A Silent Church: Wisdom or Compromise

If my people that are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sins and I will heal their land… II Chronicles 7:14

God has not changed, He cannot change. A few years ago, He said to me that “the covenant will not fail on my side!” ….so why is Nigeria still in shambles? Why is everything going the other way? Why are most of our politicians so greedy? Why is the leadership so far from the people and yet are so set on perpetuating themselves? Why is the economy the way it is? …Sometimes I get so weary, I get tired, I cry, I do not know what to say or do.

In the midst of all the rot and degradation is a Church….what Church is this? Is this the Church that Jesus built or had in mind when He laid down His life…I wonder?

The gubernatorial elections took place last weekend and in many states there were credible allegations that the ruling party rigged the elections to ensure that it returned to power…against the will of the people. The incumbent President who has continuously informed the country in particular and the world in general of his anti-corruption war is a member of this party that has subverted the will of the people. What manner of anti-corruption drive is this? In the last few days, the last iota of respect I had for the President has dissolved, it is completely gone and now I have no regard for a man who speaks from two sides of his mouth. A man who says he loves Nigeria more than we all do but is part of a whole machinery that subverts the will of the people. If the elections were a reflection of the will of the people, why would there be fightings and rancour in Ondo, Edo, Kano, etc. All these musing and I tire…I get weak.

In the midst of this, there is a rumour going round that the price of petrol is about to be increased by over 50% from about N65 to N100. How in the world can anyone contemplate this? It shows absolute contempt for the electorate. It is the height of wickedness. This will be the final tightening of the noose on many. In a country where many live in abject poverty, where people can barely afford the essentials, where luxuries are not on the mind of many or where eating 3 times daily is simply a luxury majority cannot afford, how do you explain this.
I am sitting at my desk in the office typing this as I cannot get my self to do anything else…these were the last thoughts on my mind last night and it brought tears to my eyes. Most mornings on Falomo Bridge or Awolowo Road, Ikoyi there is a group consisting of 2-4 people, one with some physical disability or cancerous growth or the other and the others collecting money for his medical care. This is in addition to the painful sight of children hawking in the morning of a school day. A friend’s mother has been at one of the biggest teaching hospitals in the country for about 6 weeks awaiting a much-needed surgery but because all their generators are not functional and of course PHCN can not be relied upon to supply power, she’s still waiting...I wonder…

The selfishness of many and the desire to just achieve a good life for one’s self and family have blinded the eyes of many to these issues. People who ought to be concerned are immune to them, they have “bigger issues” to worry about like how to make more money, buy the latest cars, build bigger mansions/churches, bla bla bla.

Then my boss tells me about some Christian breakfast meeting of professionals (bankers specifically), many CEOs of banks and other big corporations attend because of course they are “Christians”. What manner of Christianity? Many of these people perpetrate all sorts of less than godly or righteous activities in their companies. Several stories abound of these companies that are headed by “Christians” that are involved in downright fraudulent activities… How do you reconcile this? Can a Church that is filled with people like this change a nation?.

In the midst of this rot, how can it be said that a Church exists in this same land. If I was not a Christian (thank God, I am), I can not be convinced to become one, at least not by what I see or hear of “Christians”. I am born again, washed by the blood, a firm believer in Christ and His tenets.

I am not only a Christian, I am proud to be one and proud of the one who bought me with a price. I love Him so dearly and this places a great demand on me to do things right. Like any other human being, I do not always get it right but I constantly aim to “die daily”. My love for God is what drives me to the state of being weary of a Church that is immune to the travails of the people in its environment. Jesus was always moved with compassion towards people and he always sort to provide a better life.

Today, we have Churches that focus on casting out demons and binding witches that chase people. Is this not a focus on the wrong issues? Most of the time, are the witches or the perceived attacks from them not just a reflection of the poverty in the land. So, a child dies in a teaching hospital because of lack of equipment and possibly power, and the parents are convinced that it is some family member who is behind it. Or indeed there is a witch (who became a witch because of poverty anyways) who envies his neighbor and can’t understand why she is not doing well while the other party is and so actually sets about doing evil to the neighbor. If the witch had good economic capacity, what are the chances that she’ll be involved in witchcraft? Sometimes I wonder at the lack of ability of the Church to tie all these factors in and see the obvious.

