The Achimota Area Head and Executive Council Member of The Church of Pentecost, Apostle David Tettey Tekper, has advised Christians to assume their true identity as agents of transformation and credible ambassadors of Christ on earth.
Apostle Tekper said this on Tuesday, November 12, 2019, when he presented a paper on the topic, “I Am An Agent Of Transformation” at the November Heads’ Meeting at the Pentecost Convention Centre (PCC), Gomoa Fetteh.
The Achimota Area Head could not fathom why despite the widespread display of religiosity in Ghana, Christians who form the majority of the country’s population have failed to cause the needed societal transformation.
“The Christian population of Ghana is 71.2%, made up of Pentecostal/Charismatic, 28.3%; Protestant, 18.4%; Catholic, 13.1%; others, 11.4%. These numbers are significant and worth celebrating. Yet, in many other areas, the country has not felt the full impact of the transforming power of the gospel.
“Christians cannot claim to follow the sinless and blameless Christ, to be filled with the Holy Spirit who reproves the world of sin, judgment and righteousness and yet live otherwise. The lives of the Christian majority must, therefore, reflect in godly values and principles in the home, workplace, church and community,” he bemoaned.
Elaborating on who the agent of God is, Apostle Tekper stressed that every Christian is an agent of God because they act on behalf of the Lord God Almighty with delegated authority by the Holy Spirit to impact society progressively.
He further mentioned Jacob (Genesis 32:24-30), Moses (Exodus 3), Isaiah (Isaiah 6), the early Apostles (Acts 2:1-4, Acts 4:23) and Paul (Acts 9:3-4, Galatians 1:11-16) as examples of people who encountered God and served as agents of transformation within their societies and in their generations.
He, therefore, indicated that as ambassadors (representatives) of Christ on earth, Christians ought to reflect the character and power of Christ in every sphere of life because they act as God’s agents on earth.
Citing 1 Samuel 13:14 and 1 Samuel 2:35, Apostle Tekper said that it takes a person after God’s own heart to be an agent of God. This is because what qualifies one to be a man after God’s own heart is the ability to know and do what is in God’s heart and mind.
“We appreciate the understanding that we can only work with God as agents of transformation if we are able to align with His will. Therefore, the agent of transformation must first have a transformed heart; a heart that yields to God daily. This also implies that until the heart and thought patterns of the agent is transformed to align with that of God, that agent cannot transform their sphere of influence,” he said.
Apostle Tekper further noted that becoming a credible agent of God begins with having a personal encounter with God. He stated that every biblical figure that God used to serve His purpose began his or her journey after having a personal encounter with Him.
“To effectively represent someone or be their agent, one must know the person. To become God’s agents, we must know Him; this knowledge must not only be intellectual but also relational,” he explained.
He further explained that every believer, who acts as an agent of transformation, has a divine mandate to influence every sphere of life – marriage and family life, education, trade and commerce, law and the judiciary, the media and governance, etc. – with the values and principles of the Kingdom of God.
He, however, reiterated that a credible agent is one who has encountered Christ, transformed by the indwelling Holy Spirit, sanctified by obedience to God’s word and acts as God’s representative in every sphere of life, bringing the love and life of Christ to all they connect with.
Apostle David Tettey Tekper, therefore, called on Christians to assert their identity as Light of the World, Salt of the Earth, and A City on A Hill to bring out the needed transformation in society.
PENTECOST NEWS
