THE CHRISTCENTROMETER: Knowing how much CHRIST You Have in You!

BY EBENEZER KAYODE Ph.D

I came up with this idea in 2004. It was somehow funny, but it stuck to me. I said, “Can we come up with a scale of measurement or any kind of device that can measure how much of Christ you have in you?” If you go to a hospital, a nurse would use a thermometer to check your temperature and tell you what to do. I surmised that it should somehow be possible to come up with a tool or a system that will help us as Christians to remain Christ centered.

As I tinkered more with the idea, I came up with this apparatus. It is called a Christcentrometer. It provides a simple test to know how much of Christ is in a person, or put another way, how central to Christ's doctrine the person's life is and the things the person does.

We begin by asking simple questions: “What makes you a Christian?” “How should a Christian live?” If we can determine these, it will provide the weighs that can be used for the necessary evaluation. A traditional weigh consists of two sides:  in those days, they put what you are buying on one side and a standard weight that will determine how much money you will pay on the other side of the weigh. If it hits the balance, you were good to go.

In this instance, what are the weighs? I came up with three things. If you are Christ centered, the three things should be your focus in life and against which you will measure or weigh yourself.

The first of these is Reverence given to God. It is paramount to every Christian life. What is reverence to God? The Bible says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Prov. 9:10 KJV). To fear God is to eschew wickedness or evil (Prov. 8:13). You notice that when you say you fear God and reverence Him, your life takes a new turn different from one who is careless and does not fear God. Reverencing God means you have come to a point where you don't do things because you don't have the capacity to do it or want to do it but you won't do it because you fear God. That's reverence to God.

The second component of our weigh is Obedience to Christ. When Jesus came to town, a rich young man asked him what he must do to enter the kingdom of God. Jesus looked at him and told him to sell everything he had, give its proceeds to the poor and follow Him (Jesus). The Bible says that the man turned and walked away, sad. (Matt. 19:16-22). This was because his expectations were different. Jesus said in John's gospel, "If you love Me, keep My commandments” John 14:15 NKJV

So, following Jesus is the first point of obedience. He didn't give us great instructions we cannot follow or laws that we cannot obey. The first thing he said is, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.   For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Matt 11:28-30 NKJV). If you come to Him, He will help you with obeying Him.

The principle of obedience to Christ is to first come to Him and follow Him. That is what the rich young man missed, because he was so wealthy that it became a challenge for him to sell the things he had, according to the instructions of Christ, and follow Him. Thus, it is paramount that we factor in elements of obedience in measuring how much of Christ's Spirit is in us.

Lastly, the third weigh is Serving Humanity in the Holy Spirit. It is easy to misconstrue this, so we ask some questions: “Do you serve humanity by your wanton desires or by the Spirit of God?” I can be your friend because I know there's a lot to gain but am I your friend because it is an instruction of the Holy Spirit so that I can make contributions to your life by the Spirit or I can be available to represent God in the Spirit in your life? There are people who say they can't flock with people who can't contribute anything to their lives but I ask them, “Can you contribute to their lives?”

There is a teaching in motivational books that says, “Choose your friends, don't walk with people who can't contribute to your life”. Young people have heard this over and over again. But I tell you, it's not only about people who can contribute to your lives, what of people who you can contribute to their lives by the Spirit? We are called to serve humanity in the Spirit.

All of these, whether it is reverence to God, obedience to Christ or serving in the Holy Spirit, have an entry point. The entry point is that you must be born again. There's no way you can reverence God and it will be acceptable if you are not born again. There's no way you can be obedient to God unless you are born again. There's no way you can even have the Holy Spirit, let alone serve humanity through Him unless you are born again. And what are the principles of being born again? You need to have a new life.

Jesus encountered another man who asked, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:2-3 NKJV).

I am speaking of Nicodemus. He understood the principles of Jewish religious practices but was confused by the reply of Jesus. Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (John 3:4-6 NKJV). We saw in the later part of the Scriptures, that Nicodemus believed in Jesus Christ and was even part of those who buried Him.

There are two character traits of a born again person that is no longer emphasized in the church or not mentioned often on the pulpit today. The first trait is repentance. What is repentance? You consider your sinful way and decide not to go that way any longer, not because it is not pleasurable but because it does not agree with the way of God.

Many years ago, someone visited a young man with a car. At that time, the young man's car was rickety and his visitor was offering him a very neat Cherokee Jeep. When he entered the car to test drive, he said in his heart, “Now people will know that I have arrived, I will show them all that am not their equal”. The Holy Spirit immediately, told him (the man) that he was not ready for the car and that he should not take it. He turned to his friend and refused the offer. His friend was surprised and tried to convince him to take it, offering that if he didn't have all the money, he could pay for it gradually. The young man insisted that he was under the instruction of the Holy Spirit not to have the car, not because the car was bad for him but because he was not matured enough for it.

