Mr. Brown had thought of nothing but numbers. He should have known that the kingdom of God did not depend on large crowds. Our Lord Himself stressed the importance of fewness. Narrow is the way and few the number. To fill the Lord's holy temple with an idolatrous crowd clamoring for signs was a folly of everlasting consequence. Our Lord used the whip only once in His life - to drive the crowd away from His church.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes that spiritual fulfillment is not about quantity but quality and sincerity in faith.
In this quote, Chinua Achebe reflects on the notion that true spirituality and connection with the divine are not measured by the size of the congregation or public demonstrations of faith. Instead, he underscores that genuine worship and the essence of faith lie in a smaller, more committed group rather than a large crowd focused on superficial signs. Achebe illustrates this point by referencing the Lord's actions in the temple, highlighting the folly of seeking validation through numbers rather than sincere belief.
In practice
This quote could be used in a sermon to emphasize the importance of true faith over mere attendance.
In fact, I thought that Christianity was very a good and a very valuable thing for us. But after a while, I began to feel that the story that I was told about this religion wasn't perhaps completely whole, that something was left out.
Writers don't give prescriptions. They give headaches!
It is the storyteller who makes us what we are, who creates history. The storyteller creates the memory that the survivors must have - otherwise their surviving would have no meaning.
Writing has always been a serious business for me. I felt it was a moral obligation. A major concern of the time was the absence of the African voice. Being part of that dialogue meant not only sitting at the table but effectively telling the African story from an African perspective - in full earshot of the world.
An angry man is always a stupid man.
Privilege, you see, is one of the great adversaries of the imagination; it spreads a thick layer of adipose tissue over our sensitivity.
The people who pretend that dying is rather like strolling into the next room always leave me unconvinced. Death, like birth, must be a tremendous event.
Sentimentality is unearned emotion.
He was a great patriot, a humanitarian, a loyal friend; provided, of course, he really is dead.
Murray said, ´I don´t trust anybody´s nostalgia but my own. Nostalgia is a product of dissatisfaction and rage. It´s a settling of grievances between the present and the past. The more powerful the nostalgia, the closer you come to violence. War is the form nostalgia takes when men are hard-pressed to say something good about their country.´
There is no greater sorrow than to recall happiness in times of misery.
Whatever thing a man sets his heart on...is his god; and if his god doesn't also happen to be the true and living God of Israel that man is laboring in idolatry.
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