A Mission Impossible: Choosing God Over Man
Time magazine’s Richard Schickel once wrote, “What is not present in Mission: Impossible…is a plot that logically links all these events or characters with any discernible motives beyond surviving the crisis of the moment.” When I read that critique, I couldn’t help but think about the spiritual “mission” of my great grandfather, Elijah Muhammad. Much like Schickel’s description, his mission was one that lacked eternal weight — built to survive the crisis of its time, but not grounded in the truth that endures forever.
In an interview with The National Educational Television Network, conducted by KQED in San Francisco, my great grandfather was asked to describe his mission. His answer was clear and bold:
“My mission is to give life to the dead. What I teach brings them out of death and into life. My mission, as the Messenger, is to bring the truth to the world before the world is destroyed…There will be no other Messenger. I am the last and after me will come God Himself.”
At first glance, those words sound powerful — even divine. But as I came to know the real truth, I realized they were also deeply deceiving. Elijah Muhammad claimed to be the last messenger and said God Himself would come after him. Yet the Bible is clear: there is only one who came to give life to the dead, and His name is Jesus Christ.
In 1994, Minister Louis Farrakhan publicly admitted the lies and deception that came from Elijah Muhammad’s mouth. The very system he helped build couldn’t hold under the weight of its own falsehood. When truth enters the room, deception collapses. The Bible warns us about this very thing: “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 3:11)
Elijah Muhammad’s mission was impossible because it was built on human wisdom, not divine truth. His message could awaken minds, but it could never resurrect souls. Only Jesus — who is the Resurrection and the Life — can raise the dead, not just physically, but spiritually. Every other mission is a temporary survival strategy. Jesus’ mission is eternal salvation.
When I think of what Jesus said in the Gospels, His mission was never about self-exaltation — it was about obedience to the Father. He said in Matthew 18:11, “For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.” In John 16:7, He told His disciples, “It is expedient for you that I go away…for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you.” And in John 16:13, He revealed that the Spirit of Truth would guide us into all truth.
Jesus’ mission didn’t end with His ascension; it continued through the Holy Spirit — the Comforter who leads us today. Elijah’s “mission” ended in confusion, division, and death because it could never bring the true life that only comes through Christ.
Just as Schickel wrote that the movie Mission: Impossible had no coherent plot beyond surviving the moment, Elijah Muhammad’s so-called “mission” was designed to survive a racial and spiritual crisis — but not to bring eternal life. It was a mission grounded in human ideology, not divine revelation.
The truth is simple: Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except through Him. Every other messenger, mission, or movement that claims to offer salvation apart from Jesus is a counterfeit.
So, I say to you — choose this day whom you will serve. Will it be God or man? The mission of man will always be impossible. But the mission of Christ is unstoppable.