He told his friend that the disposition of his heart about the car prompted the Holy Spirit to forbid him. It was the element of pride in him that proved he was not ready for that promotion. In such a case, someone could suggest that the man should tell God he was sorry and take the car. That is not complete repentance or obedience because he got an instruction from the Spirit not to take the car. So, he waited until he was ready spiritually. Later on, God blessed him with cars in return for his obedience.

So, the act of repentance is when you are able to turn away from sin or any ungodliness and that, because of Christ. When you preach to me to stop or break away from a particular bad way of life or habit, which is pleasurable to me, it is for my good. There are certain things we drop for the faith that will actually hurt us, but for the sake of the kingdom, we still drop those things. Whatsoever looks like it is designed to make one wise, lift one to the next level and keep one in power or control and God says “No”, it has to be a “No”. We need to understand the principle of repentance.

Repentance is continuous. You don't repent only once. I dare say that repentance is on a daily basis. It is because there will always be something you need to mend your ways about, because you are still in the flesh. 

The second principle we don't teach anymore that comes with accepting Christ is commitment. When you repent from something, you must commit to something. If you don't commit to something else, you will still go back to the same thing you repented of. How many people repent from lies but don't commit to prayers? How many people repent from pornography but don't commit to the word of God? Let your commitment be unto Christ and His Word, then you will be ready, available and qualified to reverence God, obey Christ and be willing to serve humanity in the Holy Spirit.

Having understood the weighs, how do you measure yourself against the weighs? In the starting point, there is an arrow that has to pierce your heart. It is not until you are broken; you haven't come to the beginning. It is the stage of the commitment to the faith. This accounts for less than A PASS MARK. Just because someone answers an altar call, kneels down and sheds tears does not mean they would be committed to true repentance, even though they really wish to. Some people would say, “Father, if I do this again, kill me” or “Father, I am sorry”. People in the church do that all the time, but what is really needed is true commitment and real discipline.   

I was a church boy and I did the prayers for forgiveness several times. I grew up in the church and knew what was wrong and what was right. It was the convicting power of God that probed my heart in 1978 and I knew the exact thing to do was to make a real commitment to Christ in absolute surrender. When the man of God preached, and it felt like he was directing every word he spoke at me. He said, “Just because you were born in Church does not mean you will go to heaven” and he went on and on. After his preaching, I came out in response to the altar call.

If you think because at a certain time you have given your life to Christ, so you are saved, then, YOU ARE STUCK WITH LESS THAN PASS MARK. You need to move on. In moving on, you begin to observe reverence to God, obedience to Christ and service to humanity in the Spirit.

Let's take the first mark on the balance. It's says, “observing all of these three things deliberately, when you choose to, due to the possible reward or gain”, then YOUR SCALE IS BELOW AVERAGE. A Christian who is below average is one who will do things because he wants to get something in return. In a church, they will say, “If you want to be promoted, then you must not sin”. Then, you go home and stop your bad habits because you want promotion. If that's your motivation, it is below average. When you get the promotion, what happens? One other person might say, “Let me reverence God so that He would bless me”. Such a person is a BELOW AVERAGE CHRISTIAN.

Let's move up the scale a little bit. Suppose you observe all these three things with ease in some cases and occasionally, YOU ARE AN AVERAGE CHRISTIAN. This means that some people reverence God occasionally when it is easy for them, obey Christ when it is convenient and render services to humanity when they have the time. Such a person is simply AN AVERAGE CHRISTIAN. The score we need is far above average.

The minimum level that any Christian ought to be, is being A GROWING CHRISTIAN. This is when one observes all three weighs painstakingly. It is when you apply yourself to what might pain you or be termed as a sacrifice. You do it consciously and are committed to it. At this level, it has come to you that you are able to serve God with ease. Then you are A GROWING CHRISTIAN. That is, in everything you do, you are able to reverence God, obey Christ and bless people through the Spirit.

The next level is being A GOOD CHRISTIAN. This is the stage when you observe all things joyfully. When things are done joyfully and it has become a part of you. Serving God in all three measures become what you love to do and it flows naturally. 

In those days, my father had a car, I started driving his car and I did it joyfully. I was running errands for him with it and he thought I was a good boy, well maybe I was, but I did these because I loved driving. Thus, at this stage, it is what people do without expecting any form of reward or fee, the satisfaction derived from it is the motivation. That's what being a good Christian all is about.

The last one is when you do these three things; reverence God, obey Christ and serve humanity with ease and joy, all the time and in all things. This qualifies you into being AN OUTSTANDING CHRISTIAN.

That's our goal. The question is where are you on this scale? This is just the simplicity of the apparatus and my prayer is that we think about all these things.

Ebenezer Kayode, Ph.D, is a teacher of the Word who also serves God in a pastoring capacity.

