We Had to Redefine God, Salvation, and Belief


Yesterday at Matunda Senior School, something important began.

We launched what I am calling pulpit-based discipleship — teaching the whole CU (about 170 students) not through evangelistic preaching, but through careful explanation. Not sound, not hype, but foundation.

The concern that triggered this series was simple but serious. A message from Mwalimu:

“I feel like we need to take the whole church through topics like:
What is salvation? Why does mankind need salvation? Who is the saviour?
What does it mean to be saved?
What are we saved from?
New life after salvation.
Growth in Christ as a believer.
The church needs basic doctrine so that they believe with understanding and become true disciples.”

Many students respond to altar calls again and again — but do they actually understand what salvation is?

So instead of beginning with “Come to Jesus,” we began with three words:

God — Salvation — Believer

Because if those three are not understood, everything else becomes confusion.

1. God Is Not a Name

The first thing the students had to grasp was this: God is not a personal name but a description.

Across the world, nearly every religion believes in a supreme being — someone who started it all, someone above humanity, someone in control.

Different communities give this being different names: Allah, Baal, Jehovah, Ashtoreth, Krishna, and many others. Even in the Bible, ancient communities had their own gods. But then one people — the Hebrews — made a radical claim: their God was not one among many. He was above all.

That is why He is called King of kings, Lord of lords, Mighty Counselor. The titles are not decoration; they are comparisons.

At this point the conversation changed from “Do you believe in a god?” to “Which God are you talking about?”

So we explored how people actually relate to “god”.

The God of the Bible

This is the God who introduces Himself — especially in the Old Testament. Before humans define Him, He defines Himself. The New Testament mainly teaches people who already believe how to live, but the Old Testament shows who God is. He reveals Himself through real people across tribes and nations. Even Ishmael’s name means “God hears”. Long before religions divided, God was already revealing Himself.

The God of Religion

Many people are religious because of upbringing. Muslim by environment, Christian by environment, Hindu by environment. Religion becomes external — dress, meetings, language. But outward activity does not equal understanding. A suit does not make someone Christian. A kanzu does not make someone Muslim. The real question becomes: Do I know God, or am I just practicing religion?

The God of Denominations

Within religions are divisions — Sunni and Shia, Catholic and Pentecostal, Presbyterian and SDA, ACK and AIPCA. Yet everyone claims the same Scriptures. Often the problem is inherited interpretation without personal study. God is not divided, but human understanding is.

The God of Family

A child born to a Christian mother but raised in a Muslim home will grow up Muslim — not from conviction, but environment. Faith can begin in a family, but it must eventually become personal. Even in Scripture God is called the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — one God known across generations, yet personally encountered.

The God of Individuals

Sometimes people trust certain spiritual personalities more than God Himself.
“Let person A pray.”
“Call person B preacher.”
“Invite that bishop.”

Faith stops at the messenger instead of reaching the One being preached. But if God listens only to certain individuals, then what kind of God is that?

2. What Is Salvation?

We then addressed a troubling pattern — repeated “getting saved”.

Saved in a normal service.
Saved during a rally.
Saved because the preacher was powerful.
Saved because the moment felt emotional.

But if salvation is being born again, how many times can someone be born?

Salvation comes from the idea of salvage — reclaiming what was discarded.

In Kenya, scrap collectors gather what others threw away, weigh it, and assign value. Something worthless becomes valuable again.

That is the picture of salvation.

Humanity was separated and broken, and God returns and says:
That one — I will redeem.

Salvation is not excitement.
It is restoration.
Value placed on what was lost.

3. What Is a Believer?

The word Christian was first used as mockery. Today it is common, yet the label often exists without transformation.

So the real question is not: Are you called Christian?
The question is: Do you believe — and understand what you believe?

A believer is not someone who inherits a label.
A believer is someone who trusts the God who has revealed Himself.

Before students raise hands, respond to altar calls, or join fellowships, they must understand:

Who is God?
What is salvation?
What does belief mean?

Otherwise faith becomes emotional repetition instead of informed conviction.

At Matunda, we are choosing foundation over excitement — because a student who understands may respond once, but that response will last.

And perhaps that is what true discipleship looks like.



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