The way some of us Christians swap our love for God for politics these days amazes me. We seem to be saying there is time for everything- a time for the Lord and a time for politics. It looks as if we want to say “Yes, the time to campaign has come let’s drop this
gospel and face the reality. But do you think this is how the Lord would have us to do it?
gospel and face the reality. But do you think this is how the Lord would have us to do it?
A comment on one of my recent Facebook post motivates me to write this. The short comment which reads thus: ‘thanks for sharing this truth; other Christians are busy with campaigns’ brought my attention to a man of God. This is a man I respect so much for his wonderful devotion for God’s word and commitment to the ministry the Lord has given him. He has churches within and without Nigeria and the anointing of God is so strong on him. I can say this about him because I have been under his ministration not once and not twice. Each time he comes to Facebook he has a new insight into God’s word to share.
But for about two months now I have noticed a deviation… because of politics. Almost all his Facebook posts now are purely about politics, speaking ill of one man just to exalt another, and sometimes using abusive words to relegate a candidate just to promote his preferred aspirant, telling us a politician is pious when every one of us knows that politicians are very unpredictable. We only get to know them when the mount the throne. One may be tempted to think maybe he has been paid for all this aggressive campaigns.
I went through his Facebook wall to check some of his posts. I counted more than forty consecutive posts which are solely about politics. Even his profile picture is about politics. My fear now is that what his Facebook account has become is not also the condition of his church. It would have been a small issue if it’s not a pastor acting this way. Where on earth will you ever see a king do this even if the aspirant is his blood brother? Or do we not know that a shepherd is like a king?
I do not think there is anything wrong with Christians participating in politics. If we ask every Christian to desist politics the uncircumcised will rule us forever. But should there not be a different in the way a Christian play his politics? Should we allow the ocean of politics to drown us and keep us under its thumb? Should we become so passionate about politics that we forget the message of the cross?
Jesus called Peter aside and asked him three times, “Do you love me more than these others do? With all these things I see you doing are you sure you love me? I know you are one of my three closest disciples, I know you are the one to whom I have promised to build my church on, I know you were the one who declared about me saying, ‘you are the Messiah, son of the living God. All this I know but now I'm not really sure you still love me”.
Why was it only Peter that was called aside out of the eleven disciples? Why didn't Jesus worry about Bartholomew or Alphaeus or Andrew? Peter was the foreman, he was the frontier, he was the driver. Wherever peter goes others will follow. Whatever happens to Peter will happen to the other ten. That’s why Jesus had to deal with Peter first.
We must be careful how we live our lives especially if God has lined us up in the front row.
No matter who or what we are as long as we are Christians who loved the Lord, we must not prioritize anything above the Gospel. The office of a leader in God’s house is a delicate one- we must handle it with care. Let’s be mindful of what we say and how we say it, what we do and how we do it. May the good God help us all.