BY EBENEZER KAYODE Ph.D

 

I came up with this idea in 2004. It was somehow funny, but it stuck to me. I said, “Can we come up with a scale of measurement or any kind of device that can measure how much of Christ you have in you?” If you go to a hospital, a nurse would use a thermometer to check your temperature and tell you what to do. I surmised that it should somehow be possible to come up with a tool or a system that will help us as Christians to remain Christ centered.

As I tinkered more with the idea, I came up with this apparatus. It is called a Christcentrometer. It provides a simple test to know how much of Christ is in a person, or put another way, how central to Christ's doctrine the person's life is and the things the person does.

We begin by asking simple questions: “What makes you a Christian?” “How should a Christian live?” If we can determine these, it will provide the weighs that can be used for the necessary evaluation. A traditional weigh consists of two sides:  in those days, they put what you are buying on one side and a standard weight that will determine how much money you will pay on the other side of the weigh. If it hits the balance, you were good to go.

In this instance, what are the weighs? I came up with three things. If you are Christ centered, the three things should be your focus in life and against which you will measure or weigh yourself.

The first of these is Reverence given to God. It is paramount to every Christian life. What is reverence to God? The Bible says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Prov. 9:10 KJV). To fear God is to eschew wickedness or evil (Prov. 8:13). You notice that when you say you fear God and reverence Him, your life takes a new turn different from one who is careless and does not fear God. Reverencing God means you have come to a point where you don't do things because you don't have the capacity to do it or want to do it but you won't do it because you fear God. That's reverence to God.

The second component of our weigh is Obedience to Christ. When Jesus came to town, a rich young man asked him what he must do to enter the kingdom of God. Jesus looked at him and told him to sell everything he had, give its proceeds to the poor and follow Him (Jesus). The Bible says that the man turned and walked away, sad. (Matt. 19:16-22). This was because his expectations were different. Jesus said in John's gospel, "If you love Me, keep My commandments” John 14:15 NKJV

So, following Jesus is the first point of obedience. He didn't give us great instructions we cannot follow or laws that we cannot obey. The first thing he said is, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.   For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Matt 11:28-30 NKJV). If you come to Him, He will help you with obeying Him.

The principle of obedience to Christ is to first come to Him and follow Him. That is what the rich young man missed, because he was so wealthy that it became a challenge for him to sell the things he had, according to the instructions of Christ, and follow Him. Thus, it is paramount that we factor in elements of obedience in measuring how much of Christ's Spirit is in us.

Lastly, the third weigh is Serving Humanity in the Holy Spirit. It is easy to misconstrue this, so we ask some questions: “Do you serve humanity by your wanton desires or by the Spirit of God?” I can be your friend because I know there's a lot to gain but am I your friend because it is an instruction of the Holy Spirit so that I can make contributions to your life by the Spirit or I can be available to represent God in the Spirit in your life? There are people who say they can't flock with people who can't contribute anything to their lives but I ask them, “Can you contribute to their lives?”

There is a teaching in motivational books that says, “Choose your friends, don't walk with people who can't contribute to your life”. Young people have heard this over and over again. But I tell you, it's not only about people who can contribute to your lives, what of people who you can contribute to their lives by the Spirit? We are called to serve humanity in the Spirit.

All of these, whether it is reverence to God, obedience to Christ or serving in the Holy Spirit, have an entry point. The entry point is that you must be born again. There's no way you can reverence God and it will be acceptable if you are not born again. There's no way you can be obedient to God unless you are born again. There's no way you can even have the Holy Spirit, let alone serve humanity through Him unless you are born again. And what are the principles of being born again? You need to have a new life.

Jesus encountered another man who asked, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:2-3 NKJV).

I am speaking of Nicodemus. He understood the principles of Jewish religious practices but was confused by the reply of Jesus. Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (John 3:4-6 NKJV). We saw in the later part of the Scriptures, that Nicodemus believed in Jesus Christ and was even part of those who buried Him.

There are two character traits of a born again person that is no longer emphasized in the church or not mentioned often on the pulpit today. The first trait is repentance. What is repentance? You consider your sinful way and decide not to go that way any longer, not because it is not pleasurable but because it does not agree with the way of God.

Many years ago, someone visited a young man with a car. At that time, the young man's car was rickety and his visitor was offering him a very neat Cherokee Jeep. When he entered the car to test drive, he said in his heart, “Now people will know that I have arrived, I will show them all that am not their equal”. The Holy Spirit immediately, told him (the man) that he was not ready for the car and that he should not take it. He turned to his friend and refused the offer. His friend was surprised and tried to convince him to take it, offering that if he didn't have all the money, he could pay for it gradually. The young man insisted that he was under the instruction of the Holy Spirit not to have the car, not because the car was bad for him but because he was not matured enough for it.

