A Christian elder was asked at age 70, after 50 years of being a Christian, 30 years of running a conglomerate serving, holding several board membership positions and 40 years of doing ministry, what he desires most in life. The interviewer was shocked at the simplicity of his response when he said “To be Christian.” To the interviewer, it seemed like this elder’s response was grossly unambitious and unimpressive. He literally rolled his eyes at his response, uh-oh, here we go again, I’ve met one of them, come on, give me something “worthy” of this 30 minutes interview. Brother, you want to be a Christian? Well, aren’t we all?

Maybe it’s not just the interviewer that thinks that, maybe it’s also a thought that lurks somewhere in the mind of most believers, ‘Oh! I have spent 5 years doing this Christian thing, I have attended church, check; read my bible cover to cover for 3 years straight, check; done some good old evangelism, check. I have a hang of this Christian thing, I can rest, there’s nothing more to attain, I can move on from this, and I may as well, with my Christianity in my hand, attain ‘higher’ ambitions.’

We collect a laurel that verifies and certifies that we were Christians in that year, place it on our shelf, and then start to pursue those ambitions ardently. When they demand something that chips away at our Christianity, we entertain saying, we can handle it. We are Christian. The real question to ask is, are we?

Christianity is not a destination, it is a journey. The concept of a destination distracts a believer from progressive transformation to other inferior things. When we think of Christianity as a destination, we look at the elements of our faith in the ordinariness of them. The Bible has 66 books and 1,189 chapters, if treated as a curriculum, an avid reader can finish it in less than 3 months and say he is done with the Word, but is he really done? To the inspired, the words in the pages of the Bible are an invitation into depths of inexhaustible revelation.

Again, another can say, oh, church is just another gathering of believers, a social community of sorts, but to the inspired? The church is always a place of strength, a strength that cannot be outgrown. Prayer can look like murmurs to the ordinary, but to the inspired, once we close our eyes to pray, we know we have found ourselves in the corridors of heaven in the presence of our Father.

In my Father’s house there are many mansions, I go to prepare a place for you (John 14:2). This scripture has often been misconstrued as Jesus going to prepare a mansion for each believer, again pointing to a destination, i.e. I’m going to my mansion. What it actually means is that I’m going to prepare a ‘right’ for you, a right for you to access all the mansions that my Father has. This means I may go through a season that spans 3 years, and all I have just accessed is one mansion in the estate of God’s vast riches and glory. There is still much more. I may have read the Bible 10 times, but that may still be Faithgrove estate. There’s still Holypine, Graceville and many more!

Being inspired is not a feeling you can just work up or you can sustain by yourself. Divine inspiration for a progressive journey into Christ and in Christianity is the result of an impartation. Thinking of Christianity as a destination is easier than thinking of it as a never-ending journey, even though it’s laced with milestones. You say, oh, but then Jesus is coming, and that is the ending, but rapture is an ending, not the ending; it is one gate of an estate crossed, albeit a large one. In truth, this journey is actually never-ending, it is implanted in everlasting and eternity. The perception of a never-ending journey can induce weariness, and that’s why scripture says in Romans 15:13;

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Here you see the concept that puts eternity in the right and livable perspective. It is called hope, and the Bible calls Him the God of it, so it’s an impartation. He is the Father and author of an endless expectation, and He imparts it by filling us with joy and peace through the power of the Holy Ghost. The combination of joy and peace produces hope in us.

The question I ask you today is, are you living the Christian life inspired or ordinary? When you look at the lens of that interview through this question, you’ll understand the Christian elder’s perspective. He can look forward to charting strategies for his next inorganic acquisition, he can look forward to seeing his grandchildren, and he can even look forward to the next phase in the ministry he serves in. But all of that is within a chapter, the ultimate thing that matters to him is how he’s journeying in Christ, how much more he is pressing into and the keys he is being given to unlock the gates of new mansions.

Fam! The Christian Life is exciting, and I pray over you this week that you are imparted with joy and peace to continue to expect in increasing tempos of persuasion till we see Jesus.

Olayinka Adebayo

@layinkadebayo