Christian journalists have been encouraged to contend for the faith they have received.
The encouragement came during the September fellowship of Christian media group, Journalists For Christ at the weekend in Lagos.
The fellowship which had in attendance journalists from media houses and faith based organisations was a time for discussing the scriptures.
Theme of the discussion was the book of Jude which members shared to read through, taking lessons from the verses.
Main thrust of the passage was ‘Contending for the faith,’ and participants took turn to contribute to the discussion.
Moderating the discussion, Pastor David Adeola Odunayo enjoined journalists to make Bible reading a priority as they carry on their daily assignments.
Reading the commentary of the book, Mrs. Ronke Otufodunrin provided insight into the chapter.
According to Otufodunrin, one cannot contend for the faith if such an individual is not in the faith. “You must first of all identify with the faith, you must be in the faith and grow in it before you can contend for it,” Otufodunrin said.
Also in attendance, Mr. Wale Fatade who also provided insight by reading his Bible’s commentary on the book of Jude.
Fatade told participants that, contending for the faith is something that cannot be done in the flesh.
“You cannot defend the faith the way you fight Boko Haram, you cannot use the weapons of the flesh to fight for the faith,” he said.
Continuing, Fatade said, “If you are standing in error you cannot contend for the faith. We are journalists and it is not everything you see that you report if you want to live to report more.”
Encouraging journalists to uphold the faith as well as the ethics of the profession, Fatade continued that, “Many people are eager to share bad news. Don’t publish what does not profit others.”
He also noted that the Bible reading culture is on the downward trend despite many Bible format available today. “The Bible is now in so many formats but readership is low. Those things you know, teach others. Recitation of the Bible is scriptural and the tactic of the enemy is to take the Bible away from us. People see more of the enemies now because of our economy and by so doing we cannot contend for the faith,” he said.
Fatade continued that journalists must create time out of their busy schedule to read the Bible. “If you don’t dedicate certain amount of your day to reading the Bible, you can’t contend for the faith. For instance, dragging your children to pray is important and you must increase your own faith by reading, hearing the word.”
Also at the fellowship, Oyinlola Awonuga, an intern at the Lagos Traffic Radio pointed that it is not possible to give what one does not have. “You cannot give what you don’t have, I agree with Mrs. Otufodunrin who said, you must be in the faith before contending for it,” she said.
Administrative Secretary of JFC, Dayo Emmanuel in his response reminded participants of the Council of Jerusalem in the book of Acts of the Apostles when the early Christian leaders met to agree on certain doctrines of the Bible.
“For us to contend for the faith we need to know what the Bible says about cardinal issues of the faith. There are things that are sacrosanct and we have to leave the mundane issues to avoid distraction and strengthen ourselves on the cardinal issues.”
He also brought to the fore the recent controversy about tithing and added that, “We may not be able to agree 100 percent on doctrinal issues but we must agree on cardinal issues of faith.”
Another participants at the event, Harrison Edobor said the scripture is not just letters but spiritual. “The scripture is alive and spiritual and until you are faced with some situations, you may not be convinced of some things.
“We all have the basic things; the salvation of our soul, but we have to build on it. Contending for the faith is not doctrinal, faith comes by hearing and believers must keep hearing the word, “he said.
Observing the existence of false teachers in today’s church, the moderator, Pastor Odunayo asked participants on how best to handle the issue.
Participants were however advised to address the issue of false teachers politely because some are sincerely wrong.
Christian journalists were also advised to be careful on how they address elders in the faith. Christian leaders according the moderator must be approached politely instead of disrespecting them when they are seen to be erring.
