Dear African Christians, Kindly Take Politics Serious (Bible Study)

Any time I encourage Christians to take politics serious some people think I am no longer spiritual. Why? Because they believe that politics is too dirty. The problem with this idea is that we don’t understand that as long as we live on earth, we must abide by both spiritual laws and natural laws. That you are a prayer warrior won’t stop government policy from destabilizing your business or career. 

Look at what is happening in some developed nations. There are prayer warriors who are interceding for the body of Christ there, but there are few genuine believers who are on the political terrain that God will use to establish His plans and purposes in their nations. 

So, one day, someone will make a law forcing priests and pastors to wed same gender or risk life imprisonment. While the Christians were busy praying (which is good), the devil and his agents seized power and enacted laws that everybody must abide by. 

I am sure you are following the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Israel is not defeating their enemies just because they are the covenant people of God—after all, there are Palestinians who are Christians too. Yes, God loves Israel, but if the Israeli government had chosen to pray at the empty tomb of Jesus Christ instead of inventing sophisticated weapons to defend their nation, their enemies would have leveled that nation in one week. 

But Israeli government knows that they are surrounded by people who don’t like them. They know that anything can happen at anytime, so, they spent decades searching for not just weapons to defeat their enemies, but to intercept rockets. Did you watch the video clips of how Iron Dome intercepts rockets? That is what I am talking about. 

We must stop hiding our heads in the sand. We must stop waiting for God to come down from heaven and do what He has empowered us to do. 

Just imagine that Israel is Africa for a moment. While Hamas is sending rockets into our land, we will all run to the tomb of Jesus Christ, the Upper Room, or where Jesus raised the dead Lazarus and start emergency fasting and praying while Hamas wipe us out of the surface of the earth. 

Whether you like it or not, any policy from your government will affect you. See, we must stop lying to ourselves. It sounds so nice to say “My economy is not of this world. I am depending on heavenly economy.” 

All right, so you have a different foreign exchange rate? You don’t buy groceries from the same shops and markets? You don’t pay the same electricity bills like others? You are not worried about bandits and criminals like others? 

We need to wake up and smell the coffee. We must be real. We must stop conflicting faith with reality. Faith does not lie about reality. When someone is sick faith does not lie about the reality on ground, it simply generate superior power to handle the sickness. 

Let me make this categorically clear; to determine what happens on earth; to take charge of the politics of every state and nation, we must be ready for COMPROMISE. You cannot step into the corridors of power without positive compromise. 

Before you get angry and stop reading at this point, calm down and read further. 

What compromise? 

Jesus Christ is our perfect example. Before He showed up on earth, there were laws Moses enacted that created a big gulf between the priests and the people. To save mankind, Jesus summarized the whole 613 laws in these two verse; 

“And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31 (NKJV). 

The Pharisees and other priests and teachers held on to the laws of Moses to the detriment of the people that they were supposed to be leading. Jesus showed up and changed it. The law was made to guide man not to enslave him. Look at these examples: 

“Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue. And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him. Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other. Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.” Matthew 12:9-14 (NKJV). 

In other words, Jesus Christ was more concerned about helping humanity than holding on to self-righteous laws that profits no one. Jesus was more interested in the welfare of mankind than holding on to the laws. That is positive compromise. 

According to the Law of Moses, every leper must be declared unclean and be banished outside the city gate. 

Leviticus 14:33-40: “And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: “When you have come into the land of Canaan, which I give you as a possession, and I put the leprous plague in a house in the land of your possession, and he who owns the house comes and tells the priest, saying, ‘It seems to me that there is some plague in the house,’ then the priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest goes into it to examine the plague, that all that is in the house may not be made unclean; and afterward the priest shall go in to examine the house. And he shall examine the plague; and indeed, if the plague is on the walls of the house with ingrained streaks, greenish or reddish, which appear to be deep in the wall, then the priest shall go out of the house, to the door of the house, and shut up the house seven days. And the priest shall come again on the seventh day and look; and indeed, if the plague has spread on the walls of the house, then the priest shall command that they take away the stones in which is the plague, and they shall cast them into an unclean place outside the city.” (NKJV). 

But look at the kind of man Jesus chose to visit: 

“And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard. Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head.” Mark 14:3. 

Let me tell you the truth, if Jesus Christ were to be here today, many of us will not be Christians. We will not believe that the Savior can associate with unclean people like Simon the leper, Judas the thief and betrayer, Peter the betrayer, Mary Magdalene (whom seven demons were cast out of) and a whole lot of others. We are taught in the church to separate from the world instead of looking for ways to reach out to the world like Jesus did. That is why we hate politics. 

You cannot change a nation from outside the political system, you must get involved. And to get involved, there must be compromise. I don’t mean joining them to commit sin, but not running from them when they misbehave knowing whom you are. 

