Even pesin wey no dey celibrate Kristmas, e bi like sey dem sabi wetin e min — na sey dem born one Saviour wey kom save us from di wahala wey wi kos by awa stobornes against am. Fo real life, dat one min sey e dey part of aw God wan save us and where wi go afta wi don die. But e still get anoda part of Kristmas wey I tink sey na koko. E also show us aw wi sopose dey live. And to dey live well go depend on aw wi rison. Sotey awa tinkin don enta inside wit lielie wey wi don accept as part of “human kondision.” And if wi biliv dose lies, e go kos wahala, make pesin dey sofa anoda pesin, make pesin treat anoda pesin bad-bad bikos dem no kom from di same side, politikal kasala, strogu bitwin klass, katakata for ekonomi, and war. E no gud at all, e dey part of di worst tori wey dem don eva yan. Kristmas kom dey give solution to di bad ifet of dat tori too. Di tori start for Di Garden. And wi don dey ripit am give awa sefs since den. E dey work for mind wey don skata. But wi bin dey kreated to dey as one. God and man. Hosband and wife. Bodi and soul. Fisical and spiritual. Di division wey wi dey experience na sign sey wi dey rison rong about aw life bi. But way dey wey wi fit fix am. Kristmas show us aw. E bi di cure for awa world wey get two difrent tori.
Make wi put awa mind for di fisical world
For awa world today, wi get one tin wey evribodi biliv, even if wi dey tok sey wi “religious.” Dem don biliv am wella since di time wey pipol start rison well for like 400 years and since dem dey do beta medicine and technology. Wetin dem biliv bi sey: Dem tok sey na only di fisical world dey exist. And bikos science dey study di fisical world, dem biliv sey e go give us ansa to awa big-big kweshions. Dem koll am Naturalism or Materialism. Som of us go tok sey wi no gree wit dis view. Wi fit even argue against am well-well. But e hard to komot dis bilif bikos e don dey part of awa kolture well-well. Anytime wi hear sey pesin wey no fit explain am get healing, or praya wey dem ansa, or one strange “coincidence,” or one Kristmas Star, di first tin wey wi go do na to find aw science go take tok am. Even pipol wey sirious wit dia faith go dey wonda for kona if true true, di wall of Jericho just fall down; if true true, Red Sea rily divide, or (even tho wi no go like gree am) if Jesus truly wake up afta im die. Wi dey always no biliv dose kin tori. For many difrent ways, wi don dey join, adapt, and gree wit di material world. And as wi dey move in dat direction smol-smol, di bilif for miracles dey reduce smol-smol til na one weak bilif wey wi no get much hope to defend well-well.
Non-Fisical Real Life
Di Apostu Paul don tell us sey make wi “test evritin” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). So, wi dey folo am. But somtimes, as wi dey quick to do am, wi fit forget sey Kristian bilif no dey only based on fisical tins. For real life, science no fit ansa awa biggest kweshions. E no get pawa rish. And na bikos pata-pata Reality no bi fisical. E dey pass am. E dey spiritual. Kristian bilif cova both fisical and non-fisical tins. If wi dey tink only about one, e no go komplete to say wi bi human beings. And none of dem fit tok evritin wey wi sabi and don face. Ideas. Values. Rison. Mind. Morals. Luv. All dis one no bi fisical sometimes. But all of dem dey real. Life no go get minin witout dem.
Kreatin Di World Wey Get Two Difrent Tori
Di modern kolture wey dey focus on material tins no dey like dis kin view. Dem dey try to luk down on am and spoil am. Bikos of dis one, wi dey always dey fite for ideas wey kom from di filosofi wey kos dis kin of division. Francis Schaeffer don tok about dis problem plenti years ago. E no bi di pesin wey start di idea. But e show where di wahala start from, di kin of tinkin wey dey divide tins. And e make am popula wit di idea wit di tok wey all of us sabi wen wi tok sey pesin dey “leap of faith.” To Schaeffer, wi don kreate one way wi dey see real life wey get two parts. And all of us dey live inside am. Make wi imagine am like one house wey get two floors. For upstairs, wi go si di tins wey no dey fisica but wey dey real like values, spirituality, religion, faith, and oda tins. Fo downstairs, wi go si tins like di fisical world and science.
