CRIME: HOW DO WE EFFECTIVELY CURTAIL IT? by Precious C Philip

"I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray for kings and all others who are in authority, that we may live a quiet and peaceful life with all reverence toward God and with proper conduct. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." 1 Timothy 2:1-4

God wants all men on earth to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. This is not only because He wants all men to spend eternity with Him in His heavenly kingdom, but also because He wants us to live peaceful lives and enjoy life on earth. 

If all men are saved, life on earth would be enjoyed by everyone. But if all men are not saved, life on earth will not be enjoyed by many people. The atrocities and crimes we see in our world on a daily basis is as a result of all men not being saved. This is why those who have been saved are required by God to pray for the salvation of others, to preach the Gospel and save others. 

If everyone that has been saved, if more people that are saved, if children of God are really doing the job of intercession, witnessing, preaching the gospel of Jesus, and winning souls, we will have less crime in our world than we have today. The women, teenagers and children being raped, the men and women being brutally murdered, the lives being snuffed out with violence, guns, bombs, knives, & other dangerous weapons would have been spared. 

Anyone without Christ living inside of him is capable of doing preposterous, unthinkable and unimaginable things under certain circumstances, influences, or pressure. This is why a full-fledged man can think of raping a small child or raping and killing a young woman. This is why a police officer can inflict lethal harm on a civilian he's meant to protect with no compassion. 

When we lack Christ in our lives, we can do the unimaginable under the control of strong, overwhelming emotions.

After the act is done and our emotions are calm, we regret our actions and guilt completely overwhelms us. My Christian brothers and sisters, beloved children of God, please I plead with you in the Name of God, preach the Gospel. Evangelize, engage in soul winning and take it serious. You could be saving a girl child/a lady from being molested tomorrow. You could be saving a family from being robbed and assassinated. You could save someone from committing suicide. PLEASE OPEN YOUR MOUTH AND PREACH THE GOSPEL. STOP KEEPING QUIET. 

If you don't know what to preach, follow Christian pages on social media that share the truth of the Bible and share their messages on your platforms. Listen to sermons and share the messages with people. Consciously learn the art of preaching, witnessing, and soul winning. Don't just sit down and give the excuse that you don't know how to preach the Gospel. Learn it. Learn from others. You can start with sharing scripture verses and sharing the testimony of your salvation with people. If you lack boldness, ask the Holy Spirit to embolden you. 

When you really want to do something you don't know how to do, you learn how to do it. 

You need to take seriously this great commission given to everyone that has been saved by Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20 "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." and the ministry of reconciliation given to all children of God in 2 Corinthians 5:17-19  "This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation." 

How well are you reconciling people to God through Jesus? If you're not preaching the Gospel as a saved person, and reconciling people to God through Jesus, the truth is you're contributing to the evil happening in the world today - you're actually fostering it. The sure way to abate and stop the atrocities and crimes in our various nations today is to give Jesus to people; so if you're not giving Jesus to people, you're aiding and fostering evil. 

You might say, "Preaching the Gospel is not the solution to the manifold evil happening in our world today because many people go to church and yet do evil things". That is the real issue we're trying to fix. We're not trying to get more people to come to church (the sanctuary), but get more people to come to Jesus and become a member of His church (the body of Christ). Being saved is not attending church services, but coming to know Jesus personally. Jesus is who we need to become good citizens and live godly lives. 

Going to church is secondary. Coming to Jesus is primary. We have millions of people in church (the sanctuary), but just a small percentage in Christ (the church of Christ). That is why wickedness and evil is flourishing. That is why some young men can rape and kill a lady inside the sanctuary. That is why armed robbers, fraudsters, drug dealers, assassins, murderers, rapists, swindlers, prostitutes can go to church every Sunday and still hold on tightly to their evil lifestyle. 

We need people who have Christ in their lives. We need Christians who are genuinely born-again, living godly lives. We need men and women who know God indeed and love God indeed to love others indeed. The Bible says "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love"(1 John 4:8). It also points out that "If we say we love God and don't love each other, we are liars. We cannot see God. So how can we love God, if we don't love the people we can see?" (1 John 4:20).

To raise men and women who walk in love in our world, we must first give them Christ. It is the presence of Christ in a man's life that makes him good, gives him self-control, and enables him walk in love with all men. Nehemiah confessed: "Those who were governors before me had made life difficult for the people by taking from them food and wine plus one pound of silver. Even the governors' servants took advantage of their power over the people. But I didn't do that, because I feared God" (Nehemiah 5:15).

Taking to your social media platform to voice out your anger or displeasure over the grievous crimes being committed in our world is okay, but it is not the real cure for the menace in our society. Sympathizing with those affected or their families is not the real solution. If we refuse to obey the command of God to make disciples of all men, sadly, we will see and witness more and more crimes - it would be getting worse each day. 

Seriously, what you're making no real efforts to stop, you have no right to complain about. What you're making no real efforts to curtail, it is hypocrisy to lament about.

When a crime happens, most Christians usually run to their social media platforms to demand for justice or to lament and hurl insults at the culprits, but in reality, before God, you're as guilty as these malefactors if you've not been using every means available to you to reach out to people with the Gospel of Jesus to rescue them from a life of crime. Because truth be told, many people choose a life of crime out of frustration with life and out of hatred for oneself and other unseen emotional/spiritual battles - which Jesus alone can solve. I am not justifying their wrong choice, I am simply stating the obvious. 

Romans 10:14-15 says "How can people have faith in the Lord and ask him to save them, if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear, unless someone tells them? And how can anyone tell them without being sent by the Lord? The Scriptures say it is a beautiful sight to see even the feet of someone coming to preach the good news."

If you therefore decide to keep silent and not preach the Gospel as every child of God has been commanded and sent to preach, you have no right to lament when any crime is committed, because you're as guilty as the perpetrator of the crime before God. You could have helped to prevent the crime but you chose to keep the good news of Christ's love and salvation to yourself. 

Beloved, PREACH THE GOSPEL. EVANGELIZE THE GOOD NEWS. WIN SOULS. The person you fail to preach to today and lead to Christ can torment you tomorrow or inflict pain on you, your loved ones, or the society tomorrow. RESCUE HUMANITY. PLEASE!🙏 If the police men who were charged with the murder of George Floyd and the men who raped and killed a young lady in Benin State, Nigeria had Christ in their lives to fill their hearts with love and give them self-control, they would never had done what they did - leaving them in agony and deep regrets today. Think about this and make a decision and a firm commitment to reach out to more people with the love of God and the message of Jesus. This is the way to curtail crime in our society. 

"You did not choose me. I chose you. And I gave you this work: to go and produce fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you anything you ask for in my name" (John 15:16).

We will only have a peaceful world when we choose to obey God and preach the Gospel and reconcile people to God their Maker. 

Shalom!