THE CHRISTIANS COMPASS
By Uwomano Ben Okpevra, PhD, MA, Div.
In Christianity today we see much division and confusion. Why? Because we fail to be guided by the true standard of authority! The result is hundreds of churches with many different teachings. Before this confusion can be cleared, we must all agree on an authority in Christianity what will it be? The Christian’s Compass – the word of God! The Bible is the inspired word of God. The Bible is the authority in Christianity because it is the inspired word of God. The Apostle Paul, in writing to Timothy, said “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine. For reproof, for correction. For instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work “(2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Peter said Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21). Peter is talking about the men who wrote the Bible. They were men who were told what to write. The Holy Spirit is the one who told them. If we listen to what the Bible says, we are listening to God. God is perfect. What he says is right. Man is not perfect. He makes mistakes. We must not listen to man because he is sometimes wrong. Since God cannot be wrong, we must listen to him. Then we know we are right.
Your word is truth (John 17:17). The Bible is the word of God. The words of God are truth. Therefore, the Bible contains all truth (John 16:13).
Man cannot direct his way. The Bible is the authority in Christianity because man cannot direct his own. O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his steps (Jeremiah 10:23) many people think that they can decide by themselves what is right in Christianity. When man tries to direct his way, he finds much trouble. When he listens to God, he does much better. If man were able to direct his way, God would not have given us the Bible. To find a way of life that is pleasing to God, we must let the Bible be our guide. The word of God is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. “the Christian compass ” helps guide us in our pathway to Heaven. The Bible, (which is the preeminent Christian compass), assists you in understanding the Bible and helps you in applying God’s guidelines in your daily life.
Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men he shall utterly fall: but they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:28031 (KJV)
The word of God is invaluable for all Christians regardless of their denomination or place of worship
Concept of the (Magnetic) Compass – The Bible as Compass
The history of the world seems to reveal its development landmark defines the peculiarity of each century. The twentieth century, for instance, hosted the information revolution. The eighteenth century commenced the Industrial Revolution, while the thirteenth century could be said to launch the world into the process of the commercial revolution. By 1280, the world began to witness an amazing rise increase in prosperity accruing from international trade, especially the rise of maritime powers in Europe. Britain, Portugal, Spain, and Venice seized this opportunity and the results are the tales and stories of exploration and adventures that mostly were commissioned by Crowns and influential aristocrats in Europe. One single instrument was responsible for this: The Magnetic compass:
“The compass was the first instrument that allowed navigators, at sea, on land, and – much later – in the air, to determine their direction quickly and accurately at any time of the day or night and under almost any conditions …. The compass was therefore the most important technological invention since the wheel. Except for ancient weighing scales, the compass was also the first mechanical measuring device ever invented, as well as the first instrument with a pointer, allowing a person to visualize a measurement – in this case a direction” (Amir D aczel, 2001:xi–xii).
The world needs a compass because the planet that hosts it, the Earth, is itself a gigantic magnet. As with most modern discoveries and inventions whose origins have united mankind with its mythological past, the compass also has a source in antiquity. Beyond its technological identification and functionality, the compass has a poetic and mystical investigative utilitarianism. Since the inception of human civilization, man’s scientific instinct has been drawn towards the phenomenal magnetic properties of the universe. The lodestone, due to its potential to exert force on objects from a distance, attracted to itself mysterious and supernatural significance. The Chinese as well as cultic civilizations that thrived on the basin of the Mediterranean Sea had engaged the use of a magnetic compass for divination and purpose of prophesy ages before it was discovered in the West. Both in science and religion and in modernity and mythology, the magnetic compass is essential for its function of indicating directions.
The compass is crucial to the world because it has helped link civilizations, peoples, nations, races, and cultures together in a single flow of global interaction. Its importance stretches from “China to the Mediterranean, Scandinavia, Arabia, Africa, and the New World” (xiii). The compass, though an instrument that was a Chinese antiquity invention, became central to the voyages of the likes of Henry the Navigator (1394-1460), Christopher Columbus, and Vasco da Gama (1460 – 1524). Bartholomew Dias and Ferdinand Magellan. From its humble beginning as a magnetic compass, this rare instrument has improved over time. Today, the world talks about the electronic compass which is the most imperative navigational instrument on ships and airplanes as well as the global positioning system (GPS) that is satellite-based. The compass was once a myth; now it is the science that has changed navigation, commerce, and world economy. The compass indeed is an instrument “that changed the world”.
But why am I so fascinated with the compass? What kinship does the compass have with the word of God? Of course, the myth and reality of the compass yielded a metaphor for the early Christian fathers while searching for a doctrinal direction for the kingdom of God. The Bible-believing Christian, therefore, is an all-age partaker in the heritage of the compass since all of our doctrines, in fact anchored on the word of God. The entirety of the compass points could be conveniently summed up in the word of our Lord Jesus Christ thus,
“Yea are the light of the world. Yea are the salt of the world”. Admonishes the good old Christian scripture. Which sane human being lights a lamp and buries it under a bushel? And if salt goes sour and loses taste, with what can it be sweetened? Light that cannot erase darkness and salt that lacks taste, then are useless.
Going by its heritage – its calling, the Christian is the light of the world. By its mandate. The Christian is the salt of life and the compass of the globe. Just like the magnetic compass, the world of God must provide safe and true direction at all times to all across linguistic, racial, continental, cultural, religious, and political divides. What happens if the compass malfunctions? The ship will lose its course and the entire world will be lost. As Christians, we must be conscious of ourselves as personifications of salt, light, and compass. As parting words, I enjoin all Christians: study your Bible and master your heritage. That is when you can teach the world through thought, word, and action. That is when you can teach others what your doctrine and heritage is. That is when a Christian can truly function as a competent compass for all voyagers on all waters of life in the entire globe. That is when the word of God as a compass can revolutionize and offer direction to the movements and transitions of mankind of its influence.
C/o Cathedral Church of Christ, Obiaruku, Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion,
Diocese of Ndokwa, Delta State.
