But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord; men shall call you the Ministers of our God; ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.

Isaiah 61:6 KJV

In Acts 11:26 we learnt the believers were first called Christians in Antioch, people saw their Christ-likeness and coined the expression Christ-ians. John Wesley, the founder of Methodist Church, introduced order of service or liturgy to the church and when people saw the sequence and order in which they conducted their services, they tagged them Methodist.

Jesus said “men shall see your good works,” and not hear your confession of faith. Today we are full of confession and declaration, but with little or nothing to show for it. We cannot substitute confession of faith for the work of faith. We cannot substitute declaration, for diligence, innovation, creativity and hard work. It is the hand of the diligent that bears the rule; much talk only leads to poverty. The world does not understand our confession of faith, they only recognize, celebrate and reward our work of excellence. Jesus said “they will not believe unless they see…” What do you have to show the world? The world glorifies God by your good works and not your good talks. Do not get me wrong, there is the place for confession of faith, but a lot of what we say today is nothing but placebo.

“The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception”

Proverbs 14:8 NIV

It is time to give thought to our ways. God has said men will see signs and wonders, innovation, excellence, ingenuity in our lives and call us ministers of our God, but it appears we have reversed the order. We are the ones calling ourselves and the world showing the good works. In almost all fields of human endeavors, believers are not the leading lights. We cannot continue to play religion, it is time to live the Bible.

Recommended text for further reading:

Proverbs 10:4; 12:24; James 2:17- 26.