Timidity was designed for animals and not for human beings. Succumbing to fear is a result of ignorance, rather than a condition of preserving life. Principally, the aspect of believing in Jesus implies conquering timidity. Believing in Jesus is a term that refers to those capable of confronting anything that threatens survival. Jesus said those with faith as little as a mustard seed would be capable of achieving anything.
One cannot believe in Jesus but avoid what Jesus said. Judged by the number of Church-goers, one can easily estimate the magnitude of hypocrisy in Christianity. Those who claim to believe in Jesus but are unable to apply what He taught cannot confront Jesus’ legendary statement: “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39). This statement highlights the difference between an animal condition and a condition of humanity.
Christianity implies not being classified among those behaving like animals. The value of a Christian is measured by a condition of faith that debases everything sustained in physical nature. Attaining faith includes accessing Jesus’ knowledge. This assertion rules out believing in the personality of Jesus, but in what Jesus taught. Belief in the personality of Jesus rather than what He taught, keeps a person ignorant of the meaning of Christianity.
A country can be held at ransom by less than ten people claiming to be holding power. Others would be quick to suppose that nothing can be done to confront those with guns. However, a spiritual person is superior and more powerful than a gun-holder. As created in God’s image, a human being is capable of controlling everything in the physical universe. How can it be possible that a country with over fifteen million people gets reduced to a pariah state by a few corrupt individuals?
The story of David and Goliath sounds fictitious, but evocative in our life situations. The entire nation of Israel had been intimidated by one man whose stature was that of a towering giant. The rest of the people saw an undefeatable character, judged by his physique. They couldn’t find anyone among them who could stand up to confront such a giant, renowned for winning battles.
David was diminutive and inexperienced in combat, but with God’s knowledge, which alone empowered him to confront the gigantic Goliath. The young David killed the giant, saving God’s people from the humiliation of being enslaved by the Philistines. The power of David was not in the sling or his physical body but in his tenacity and conviction, propelled by faith.
David and Goliath’s story is relegated to fiction by those, whose unbelief is obstinate. Others entertain the idea of heralding such stories as mythical miracles. However, the most important miracle, in this life, is the discovery of one’s identity. When a person becomes aware of being God’s child, he cannot be subjected to fearing physical objects. There is no problem with ignorance, as long as aware that ignorance exists. The problem is with those assuming to know when the opposite is true.
David’s stature may have been unconvincing, but his faith enabled him to defeat the most convincing giant. It is necessary to understand what faith entails, before exploring the greatest obstacle against human survival. Faith is not blind, as it is based on knowledge. This is why educational achievers are commonly adulated because knowledge is power. A knowledgeable person is confident and able to confront whatever threatens survival programs.
Therefore, faith is synonymous with knowledge. Each individual knows what he knows, while also being aware of things that are unknown to him. There cannot be anyone to claim to know everything. Physical life is a combination of what is known and what is unknown. In other words, life is a combination of knowledge and ignorance. Safety lies in keeping those two, separate.
The danger lies in combining them, just like combining the positive and negative currencies causes a spark. The small amount of what one knows makes a difference in one’s scope of existence. What does one do with the little knowledge, instead of tempering with the unknown? The two conditions grant safety when kept apart, as long as existing in the physical universe. The danger lies in assuming to know what one doesn’t know or assuming not to know what one knows.
“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne” (Revelation 3:16-21 NKJV).
The above Scripture refers to those holding two opinions in one, when unable to identify with one distinctly. There is nothing wrong with distinctly identifying with either of the two dichotomies. In other words, there is nothing wrong with being ignorant, just as there is nothing wrong with being knowledgeable. The trouble is in combining the two.
We have to explore the reason for those who entertain the idea of combining the two. Cowardice appears as the only reason for entertaining combining divergent principles. Radicalism does not appeal to physical people. An ignorant person views him/herself as not different from an animal, as upholding an animal instinct to attain survival. The lifespan of physical humans is currently estimated at seventy.
Seventy years of living in this world can be very satisfying for one solely assuming to be an animal. That person is not worried about what happens tomorrow except acquiring food today. Herbivorous animals are satisfied, as long as grass and water are available. If carnivorous, an animal is satisfied, as long as prey animals roam around in its territory. That life appears simple and satisfying. The same applies to people living without the knowledge of their identity.
Many people live their lives like animals, when only interested in food and sex. War is considered a primary requisite to secure supremacy over others, to ensure territorial dominance. Aggressive animals have an appetite for dominating other species. The people who live such lives are not conscious of future problems.