UPPER STORY: Values – Spiritual – Religion – Faith — Private
LOWER STORY: Facts – Physical – Science – Knowledge — Public
Living in Di Two-Tori World
As wi dey rison like dis, di lowa tory na where dem tell us sey make wi dey go anytime wi wan sabi true tins. Na only science fit help us. E dey public and wi fit confam am. Di kolture tell us sey na for here wi sopose dey live awa lives. Na di rison wai dem dey always tell us to “trust di science” evriday. For di oda side, di ideas wey dey upstairs dey private and based on awa pasona filins. If wi like, wi fit make one kind “leap of faith” go upstairs. But wi nid undastand sey if wi do so, wi dey ignore sensibu tinkin. Dat kain tin no consan di “real world.” Wi dey go upstairs based on faith alone. And while nobody fit kweshion di tots or ideas wey dey for awa “private world,” wi no dey free to allow dose ideas afet aw wi undastand di lowa tory.
Di Efet of Two-Tori View
Na wahala dey as wi dey folo dis program witout no-in. Wi just dey accept sey awa pasona faith and riligion no dey konet or get value for di world wey dey based on facts. But dis no match wetin wi sabi and wetin wi don face. E no get way wi fit undastand minin and popose. Di lowa tory dey rite for awa front. But e no get hope. Notin wey dey inside am fit save us. And awa world full of pipol wey dey sofa for dis reality wey no konet. Dem dey live for di lowa tory, but dem dey long for di oppa.
Rong Solution
Som riligions jus gree wit di separashion wey dey happun. Di pipol wey biliv sey spiritual tins no dey impotant dem no biliv for di oppa-tory. Dem dey try kreate anoda copy of am fo downstairs and den wan dey use only di tins wey dey di lowa-tory. For di oda hand, di pipol wey biliv fo spiritual tin, pipol wey biliv sey brain dey impotant for salvation, and eastern religions dem dey try deny or run komot from di lowa-tory. Dem dey happy to dey stay upstairs witout any konesion to di ground. But all dese tins no work at all bikos dem no fit make sense of evritin wey dey happun. Dem no even try. All dem fit give na one undastandin of real life wey no komplete. Kristianity na one house where di two tories dey join togeda as one. Na for dere evritin make sense. Facts and values. Spiritual and fisical. Riligion and science. Faith and knowledge. All of dem na part of one komplete undastandin of di tins wey dey real fo dis world. Di world wey get two differen tori no sopose dey difided. E no eva sopose bi so. For di midu of di house, dey get stairs. But dem too tall for us to klimb. So, God kom down.
Kristmas
Dis na di oda Kristmas message. Di Riter enta di stage to show us im pata-pata show. E dey tell us sey di way wi dey rison wey focus only on humans no go fit solve di kondision wey wi kos shortly afta wi show face. Na wi kom up wit di rong filosofi wey make di wahala worse. Na wi bi di ones wey kreate dis “two-tory” view of di world. Our human tinkin kom divide wetin sopose dey togeda as one. Kristmas dey remind us sey e get one way wey fit fix evritin. God show us di pafet exampu of aw di world sopose bi thru di way wey e take kom down kom bikom pesin. Na wetin e min. God’s essence come dey “inside human bodi”. “Di Word kom bikom flesh kom stay wit us.” Di spiritual and di fisical kom dey as one fo awa eyes wey wi fit kom see am. For Kristmas time, e bi like sey di ground for awa world wey dey about human being jus skata and loud noise burst di nite. Di roof wey dey up for di top kom kolapse. And di spirit wey don dey shake for di top part of di house kom krash enta awa parlour. God kom dey/unite wit human inside one pesin. Na di pesin wey show us di pafet exampu of aw to bi like God. Aw to dey komplete and whole. Dis pesin kom show us di way wey wi fit escape from awa own fulish ideas and wisdom wey but say na dis world wi get am. Di pafet man kom downstairs kom rescue us. But e kom also show us aw to live. Na only Im fit do dis kin tin. And wen e happun, di world go dey make sense again.
