Trying Times For Christians in
Nigeria
Introduction: Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ had told us before He left that as we approached the end of the Age, persecution would arose against the Church but warned us against backsliding.
"Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will
kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name”.
"But before all these things, they will lay their hands
on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons,
bringing you before kings and governors for My name's sake”.
"Remember the word that I said to you, 'A slave is not
greater than his master ' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you;
if they kept My word, they will keep yours also”.
"They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an
hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service
to God.
Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be
persecuted.
Revelation 2:10
'Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil
is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you
will have tribulation for ten days Be faithful until death, and I will give you
the crown of life.
Mark 8:38
“Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words
in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be
ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
No doubt about it, Christians in
Nigeria are going through trying times as they are being subjected to untold
hardship, discrimination, persecution, killing, maiming and destruction.
Only those who could compromise their
faith that are untouched in all these and it is disheartening to note their
seemingly endorsement of the ordeal of their fellow brothers and sisters in
Christ.
The juicy posts are being cornered and
shared by those who care not of the Church. And if the Church speaks, they are
either ignored or told that “all these appointments are made on merit” as if
there are none among the Christians who merit those appointments. When members
are being attacked, stabbed, maimed, killed and property burnt or
confisticated, Church leaders are expected to be keeping quiet otherwise they
risk being accused of promoting trouble or war!
Christians are being killed on daily basis in Nigeria, property
destroyed and communities razed down, yet President Muhammadu Buhari is not
ready to see their leaders to dialogue with them. And Lai Mohammed and co are
asking the Christian leaders to keep quiet in order to guarantee peace while
those perpetrating the atrocities are treated with kid gloves, for whatever
reasons. Who is promoting war or violence?
Thrice the CAN Leadership has made formal attempts to meet with the
President on the crises in Nigeria, thrice, he has turned them down. The
excuses being given are better left unsaid. Why?
What his
eminence, Sunday Ola Makinde said when Apostle Johnson Suleiman was invited by
the Department of State Security (DSS) said it all.
Hear
him, “He (Suleiman) should be
law-abiding, let him go and face the DSS. Let us see if they will detain him
and they will detain so many religious leaders in Abuja. Nigeria is greater than any religion
and Nigeria is greater than anybody. The DSS should watch it. If they like, let
me be the next victim. What is annoying them is that Suleman converted from
Islam to Christianity.
“Self-defence
is permissible; they slapped our first cheek. They slapped the second cheek and
we have no other cheek to turn for them. We may therefore resort to self-defence
because this thing is becoming intolerable”.
The
President, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), His Eminence, Rev Dr Samson
Olasupo Adeniyi Ayokunle, had earlier summarized the ordeal of the Nigerian
Christians in recent time and asked well meaning Nigerians to intervene in the
interest of peace and unity.
His words;
“Never in the history of Nigeria had there been a leadership so biased as that
of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC administration”.
“We have
never had a government like this that is so religiously biased. If Nigeria is
not moving towards Islamisation; why do we have to join the Islamic coalition
against terrorism? Despite all that was said by Nigerians, this administration
went ahead with that decision.
“The
lopsided appointments; with almost all the security chiefs coming from one
religion, as if members of the other religions cannot produce competent hands.
“When a
preacher in the Federal Capital Territory was brutally murdered, what has
become the outcome of that matter? The woman that was brutally murdered in Kano
what has happened to that matter? Even the Attorney General of that state says
the suspects have no case to answer. The killings in Agatu, Southern Kaduna,
that all took place in Christian dominated communities; are we not privy to
that? The handwriting is clearly there for all to see. They can try, but they
cannot succeed."
Perhaps if
those who are perpetrating these atrocities are justifying them, it can be
understood but when the so-called Christians in the corridors of power are
tactically endorsing them, which adds insult to the proverbial injury.
But it did
not start today. Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, had conspired with the
chief priests to deliver Jesus to them and had received thirty pieces of silver
for his perfidy (Matthew 26:3-5, 14-16). And he was not a small boy but a
bigman among the disciples. John’s gospel informs us that Judas was the
disciple who carried the “money box” containing the common funds of Jesus’
disciples during His public ministry (12:6; see also 13:29). He was also a
thief and stole from these funds. He was a greedy man who apparently thought he
could profit monetarily from the hatred of the chief priests for Jesus. How
many Judas Iscariot are at work today against the Master?
Judas had
a fore-bear in Esau in the Old Testament. In Genesis, Esau returned to his
brother, Jacob, being famished from the fields. He begged his twin brother to
give him some "red pottage". Jacob offered to give Esau a bowl of stew in
exchange for his birthright (the right to be recognized as firstborn) and Esau
agreed.
The birthright
has to do with inheritance of goods and position both. The tale is typically
biblical. Esau acts impulsively. As he did not value his birthright over a bowl
of lentil stew, by his actions, Esau demonstrates that he does not deserve to
be the one who continues Abraham's responsibilities and rewards under God's
covenant, since he does not have the steady, thoughtful qualities which are
required.
Another
fore father of Judas was Eliab who would rather allowed Goliath to continue
mocking his God rather than to stand in and asked Goliath to be quiet. And when
his younger brother, David, whom he loved to hate, came to do what he would not
do, he discouraged and humiliated him. But David was elevated by God Himself.
Queen
Esther came to the rescue of the people of Church when the need arose; Joseph
did the same in Egypt and Moses had earlier done that in Egypt. Daniel and the
three other Hebrew lads would never compromise their faith in the corridors of
power because of positions and privilege.
May the
eye of understanding of Christians in the corridors of power be enlightened to
know what their Call by God means. As for the political leaders in Nigeria, all
well meaning Christians are peace lovers and patriots who would never wish them
or their Fatherland evil. The anti-dote for the so-called hate preaching is stopping
the anti-Christian agenda. Let the Presidency opens the door of dialogue with
the leadership of CAN instead of using intimidation and harassment.This will go a long way in dousing the tension on the land.
Nigeria
will never experience a religious war in Jesus name. May the Head of the Church intervene in Jesus
name.
Pastor Adebayo Oladeji,
Special Assistant, (Media and Communications) to the CAN President, Rev Dr Samson Olasupo Ayokunle
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