When we read about Moses today, we celebrate him, but do you know that Pharaoh was a god in Egypt? Pharaoh was a divine ruler, the preserver of the god-given order, called maat. The implication was that while Pharaoh offered all manner of blood sacrifices, Moses, one of his sons, did not run away. He needed to be there to understudy the political system of Egypt and be acquainted on how to disarm Pharaoh and release God’s people. 

When we read about Joseph today, we celebrate him but remember that he served as a Prime Minister to a god called Pharaoh. While Pharaoh offered blood sacrifices, Joseph did not run away. He was not contaminated because he knew whom he was. That is the compromise. You don’t like it? Well, Jacob and his family would have died of hunger and starvation during the seven years famine if Joseph was not the Prime Minister. 

When we read about Esther, we celebrate her exploits. But have you forgotten whom she got married to? A principality. As his wife, Esther copulated with him. Why? Because without Esther in the palace the Jews would have been wiped out by Haman! That is the compromise. 

The scenario is totally different today. I mean, nobody can force a Christian politician to partake in human sacrifice. It’s not possible. They may do it in the secret, but they can’t force you. The little compromise is that as a Christian, you must be in the same political party with people from different backgrounds and religious beliefs. You can never be in the same political party with only Christians, but I advise we go in as a group—that was the secret of Daniel and his brothers in Babylon. 

We have three options: 

(a). To separate from the world. 

This simply means, we don’t want to associate with the world, let them perish. You don’t belong to any political party nor do you belong to any secular organization. You spend all your time in church (which is good), but you must understand that your light is needed outside the church. You are not the light of the church, but the light of the world. 

(b). To integrate. 

Some people will say, since we want to influence the world, let’s do what the world is doing. Let’s live in sin like them. Let’s worship idol or join secret cults like them. But that is the surest way to hell fire. Moses did not integrate, Joseph did not integrate, Esther did not integrate, and Jesus did not integrate. 

(c). To transform the world. 

That was exactly what Moses, Joseph, Esther, Daniel and Jesus did. Jesus Christ did not separate, He did not integrate, He simply transformed the world. That’s our role. We are agents of transformation sent to the earth to transform it. That’s what Jesus said in Matthew 5:13-16.

Join a Political Party Today 

Let’s start with joining any political party of our choices. Make an enquiry today and register. Be a member, attend meeting, make financial contribution and make new friends in your ward. That way, you will have influence and make decisions that can influence how your ward or even local government is governed. 

Some of the governors we have in Nigeria today were teenagers in the 1990s, but they belonged to different political parties. They served as personal assistants to political leaders then. They worked tirelessly at the grassroot and people recommended them for higher political positions. Do the same thing. Please, don’t forget to go in groups so that you will have the number to make decisions faster. 

Mr. Peter Obi, my former state governor in Nigeria is a good example. He used the church platform to win elections in my state. Although some people didn’t like it, but he knew how to penetrate different denominations and get votes. And he worked tirelessly for the church also. That is one of the reasons schools in our state are doing well in Nigeria. He used his influence and that of the church to transform missionary schools to the best of his ability. He is not perfect, but he did his best. 

Where we need the church is not necessarily the presidency. We will get there, but we are needed at the grassroot, state houses of assembly and national assembly. These are the places where the future of every state and nation is decided. 

It is the people at the grassroot that become party delegates who chooses those that will represent all political parties in every election. The lawmakers are the ones who make laws for the state and nation. In case you don’t know, some pressure groups from developed countries usually bribe law makers in different nations to enact some obnoxious laws like gay marriages and the likes. The church is needed there urgently. 

Talking about our role on earth, Jesus said, 

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:13-16 (NKJV).

Salt is a seasoning. Without it, food will be tasteless. We are living in a tasteless world filled with pain and agony. It is our duty to spice up the world and turn bitterness into sweetness. We cannot add value to our world if we are hiding in the church. Our salt is needed outside the four walls of the church.  

You are the light of the world not the light of the church. Let your state or region feel the impact of your light. In the church we are all lights. Nobody flashes torchlight during the day—it will be a waste of time. Your light is needed in darkness. The world is covered with thick cloud of darkness, go out there and dispel it at once. 

But don’t forget to go in groups. 

I declare that Africa will no longer be a continent that is ruled by mediocre leaders. I declare that this continent is rising. I declare that from Nigeria, to Ghana, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Zambia, South Africa, Togo, Cameroun and every other nation in this great continent, the light of God will overpower darkness. We are taking over this continent until it is filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as waters cover the sea in Jesus matchless name Amen.  

I believe this article blessed you. Kindly share your thought with us at the comment section below. 

If you want to recieve Jesus into your heart, say this short prayer and believe it from your heart:

Lord Jesus, I belive that you died to rescue me from damnation. Come into my heart and save me. I declare today that You are my Lord and personal Saviour. I am saved. I am born again. Thank you Jesus. Amen.

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