JESUS: Nathaniel Bassey Sets New Social Media Record.

When I woke up this morning, I didn’t have it mind to write on this topic. No. I was rather primed up to pen something in honor of Deeper Life's venerable Kumuyi who turned 81 a couple days ago.

However, as I stepped into the restroom for a cool shower, the restless stirrings of the muse within took a detour. The next I knew, my train of thought diverted to the phenomenal social media trend of the day before. That brief burst of spiritual energy was like nirvana to me.

Yesterday, WhatsApp statuses, Profile pictures, Facebook timelines, stories, etc, were flooded with a classic beauty of red and white texts. Omo! Folks weren’t celebrating Christmas as in December 25th or thereabouts. Yet, it was the man at the heart of Christmas being recognized, venerated and adored. It was a “Jesusmas” in June.

The name Jesus was the trending message. While the trend continued, social media users displayed fine dexterity in extolling the power of that immortal name with remarkable creativity. The various hashtags were a beauty to behold. The vibes were contagious!

Who set the ball rolling?

Renowned gospel artiste Nathaniel Bassey did when he posted on his social media handle what was to become a rallying cry that resounded globally among people of Faith. Posting the name plain and simple in big, bold red against a white background, the singer followed it up with a moving appeal:

“Can we make this our profile picture at 12 noon? On all your social media handles… And also share as a post on your timeline and as your story? And also declare that name into the atmosphere? JESUS! Let the world ask what’s going on, and we will tell them: Jesus is going on!” 

And that was it. Trust compatriots in matters like this. They took it up from there – and the rest is history.

It was towards evening when my attention was first drawn to the surging trend “Jesus” on groups and statuses. Unaware of how it all started, I almost “yinmued” it off as typical Nigerian hyper-religiousity amidst mounting tension in the polity – the APC primaries in Abuja, the recent church attack at Owo, the rumors of civil unrest ahead of June 12, etc.

You see, I’m this dude who despite having a strong penchant for the pious and puritanical, still prides himself in wanting to balance Faith with reason. I often do this by engaging critical thinking. By having a mind of my own. By not doing follow, follow.

So my first instinct was to question the rationale behind this “out of the blues” drenching of the internet with the name of Jesus. Yes, and the SU part of me even had scripture (thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain) handy to justify my stance. I whispered to myself that I wasn’t going to join in this outward show of religion.

Luckily for me, the words of Proverbs 16:1 superseded my human logic in this battle between Faith and Reason.

Says Proverbs 21:1: “The king’s heart is in hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water, he turns it wherever he wishes”.

Two factors kept me from erring here: One, a deep seated, personal veneration for Deity – which the name of Jesus unarguably represents. Two: the sheer numbers of the reposts was, for me, overwhelming evidence of the supernal at work. At that moment, the scripture at Isaiah 30:21: “Your ears shall hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘this is the way, walk in it' became real in my experience.

Did I heed the voice? Yes I did. I followed the Jesus troll and, consequently caught the epiphany which inspired this piece. You see, there’s a place for laying aside “exalted over-sabi” for ”childlike faith”. See Luke 14:11.

Funny enough, no sooner had I put up JESUS on my WhatsApp status than one of my siblings who knows me better chirped in in mockery: “You too dan follow the trend ni?”. Smilingly, I answered: “As e full everywhere na im I say make I follow suit. “Abegi forget am” was his response. While Sam’s retort is understandable, I soon won him over to my side of the matter. As I put it: after all na Jesus. Dem no dey do big-headed pride against that name and succeed…”. Ironically, it was same Sam who, sometime ago admonished me on the wisdom in occasionally blending in.

One Facebook hashtag of the Jesus trend particularly resonated with me. Peace NK wrote: Today, #Jesus is trending across social media platforms, that is simply the power of influence. Jesus is such an influential figure. And Peace was right. The key word here is INFLUENCE!

Yes, Jesus is an influential figure. He understands the power of social media for kingdom ends. Yet Jesus doesn’t personally use social media. That’s a task for His people here on earth. And from Nathaniel Bassey, we learn new lessons on utilizing social media with efficiency.

Nathaniel Bassey is an influential figure. I was the manner, the approach and the outcome of his leveraging that influence on social media yesterday. While musing on the post which set off the JESUS trend (especially the part that urged to declare the name into the atmosphere) I sensed “deep calling unto the deep” in my spirit. That post wasn’t an ordinary post. The spiritually attuned mind may sense in it a Minister’s sensitiveness to stirrings in the spirit for  neutralization of unseen, yet not unfelt ”sinister forces”.

At this point, I’m talking to the spiritually awakened. Pause for a moment to ponder the sheer power released into the atmosphere by the unified and ongoing declaration of JESUS triggered off by Bassey’s post. Seriously, from a spiritual standpoint, we can never tell to what extent the JESUS trend went.

There is, too, considerations of what made the trend tick. Here, we cannot rule out the influence of the messenger any more than we can underrate the potency and precision of the message.

Not some lengthy prayer chain. Not some boring repetition. Not some fire and brimstone invoking invectives… No. Just one word, JESUS! And it was a blast! 

Now, it crosses my mind. The “what if” question: What if our even more influential, even more anointed Ministers than Nathaniel Bassey would learn something from this new record – as the Spirit leads, that is? I’m talking about the Kumuyis, the Adeboyes, the Oyedepos, etc. These are perilous times and we will definitely need the these influential men of God at mediatory and perceptive bests to hold us through the fiery onslaughts of the spiritual dimension of our collective quest for better nationhood.

I’d round off this piece with an apt scriptural reference to the power of the trending JESUS: “The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run to it, are safe” Proverbs 18:10.

Thank you, Nathaniel Bassey.