetrate political sphere of influence and to occupy key positions. (2) Marry Christian women even if it means allowing them to practice their religion. Focus is on producing children. (3) Build schools, hospitals, mosques. (4) Propagate Islam through crusades, media, and other possible means.

Advancement of Islam in Uganda is progressing because of financial support from Islam organizations.

4.         African Traditional Religion
The African traditional religion is on the increase. Witchcraft, sorcery, divination, worship of ancestors, palm reading, etc are common occurrence even in the church today.

5.         Family Breakdown
Marriages are breaking down. Family values are no longer valued. Relationships are based on materialism, career, appearance, education, and status in society. The moral fabric of society is gradually loosing meaning and divorce is a common practice.

What is Christian Works

1.         A Calling
Christ calls to Himself those who are willing to dedicate their lives fully to Him, to commit themselves to all other Christians out of love for Him; to present their bodies to Him as a living sacrifice for all that He wants to do in His world through them. A call to serve is preach the good news, heal the sick, cast demons, and empower the helpless.

2.         A Stewardship
Mt. 28:18-20 casts the burden of continuing with evangelism to believers. This relates to the mandate God gave Adam and Eve to rule over creation and to subdue it. It is spontaneous and flows out of a loving heart to win souls for Christ. Though painful in execution, it is richly rewarding and satisfying when a sinner embraces Christ in their lives.

3.         A Servant hood
Being a servant does not demean status. It is a willingness that stems out of the heart to serve others in a way that brings glory to God. Servant hood looks beyond self, does not seek to make others happy, but seeks to do justly and to do what ought to be done with the right motive.

4.         Requires Use of Personal Resources
God depends on us to transform society we live in. Resources such as talents, abilities, money, vehicles, are great assets useful in transforming society. Whatever we possess should be used to propagate the gospel and edification of the body of Christ.

5.         Collaboration
Collaboration is the relationship of working together cooperatively toward a common goal. Such relationships may include a range of levels of participation by organizations, churches, and individual Christians. These levels may be determined by: the degree of partnership between all stakeholders, the frequency of regular communication, the equity of decision making, access to information, skills and resources Christians possess.

Collaboration is an ongoing process of working together, whereby Christians are engaged as partners in evangelism.

6.         It is looking beyond self
It is a passion that seeks to do the works of the master; it is inborn, a desire to obey without being commanded; it is a life style, that one cannot do away with; it is an attitude of love, reaching out to the lost and counting the cost; it is an act of giving, and it is a time to grow. The gospel should have impact in the heart for transformation to take place.

The Christian Mandate

The Christian work in the area of works raises some fundamental questions. What does evangelism mean? What are the different ways evangelism is conducted? When should it be done and who should do it?

Evangelism means different things to different Christians. To some, it conjures feelings of discomfort and shame. To others, the concept brings feelings that there are some Christians specialized or gifted in evangelism and that they should do it as a job using their skills.

In some churches, evangelism is done by trained staff. However, for Pentecostals, evangelism is supposed to be carried out by everyone regardless of their position in the church.

Ezekiel 3:17-19 says, “Son of man, I have made you watchman for the house of Israel. So hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to wicked man: you will surely die, and you don’t warn him or dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sins and I will hold you accountable for his blood. Yet when you warn him, and he turns not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul”.

Evangelism is the prime responsibility Jesus left to all his followers Mt. 28:18-20 and Mk. 4:19. Evangelism was the greatest passion of Jesus and his apostles. It therefore, should be the greatest passion of all Christians. The Bible says that Jesus mainly came to seek and save the lost. It was the prime responsibility for which Jesus commissioned his disciples.

Living an exemplary Christian life that reflects a Christian as a true child of God is the first step towards doing successful evangelism. When Christians have the worthiness, they will have the boldness and power to speak against sins. For a Christian to lead a sinner into accepting Jesus, you must be born again. Romans 6 compel Christians to be new creatures and to walk in holiness.

That is one of the major reasons why Catholics and Anglicans rarely evangelize. The Pentecostals on the other hand do this work of evangelism very well. To Pentecostals, any time and everywhere, the gospel should be preached in and out of season.

Ministry Opportunities

Crusades for long were used to propagate the gospel. But with current trend of events, approach to evangelism should be diversified in order to match with current trends. Time is now for evangelism to be propagated through projects. Some of the ministry opportunities include:

Vocational training, education, health services, community development, income generating activities, shelter, financial services, environment management and development, orphanages, widows, homeless people, Christian Development Research, Promotion of Good Governance, advocacy for child rights, Youth and Children Programs.

Limitations

The work of the gospel faces uphill task due to limitations which have greatly slowed the propagation of the gospel. Some of the limitations include:

Financial support, training, resources, political and religious interferences, partnerships, integrity, prosperity gospel, adulterating of Christian values, lack of empowerment, lack of accountability, poverty, land distribution, illiteracy, wars, diseases, land degradation, injustice and inequality, and economic hardships are some of the obstacles to Christian works.

THE WAY FORWARD

There are many ministry opportunities in Uganda. The Christian community is not well position to shoulder it alone. There is need for support especially in the area of finances. Human resource is available but needs further training and support. Unemployed but skilled members of the church can be organized, equipped, and empowered to engage into income generating activities. In return, the church would experience financial growth as a result of empowering non employed believers.  

The Christian works in Uganda needs you and your support to enhance on the propagation of the gospel in Uganda.

Christian leaders are the battle front fighting evil. Let’s join forces together to fight this justified war to rid evil from our societies and to lift high the name JESUS.