Uncommon Path Network

“We gather week after week, yet so few lives are truly changed. Many can quote the Bible, but few have encountered the God of the Bible.”

Dear Path Finder,

I pray you find your purposeful path, walk audaciously in it, and inspire others to find theirs too.

Are you not bothered?

There’s been a drastic shift in how we “do church” lately. It feels like Sundays have become routine, another item on the calendar, rather than a gathering of God’s people with one common focus: God Himself. 

Many are content with their hearts unchanged, as long as they don’t miss a service. Many are satisfied with delivering a world-class sermon, leading a powerful prayer, or laying hands with outward power, but without love (1 Corinthians 13:1–2).

My pastor has been labouring lately about character, urging us to pursue godly character, not just a form of godliness while denying its power (2 Timothy 3:5). His teachings have challenged me deeply. I thank God for shepherds who would rather speak the truth in love than cushion us with empty words that never provoke growth.

The church theme in this season has been seeking God’s face. Yet this process is not convenient, it includes many deaths: death to self, to idols, to selfish ambition, to sin, and to our limited vision of God’s holiness. Jesus Himself said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me” (Luke 14:27). Growth without transformation is a contradiction.

My anguish is this: I see the body of Christ living boldly, but in ways that look nothing like Scripture. We gather at services, events, conferences, and concerts, yet so few lives are truly changed. Many can quote the Bible, but few have encountered the God of the Bible.

My heart bleeds when I see shepherds pursuing personal interests over God’s commission to feed His sheep. One of the Pastors once cautioned ministers against the temptation to grow churches with worldly strategies, forgetting that God never called us to be “modern” but to be faithful.

Too many ministers today prefer being liked by peers rather than being obedient to God. Are we not bothered? That we know Him in theory but live opposite in practice? That reverence for God is fading? That our children may inherit a hollow Christianity full of theatrics but empty of true worship?

I am deeply bothered.

And maybe my words won’t fully carry my burden to you, but may they at least spark reflection about your own walk with God.

So I ask you, are we seeking God’s face or only His hand? When He delays answering, do we lose reverence? Is He truly Lord of our lives, or simply a means to an end? The God of heaven and earth, who no longer dwells in temples made by hands but in us (1 Corinthians 6:19), how do we carry Him? With honour, or with entitlement?

This is not a call to condemnation, but a call to reflection and repentance. For as we allow God to recalibrate us, others will be impacted. That’s how awakenings start.

We are overdue for REVIVAL.

But revival is costly. It will cost us our comfort, convenience, and self-centered ways. Revival will be sparked by people who are willing to stay and tarry, in prayer, consecration, holiness, fasting, intercession, and devotion (Acts 2:42).

This Wednesday morning, I humbly invite you to this call. And I pray you answer it.

Shalom,
Oyena