If you were asked randomly whether plants need roots to survive, my bet would be you would respond in the affirmative. I mean that should be a no-brainer, right? What plant can survive without roots?!
If we go back to our Biology and Agriculture classes, we will recall that not all plants actually have roots, but even those without roots depend on those with roots to survive — somehow, someone has to be rooted for the other to survive.
I think this describes us as believers and how we cannot function effectively in all the Lord has designed us to be without being rooted, and I know that when you hear “rooted”, you immediately think “in the Word of God,” and I do not hold a contrary opinion. However, I have come to recognise that the term “The Word of God” is vast and we can easily water it down to the “quoting of scriptures” void of the required accompaniment of “the application of this word in our individual contexts”
For any believer on the face of this earth to survive in God’s design, that individual must be rooted in God’s Word; there is no alternative but within that Word there are specific roots as well.
On this journey of faith, as we are all en route to our transition from this world, there are certain roots I find that we must have to excel. These roots are found in the root of God’s Word, and to properly understand these roots, I will take us on quick trips into the lives of certain people in our day and time.
Meet Theresa, 26, an entry-level Investment Banker. Life doesn’t get busier than Theresa’s life. She breathes deliverables as her daily air. Make no mistake, Theresa loves the Lord — prayer and the study of the Word don’t go unchecked for her on a daily basis, the only issue is that Theresa cannot make it to church, her deliverables disable her from delivering on that end. She has moved from trying to use online services as a replacement for physical church gatherings to “not seeing the need for church anymore. After all, she prays and studies on her own, and she is doing well.
Ayodimeji doesn’t live very far from Theresa; she stays in Abule Oja, while he lives on University Road. Aside from Ayodimeji’s career as a software developer, the only other difference from Theresa is that he goes to church every Sunday unfailing. Ayodimeji gathers with the saints every week, it is just that he doesn’t know the saints he gathers with. No true relationship, just duty, rinse and repeat.
The missing root for Theresa and Dimeji is what I have chosen to call “Community.”
When the Bible says do not neglect the gathering of the brethren, it wasn’t just trying to improve the numbers in the church, but was speaking to us achieving an important objective — which is exhorting one another. Exhortation here is not the brief communication of the word in services, but the encouragement of our hearts through the supply of counsel, conversations, and relationships with one another.
Exhortation comes from community — the teaching of the Word comes first from the pulpit, you need both to thrive!
When we think of the early church, we think of power and great exploits, but we shouldn’t forget that this kind came out of an unprecedented practice of oneness, unity, and community (Make reference to Acts 4 precisely)
If we are to do great exploits, then we must maximize the gift of community God has given to us — leaning on one another for encouragement and positioning ourselves as supplying joints.
Genesis makes it clear that it’s not good for man to be alone, and that’s not just in marriage, it’s in community.
Don’t just be physically surrounded with people, be truly surrounded — building relationships and friendships with people of faith.
The common enemies of the root of community are ideologies like “Church people cannot be trusted,” “Church brothers are the worst,” “I don’t need a church to connect to God.”
If you find yourself having these ideologies, I urge you to sit with the Holy Spirit with your Bible open to have a mind reset, because these things are arrows of the enemy targeted at plucking you from the root of community.
Let’s make a quick stop at Kelechi’s house. I hope she hasn’t put her phone on DND again; she typically does that when she knows her Pastor or any leader from church would be trying to call her. Kelechi loves the Lord but hates the structure of leadership. She wants to serve, but sees no reason leadership should be in her business. You can’t blame Kele, she’s an introvert and prefers private life. All these conversations about “covering” are not for her type, and she should be allowed to breathe.
You might think she’s better than Clement — Personal Assistant to the Pastor — closest to the leadership and publicly declares the Pastor as his Papa, but how come the Pastor knows nothing about Clement’s life? Clement says he is accountable here, but only tells the Pastor about his wins and testimonies. He has a form of accountability but lacks the true substance of it.
The conversation isn’t about who is worse between Clement and Kelechi, but to show two sides of the same coin — a people without covering.
Covering isn’t a label — it is honouring the structure of leadership and discipleship established by God.
It is Moses deferring to Jethro, it is Joshua deferring to Moses, Elisha to Elijah, Timothy to Paul.. and the list goes on.
It is not intended to replace the authority and Lordship of God and His Word in your life, but to help you stay in it.
There is audio covering — like Clement, he says he has covering, but you can’t see it in his life. Accountability is hard, it exposes everyone of us and strips us of our ego! The concept of accountability is the power of covering, and it is too important a root for you not to have.
Many men have fallen due to a lack of covering. No man can cover himself; you need another to cover you, and in this kingdom, there is a covering of elders, those that have gone ahead of you in the faith (whether age mates or not) assigned to you by God, whose wisdom and counsel can cover you.
This shouldn’t be despised because an uncovered man is the enemy’s sweet spot.
The idea of covering is not for appearance and validation sake — it is for warmth, safety, and protection. It will demand honour and humility from you — two virtues that will strip the flesh of its control over you. To accept covering is to admit the presence of a need for it — admitting that “I cannot do this on my own, I need higher counsel. “Like Moses, I can sometimes display a deficiency in wisdom, and I need someone who can instruct me and call me to order.”
I would love to write more on this, but I need us to quickly get to Uthman. I don’t mean to say this, but you never know when you will meet him and when you won’t. If passion had a face, it would be Uthman’s, but his flames are too inconsistent. When Uthman is in church, you can’t miss him, but he is here this Sunday and off for the next 8 weeks. He prays and studies every other week; he is accountable today and then goes MIA (missing in action) for the next six months.
One of the greatest battles we will fight as believers is the fight of consistency because this is heavily dependent on our discipline.
The power of anything is in its consistency.
Sometimes, our lives can feel like a boring rinse and repeat — needing to read your Bible and pray every day, always being required to show love, to serve, to give, and just be the obedient child of God all day, every day! The idea of this can seem exhausting, especially when we are viewing it from the lens of our flesh, but once we allow the government of the Spirit, we don’t only see the possibility of consistency in God, but it also becomes pleasurable and beautiful.
What powers you is eternal and everlasting, hence it has the capacity to keep you consistent in the will of God without burning out!
You have the spiritual capacity to do all that God is calling you to do consistently. This consistency means doing each thing as often as is required of you by the Holy Spirit.
If you are inconsistent, there is mercy and grace to bring you back on track but how about we explore a realm where there is no drawing back, where you lean on the ability of the Spirit to pray without ceasing, to never take offense, to speak evil of no one, to always be in obedience and alignment!
See what the Bible says;
“[8] And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.” — II Corinthians 9:8 NKJV
“[58] Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” — I Corinthians 15:58 NKJV
The keyword in the verses just cited is “always.”
We are empowered to always do the will of God — don’t settle for sometimes or occasionally.
As you step into this week, embrace the roots of community, covering, and consistency!
God is with you!
Pipeloluwa Abolarin
IG:pipe.loluwa