Deficient By Design

My friend's dad was murdered by his business partner

There’s a story of a man who truly from the bottom of his heart hated Christians.

He hated Christians so much that he would publicly harm any Christian he met on his way whenever he was out.

But the physical harm he was doing to them wasn’t satisfactory enough for him, he wanted to obliterate them from the surface of the earth completely.

He thought that the Christians were a bunch of blasphemous people who didn’t fear God because some Jesus guy had come to the world to brainwash them.

This man was responsible for the deaths of many Christians, and it sort of reminds me of Adolf Hitler and his incomparable hatred for the Jews.

Anyway, this guy continued with his strong persecution of those who attended Church and believed in the power of the Holy Spirit for a while, until one day.

One day, he met Jesus Himself.

Apparently, Jesus Christ has been giving this guy a bombastic side-eye all those times that he thought he was ‘working’ for God

I honestly believe the angels must have laughed at him a couple of times because he thought he was doing it to please God.

Jesus knew that the guy would be very instrumental to His purpose on earth, in fact, Jesus admired his grit and his dedication to the ‘work’ he was doing for God.

But something needed to be done before the guy would successfully send back home the people Jesus Christ died for.

Jesus needed to help him do a 360-degree turnaround on the right path.

If you already know who this guy is, kudos to you, you are a Bible scholar (or maybe not).

But if you don’t, I’m talking about Paul, the apostle.

You know, the guy who single-handedly wrote the epistles? (oh you’ve not been studying your Bible? Or perhaps you’ve not been using a concordance?)

Apostle Paul is often considered the most important person after Jesus in the history of Christianity.

His epistles have had an enormous influence on Christian theology.

Listen, Jesus turned that passion around so that the man could focus and glow up.

He turned around the cancel-culture attitude he had for Christians into a Stan-culture (permit my infusion of Gen-z lingua, I believe it makes me sound cool, no?).

Now, let’s go to the crux of the matter.

Apostle Paul is considered the most influential minister in the history of Christianity.

I mentioned earlier that Jesus Christ already singled him out for His plan, Jesus commissioned him to be the apostle to the Gentiles (non-Jews).

He wasn’t part of the disciples, he never even met Jesus, yet it would seem that his assignment was much higher than those who had been with Jesus.

You wouldn’t believe it if I told you that the apostle Paul suffered from loneliness. He lacked support in his ministry.

I’m not talking about the loneliness that comes from staying unmarried or any form of financial support, I’m talking about support from someone who looked up to him in ministry, a mentee or a partner.

And that is the purpose of this newsletter.

You are probably too focused on your agenda that you fail to see God calling you to a higher purpose.

I think this purpose might require you to work under submission to another or work as a partner on a particular project.

But many people cannot stand mentioning the word ‘partner’ because they are too busy seeking their purpose, which is fine.

In life, you must find purpose early to make your life’s journey meaningful.

But what if your purpose in life is to work in total submission to another man’s calling for the rest of your life?

Will you be willing to do that?

I’m a Nigerian, and I have been told stories about how partnerships have burnt people, and how that you must constantly be on the lookout if you happen to partner with anybody.

And what about our parents? They always have tragic stories to share on why partnering with someone is a terrible idea.

My friend once told me that his dad was murdered by a friend and business partner when he was 5.

He claimed that his mum told him the story because she saw how everything played out, therefore, he can never partner with anybody in this life and next.

Our parents have been burned in the past by going into partnerships with people who did them dirty.

But I believe God wants us to work together, He deliberately joins people together especially people who have very different personalities.

Listen, God did not put all His eggs in one basket. Instead, He spread it among everyone so that we may all work together.

We are all deficient by design.

Therefore, we must honour and respect the gifts He has given to them by working with them and acknowledging their presence.

Even though apostle Paul was willing to serve Jesus alone if people forsook him or weren’t willing to join his cause, he preferred to work with others.

Consider what he wrote to the Philippians in 2:19-21 of the book:

I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.

Timothy was the only one who thought the way Paul did, that’s why Paul said he was like-minded. To be like-minded means to be of kindred spirit, and that’s what partnerships are about.

You cannot do it alone, you need someone (or people) who share your values, priorities, purpose, and conviction.

Jesus knew He couldn’t do the work alone so He enlisted a group of young guys to work with Him.

But here’s a plot twist; Jesus could have done everything all by Himself because He is God. But He chose not to teach us something.

As much as we may want to do things on our own, the Bible teaches us that doing it all isn’t for us, and will eventually wear us out. Ex 18:17-18.

Now, if you are already in partnership, and you feel that there’s something there, then stick to it.

Listen, 1% of 1 billion is better than 100% of 100,000.

Consider the tech space, partnerships are the new rave.

In Nigeria, the fintechs that I can confidently say are doing well are those that have more than one person running them.

Talk about Paystack and Piggyvest, Prospa, Kuda, and a host of them.

Two heads are better than one.

If organizations are going to rise to their potential, there must be more than individual parts functioning in isolated ways.

The right people have to be in the right places working together and cooperatively using their specific gifts toward a common purpose.

I’m ranting, but I want you to check out the IG live I had with a friend of mine a couple of days ago on constructive collaboration.