Although satisfying to those whose lives are like animals, their future is uncontrollable. For instance, the unpredictable drought can leave them devastated. They may dominate other people today, only to be dominated by others in future. Physical people are commonly not causative in their environments. Like animals, they drift along, conforming to climatic conditions. This reveals that ignorance is the most expensive.
Knowledge can also be expensive, and yet redemptive. Normal humans aim at acquiring knowledge, to control those without knowledge. In other words, a person with knowledge finds value in enhancing his own life, to enhance the lives of others. That person is not only adventurous but also able to control ignorant people. Jesus’ story sounds like that of a person incapacitated to control the environment.
Yet, Jesus controlled even those who nailed Him on the cross. They could not kill Him before His time had come. He manipulated them to kill Him at the allotted time. His death was a display of power par excellence. A defeated person could not remain influential, approximately two thousand years after crucifixion. There is nothing miraculous about that feat, except the power of knowledge. The foundation of knowledge starts with appreciating being God’s child. Ignorance implies assuming to be animalistic.
Cowardice implies partially assuming to be God’s child and partially assuming being animalistic. This is a condition of being lukewarm. Cowards have no confidence in living like animals, but also without confidence to live like God’s children. Cowards cannot renounce comfort in animalistic nature. They may be aware of safety in God, but unable to renounce physical comfort. They may know that sooner or later they will be in their graves and forgotten about, but choose to ignore that reality. This reveals pride being the real obstacle.
Proud people are commonly not regarded as cowards, but the origin of cowardice is pride. The reason for holding two opinions is pride. A proud person is more worried about his status in society, rather than the reality of perishing in sin. Christianity demands renunciation of pride, which the person would not be willing to part with. Pride grants grandeur and magnificence, associated with dominance in life.
In his animalistic condition, a human being is comfortable having people under his dominance. The accumulation of wealth and fame grants the esteemed dominance. This attaches him to animalistic behaviour, which makes him a winner today but a loser tomorrow. This is typical of a person invited to a wedding banquette, but later having to be hounded out for not wearing the wedding garment. This is what characterises a person holding two opinions in one.
God’s child is not intimidated by anything, as long as pleasing his Father, when identifying himself as God’s child. This is not describing people who are doubtful of being God’s children. All humans are potentially God’s children. Unfortunately, the majority of them remain in ignorance, while the doubtful ones are characterised by cowardice, due to pride.
The knowledge of being God’s child grants the liberty to control things rather than being controlled by things in the physical universe. Currently, Zimbabwe is controlled by ignorant people, only because those with knowledge have succumbed to cowardice. Such knowledgeable people may be obsessed with preserving their dignity, rather than engage in activities assumed to be tarnishing their reputation, for instance. How can one come out of comfort zone to confront evil? They hide behind Scriptures that adulate God to be in control of everything, but the same people are unaware of how God abhors such conduct:
“Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘ Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For, everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him” (Matthew 25:24-29 NIV).
The only possible way of experiencing happiness in this world is to apply two principles in livingness: 1) willingness to experience anything. 2) Causing only those things that others can experience easily. The first describes a condition of not being afraid of anything, as long as seeking to restore order in a chaotic environment. The second one implies meeting people at their level of understanding when imparting knowledge that the person holds.
The conditions of suffering people in the environment are a result of knowledge deficiency. However, knowledge is in abundance, among those incapacitated by timidity, due to pride. When aware of being God’s child, one can confront anything problematic and restore order. All problems are a result of the inability to confront, due to cowardice.
Jesus said, with faith as little as a mustard seed, there would be nothing impossible to solve in the physical universe. Fear of dying is unnecessary as fear, itself, describes a condition of succumbing to death. The power of Jesus exists among those having attained freedom, attainable through Christianity. Such people are no longer afraid of death, as holding knowledge about the insignificance of physical death. They pursue their lives in peace and can also be able to change things for the better. There is no other way of describing God’s children.
Andrew Masuku is the author of Dimensions of a New Civilization, laying down standards for uplifting Zimbabwe from the current state of economic depression into a model for other nations worldwide. A decaying tree provides an opportunity for a blossoming sprout. Written from a Christian perspective, the book is a product of inspiration, bringing relief to those having witnessed the strings of unworkable solutions––leading to the current economic and social decay. Most Zimbabweans should find the book as a long-awaited providential oasis of hope, in a simple conversational tone.
The Print copy is now available at Amazon.com for $13.99
Also available as an e-copy at Lulu.com for $6.99