So, if it’s not the witch chasing Church, it is the Church that does not demand any righteousness of its congregation but only teaches them about how God is able to bless them with things they did not work for or make them great beyond their imagination. I wonder… the Church is FAILING. The Church is either not conscious of the issues in its environment, or is aware of them and is playing the ostrich or knows the issues but simply has no ideas of what can be done. In my view, considering the intellectual capacity of people in Churches today, the first and second options are the most likely. The Church today comprises the “elite”, top industry leaders, political leaders, etc. Consequently, my submission is that the Church is FAILING in its responsibilities of a watchman.

Indeed, if God has said that the covenant will not fail on His side and Nigeria is the way it is today, then we as the Church of God in this land are FAILING. Indeed we are failing God and the nation.

What we ought to have today is a Church that is angry because it is only anger against the system that can produce change. As long as the Church is having dinner with the same people that subvert the will of the people, then there can be no change. As long as we permit these people in our midst without telling them outrightly that the wages of their sin is death, there can be no change. As long as the bank directors who mastermind fraudulent activities Monday through Friday are called deacons or even pastors, there can be no change. As long as we see witches and wizards as our problem, there can be no change. In my view, I do not think Elijah was having tea with Ahab….far from it; he was calling down judgment on him for his wicked ways!. I do not think Jeremiah just sat in Church and told people that God was going to bless them in the midst of unrighteousness... he told them they would have to face the judgment of God for their sins.

So why then do we have the Church in Nigeria indulging in these things, shouldn’t we have a voice that speaks categorically against unrighteousness. How is it possible that the Church of God would be so complacent in an environment like this, it is simply not conceivable! If we would want God to count us as generals in His army in this time, we have to arise out of our lethargy and take responsibility for our Land. Nigeria will NOT change if we do nothing about it, because the ultimate responsibility for any land is on the Church. No government or group of people has what it takes to change a country; only the Church has been given that role. So, are we going to let this noble responsibility that God has placed on us to bring change in our country pass us by or are we going to stand up to be counted?

So where do we go from here? We need a Church that speaks unequivocally against unrighteousness. A Church that excommunicates or by other means, disciplines its members that are justly indicted of wrong doings, be they bank directors, public servants, business people or politicians - a Church that does not tolerate unrighteousness. A Church where everyone knows that like the bible says “some things should not be heard amongst us!”.


Someone once said that there are 3 things a Church can do to improve society:
• become a part of government (Daniel, Joseph, etc);
• place demands on the government to do what is right (Elijah in the days of King Ahab, Nathan in the days of King David, etc); or
• play the role of government (Jesus Christ – compassion, health care, etc; the Apostles – care for the needy, widows, etc).
In my view the Church should do all 3. Hitherto the Nigerian Church has focused more on playing the role of government, building schools, orphanages etc. While this is good, it cannot get us to the Promised Land. We need to begin to place a demand on government to do what is right and insist that the government sees us as a constituency that cannot be bought and which would insist on the right things being done. We must have a voice for the sake of the millions without a voice in this society. The just concluded elections is a case in point, the CAN/PFN could have had observers at the polling stations and at the end of the election made statements on how the elections fared. This would give the Church the opportunity to condemn the conduct of elections in States like Ondo, Edo, and Kano where there were serious incidences or credible accusations of mass rigging and demand a re-run if need be!.

There are several other things that can be done but the starting point is to create a Church that is angry and which will not continue to condone or even aid and abet corruption and unrighteousness. Every member of the Church of God in this country should be passionate and driven to see change. Enough of non-challance, enough of me and my family alone, enough of the feeling of inability to bring change...Enough!

The whole idea of this is not to judge anyone but hopefully to wake us up from our slumber. There is a lot we can do, so let us stand up and do something. Darkness covers Nigeria today and gross darkness covers the people, it is time for us to arise and shine for our light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon us.


Yemisi Akinbo
April 2007