He told his friend that the disposition of his heart about the car prompted the Holy Spirit to forbid him. It was the element of pride in him that proved he was not ready for that promotion. In such a case, someone could suggest that the man should tell God he was sorry and take the car. That is not complete repentance or obedience because he got an instruction from the Spirit not to take the car. So, he waited until he was ready spiritually. Later on, God blessed him with cars in return for his obedience.

So, the act of repentance is when you are able to turn away from sin or any ungodliness and that, because of Christ. When you preach to me to stop or break away from a particular bad way of life or habit, which is pleasurable to me, it is for my good. There are certain things we drop for the faith that will actually hurt us, but for the sake of the kingdom, we still drop those things. Whatsoever looks like it is designed to make one wise, lift one to the next level and keep one in power or control and God says “No”, it has to be a “No”. We need to understand the principle of repentance.

Repentance is continuous. You don't repent only once. I dare say that repentance is on a daily basis. It is because there will always be something you need to mend your ways about, because you are still in the flesh. 

The second principle we don't teach anymore that comes with accepting Christ is commitment. When you repent from something, you must commit to something. If you don't commit to something else, you will still go back to the same thing you repented of. How many people repent from lies but don't commit to prayers? How many people repent from pornography but don't commit to the word of God? Let your commitment be unto Christ and His Word, then you will be ready, available and qualified to reverence God, obey Christ and be willing to serve humanity in the Holy Spirit.

Having understood the weighs, how do you measure yourself against the weighs? In the starting point, there is an arrow that has to pierce your heart. It is not until you are broken; you haven't come to the beginning. It is the stage of the commitment to the faith. This accounts for less than A PASS MARK. Just because someone answers an altar call, kneels down and sheds tears does not mean they would be committed to true repentance, even though they really wish to. Some people would say, “Father, if I do this again, kill me” or “Father, I am sorry”. People in the church do that all the time, but what is really needed is true commitment and real discipline.   

I was a church boy and I did the prayers for forgiveness several times. I grew up in the church and knew what was wrong and what was right. It was the convicting power of God that probed my heart in 1978 and I knew the exact thing to do was to make a real commitment to Christ in absolute surrender. When the man of God preached, and it felt like he was directing every word he spoke at me. He said, “Just because you were born in Church does not mean you will go to heaven” and he went on and on. After his preaching, I came out in response to the altar call.

If you think because at a certain time you have given your life to Christ, so you are saved, then, YOU ARE STUCK WITH LESS THAN PASS MARK. You need to move on. In moving on, you begin to observe reverence to God, obedience to Christ and service to humanity in the Spirit.

Let's take the first mark on the balance. It's says, “observing all of these three things deliberately, when you choose to, due to the possible reward or gain”, then YOUR SCALE IS BELOW AVERAGE. A Christian who is below average is one who will do things because he wants to get something in return. In a church, they will say, “If you want to be promoted, then you must not sin”. Then, you go home and stop your bad habits because you want promotion. If that's your motivation, it is below average. When you get the promotion, what happens? One other person might say, “Let me reverence God so that He would bless me”. Such a person is a BELOW AVERAGE CHRISTIAN.

Let's move up the scale a little bit. Suppose you observe all these three things with ease in some cases and occasionally, YOU ARE AN AVERAGE CHRISTIAN. This means that some people reverence God occasionally when it is easy for them, obey Christ when it is convenient and render services to humanity when they have the time. Such a person is simply AN AVERAGE CHRISTIAN. The score we need is far above average.

The minimum level that any Christian ought to be, is being A GROWING CHRISTIAN. This is when one observes all three weighs painstakingly. It is when you apply yourself to what might pain you or be termed as a sacrifice. You do it consciously and are committed to it. At this level, it has come to you that you are able to serve God with ease. Then you are A GROWING CHRISTIAN. That is, in everything you do, you are able to reverence God, obey Christ and bless people through the Spirit.

The next level is being A GOOD CHRISTIAN. This is the stage when you observe all things joyfully. When things are done joyfully and it has become a part of you. Serving God in all three measures become what you love to do and it flows naturally. 

In those days, my father had a car, I started driving his car and I did it joyfully. I was running errands for him with it and he thought I was a good boy, well maybe I was, but I did these because I loved driving. Thus, at this stage, it is what people do without expecting any form of reward or fee, the satisfaction derived from it is the motivation. That's what being a good Christian all is about.

The last one is when you do these three things; reverence God, obey Christ and serve humanity with ease and joy, all the time and in all things. This qualifies you into being AN OUTSTANDING CHRISTIAN.

That's our goal. The question is where are you on this scale? This is just the simplicity of the apparatus and my prayer is that we think about all these things.

Ebenezer Kayode, Ph.D, is a teacher of the Word who also serves God in a pastoring capacity.