THE CHRISTIAN AND THE BUILDING OF A FORMIDABLE NATION: An Exegetico-Pragmatic Application of Matthew 5:13

Abstract

The Christian belief and practice stand on dual pedagogies, the decalogue (Exod 20:3ff) and the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7). In Matt 5:13, Jesus describes believers as to halas tēs gēs (the salt of the earth). This short epitaph underscores Gen 1:27-28 where God enjoins man to conquer the earth and subdue it. Nation is an abstract concept. The human person is the architect of any nation. If the human beings in any nation are good, the nation must be good. There is no nation without the human beings just as there are no human beings without a nation. Failing nations and cultural decline have made nation building a major concern in our world today. There is no shortage of candidates willing to tackle the challenge. Communists, socialists, monarchists, dictators and democracies—and even religious leaders—have all tried their hand at solving these problems. Yet none have found the key for building truly successful nations or salvaging faltering countries. All nations today are struggling with their own serious problems! In this paper, the researcher through literature review gives theoretical exposition of the failed efforts in this trajectory of nation building. He then stands firm in his conviction that the greatest teacher in human history has provided us the solution in few lines in Matt 5:13. The paper employs exegetical tools to analyse the text and then adopts Populace Comfortability and Educology Theories to project that a pragmatic adoption of the result of the analysis by people of all nations especially Nigeria will lead to the formation of the long desired enviable nation.