Religion remains one of the most
controversial topics for discussion, yet.
Some days back I encountered a factor that
motivated me to write this – I learnt from a
dear friend who works for one of the
numerous churches that a mutual
acquaintance that also worked as a staff in
their church and defended the church and
pastors with his blood had left the same
church he lived for. He left on the grounds
that he had discovered certain irregularities
amongst the leaders of the church,
irregularities that shook his faith.
Apparently, the remarkable awesome
immense faith which the guy professed was
anchored in all the wrong places; guess
what, this guy is just one of the millions of
Christians whose faith seem to be rooted in
the wrong places.
Most will wonder - ‘what is religious talk
doing on a social platform such as
this’. Well, that question will be answered
once you realize that religious faith is
apparently the most primordial phenomenon
that has had overwhelming ubiquitous
influence on humanity’s social, economic
and political undertakings. From the earliest
times, mankind’s decisions on agriculture,
politics, fashion, marriage, war and other
significant pillars of society, have been
mostly guided by religion. A look at ancient
Egypt, Israel, Greece, Rome, Babylon and
host of other powers from back then will
throw light on how mankind has lived, ate,
drank and breathed various religious forms
through time. Back then the temporal sword
(secular political power) and spiritual sword
(divine religious power) were practically
fused together and was such that, if the
chief priest wasn’t the paramount ruler of
the society, then it was most likely he/she
will be the most trusted adviser of the
paramount ruler and thus indirectly the most
powerful person still. In more recent history,
an example of the power of religion has
been exhibited in the era when the ‘Papal
Bull’ from the papacy could grant a
sovereign entity permission to invade and
occupy another sovereign (a specific
example is the papal bull ‘Dum Diversas’
issued by Pope Nicholas V to the
Portuguese Monarch King Alfonso V
granting him the right to attack, conquer and
enslave Saracens, Pagans and ‘enemies of
Christ in general’). The bull was absolute in
its mandate as it gave the entity to which it
was granted title to the lands and every
possession owned by the other entity that is
subjected to colonization. In contemporary
times the temporal and spiritual swords
have been more distinctly removed from
each other but that hasn’t overly diminished
the power of religion over people; the
economic billions controlled by religious
bodies which are practically transforming
into multinationals and political conflicts
(terrorism, civil wars in certain regions, et
al) are testimonies to the sustained clutch of
religion on international affairs. (NOTE THAT
RELIGION AS USED IN THIS PARAGRAPH
INCLUDES OTHER FAITHS BESIDES
CHRISTIANITY).
I believe I have justifiably established in the
paragraph above that a little talk about
religion isn’t so out of place here as the
phenomenon permeates every facet of our
lives; our socio-economic, political and
general lifestyles, which are the primary
concerns of this platform. Like Shrek said to
Donkey in the first installment of SHREK -
Shrek – “Ogres are like onions.”
Trust Donkey to come up with some stupid
remark – “They stink? Oh, they make you
cry. Oh, you leave them out in the sun, they
get all brown and start sprouting little white
hairs.”
Eventually an exasperated Shrek screams –
“Noooo, layers! Onions have layers, ogres
have layers, we both have layers.”
Well, most of us have layers too and know
that there is more to life than the mundane
stuff that occupy us daily. Balance within
one is key for social, political and economic
wellbeing, hence a little religious tonic here
might just do us all some good.
Before I proceed I want to emphasize that I
would subsequently focus on Christianity
only, not because I don’t have regards for
Islam and any other belief system (as it is
only GOD in his infinite wisdom that can
disapprove of any faith. Even Christ in John
10:16 talked about ‘his other sheep from
other fold’), rather I will focus on Christianity
to keep this write-up simple, brief and
because I have been a Christian all my life,
thus I am better equipped to stir this
discourse in more familiar waters. I hope my
Muslim and other brethren will find common
grounds from which to draw some wisdom
and make contributions as well, I am sure
that as we have plenty of people
misinterpreting, misrepresenting or misusing
Christianity, so also it is in other faiths.
Now, my concern here isn’t with doctrine
and conduct in the various ‘church brands’
which litter our society (Lord knows I have a
healthy amount of qualms with a whole lot
of stuff going on in most churches), my
concern is with the ESSENCE of our faith. I
spoke about the gentleman who pulled out
of a church he seemed willing to die for
because he discovered certain anomalies in
its high places; this begs the question –
where was his faith really anchored, men or
God? Judging from his action, the answer is
quite obvious, his faith was anchored in men
and when those men failed him, he simply
decided to change brand (as if he was
changing a mere brand of detergent).
The core of every religion is faith and hence
the foundation of that faith is of utmost
importance because that’s where the life
blood of the religion stems from. In the case
of Christianity, the bible makes it explicitly
clear from whence we should draw our faith,
in – Mark 11:22, Acts 20:21, Rom 10:17,
Gal 3:26, Eph 3:17, Heb 11:27, Heb 12:2 – I
won’t bore you with long grammar on these
passages, just read them (and many others
not quoted here) and listen to God’s still
small voice lay the necessary explanations
bare. I always told my friend and the
gentleman who left their church not to
anchor their faith in men because while no
man is infallible, some are out rightly
dubious. Being staff of the church meant
they would discover certain information
ordinary members were blissfully ignorant of
and being a logical and pragmatic person, I
knew that unless they really held fast to
God, the things they would encounter as
staff will really shake them; hence I always
exhorted them to keep their eyes on God. We
often had arguments in which these
gentlemen defended their pastors and other
church leaders. As I expected, in time,
things began to unravel and the gentleman
who left just couldn’t take it at a point.
However the funny thing is, unless he
remains a carefree floor member in his new
church, he is bound to move again once he
burrows deep into his new brand because
there isn’t any church without its share of
rotten apples. Like every institution run by
man, the church has its elite class, some of
who subvert it for their own personal
yearnings. So if one is naïve enough to
totally place one’s trust in such elite who
outwardly seem like shining examples, your
guess is as good as mine. 1Tim 4:1
succinctly captures most of what is
happening in churches these days, hence
1John 4:1 enjoins us to test every spirit so
as to know which is which. I believe the
quoted verses and many others not quoted
here will inform us adequately on how not to
anchor our faith in our pastors, deacons,
deaconesses, elders, knights, dames, et al,
so much grammar isn’t required. Don’t get
me wrong, by all means cherish these
people, respect them, love them, appreciate
them, but do not adore or revere them.
Adoration and reverence are a level of
respect reserved for God and only God.
In conclusion, the moment Christ cried out
and gave up the ghost, Matt 27:51 recorded
that the veil in the temple, which separated
us sinners from God’s presence in the holy
of holies, was rent. The consequence of the
rending of that veil at that moment was that
a DIRECT LINE, SPIRITUAL CORRIDOR,
CELESTIAL SUPER HIGHWAY, was activated
for us by Christ and as he said in John
16:23&24, we can all go directly to the
father and ask in his name. Please do not
give up this privilege to your church leaders.
WHAT BETTER WAY TO END A YEAR AND
BEGIN ANOTHER? PROJECT 2013 IS A
WRAP, HELLO 2014. HAPPY NEW YEAR
FOLKS AND REMEMBER ‘WE ARE ALL JOINT
HEIRS WITH THE SON’.
This article was written by Chuddi Madu
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/
ChukwudiMadu
