Introduction: A great amount of time was expended while setting the outline for this essay in determining what the appropriate title should be. Would it have been more apt to title the piece The Occupy Nigeria Movement and the Tacit Betrayal by Religious Authorities in Nigeria, thereby conceptualizing the struggle for mass emancipation within a holistic and total conundrum of a palpable failure of involvement by organized religions and religious authorities?
Introduction: A great amount of time was expended while setting the outline for this essay in determining what the appropriate title should be. Would it have been more apt to title the piece The Occupy Nigeria Movement and the Tacit Betrayal by Religious Authorities in Nigeria, thereby conceptualizing the struggle for mass emancipation within a holistic and total conundrum of a palpable failure of involvement by organized religions and religious authorities?
Most religions in Nigeria (and including our dear African Traditional Religions) subscribe to the ethos of social justice for all, empathy and love for others, and divine obligations to the needy and less privileged in society. I nevertheless restricted my analyses and applications of ideas and opinions presented here to the Church because that is one terrain with which I am more familiar and most comfortable. I am confident that the praxis of illustrations and opinions presented here will suffice for empirical cloning across the contexts of other religions and faiths in Nigeria.
Caveat ab initio
It is important here that conceptual definitions and explanations be undertaken in order to minimize the possibility of confusions and misgivings that are almost inevitable when dealing with sensitive issues such as this one. In the context of its use in the title above, two different definitions for church are identified. There is the “church spiritual” - (or simply The Church) - a spiritual entity or body comprising of believers – those repentant adherents who have forsook worldly ways, confessed Christ, and imbibed His tenets and teachings. The spiritual church is referred to as the Body of Christ (Rom 12:5, I Cor. 12:27, Eph. 4:12).
The other identified Church is the physical church. The physical church refers to an inanimate corporeal entity with distinct dimensions. The physical church has characteristics of an organization – is located in a particular geographic plane with its own grid coordinates, is distinguishable from other physical churches (different founders/leaders, location, size, address, building style, etc), has a human leader or a group of leaders, may hold on to certain doctrines or cannon of beliefs which set it apart from other churches, and is easily recognized by its name and logo. It also refers to the gamut of leadership systems and leadership authorities within the physical church.
This article recognizes the absoluteness and omni-jurisprudence of the church spiritual. The church spiritual is a perfect, loving and unchanging body of Christ (Rom 12:5, I Cor. 12:27, Eph. 4:12). The church spiritual is holy and blameless (Eph. 5:27) because its legitimate head is Christ Himself (Eph. 5:23; Col. 1:18). The church physical can truly be a mirror or an extension of the church spiritual (Acts 20:28; Eph. 3:10); or it can constitute itself a mere outlet for self-aggrandizement (1 Cor. 3:1; 1 Timothy 6:10). The failure to identify with, to promulgate their welfare, and champion the cause of the poor, the needy, and the oppressed as noted in this article refers to a complete betrayal of the people by the physical church as opposed to the church spiritual. The judgment of God upon betraying physical church leadership is inevitable (Rev. 2:23)
Society, Justice and the Church
“Again Jesus said, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’
He answered, ‘Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.’
Jesus said, ‘Take care of my sheep.’ The third time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, ‘Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Feed my sheep’” (John 21:16-17).
Much as we may try, it is difficult to separate the church from the socio-political systems operating within its environment. As a body of Christ, the church exists to promote goodwill, welfare, justice, and love among members within its ranks on the one hand, and between the church and others outside it on the other (Matthew 23:23). Social justice is the heart of the gospel of Christ, and the anchor with which the entire scripture philosophy from Generation to Revelation is moored. To demonstrate this point and lay solid examples for future followers, Jesus chose for Himself a birth as an oppressed and poor of society as opposed a triumphant descent from heaven heralded with unprecedented pomp and the shout of the angels.
The duty to care for others is sacred, absolute, unassailable, and non-excusable. A notable philosophical import of the ‘feed my sheep’ construct of Jesus is the contractual obligation it imposes on the clergy who are expected to be true representations and reflections of Christ. Throughout His life, the focal points of Christ’s ministry were the poor and oppressed; and He spared no condemnation for the oppressive secular and religious leaders of His time.
At this juncture, it is perhaps important to ask an important question, an answer to which may help us properly contextualize the attitudes and activities of our esteemed religious leaders vis-à-vis a WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) analytical construct. Who were the Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes who were constantly on the receiving end of Jesus’ curse and rebuke in the Bible? They were clearly the religious leaders and Judeo-legal experts of Jesus’ time (Matthew 23:1-2). They received condemnation from Jesus solely because they were hypocrites who did not practice what they preached (Matthew 23:3). The curse of the Lord is the reward for ecclesiastical hypocrisy (Matthew 23:13-35). The Lord will hold shepherds accountable for the welfare of the flocks (Ez. 34:10).
Our God is a God of justice, love and righteousness (Psalm 89:14). Justice is a spiritual virtue; and the promotion of love, justice, and goodwill among peoples is a sacred religious duty. The church is the last bastion of integrity, peace, honesty, and truth in a world of chaos, anarchy, wickedness and devilish manipulations. Christians, especially the priests and religious leaders, have responsibilities to care for the down-trodden (referred to as “the least of these” in Matthew 25:45). The acceptance and exercise of that responsibility includes the willingness and ability to speak truth to power, and to unconditionally promote the welfare of the poor and oppressed in society. This point is staunchly supported by Rev. David Beckmann, presiding minister of Bread for the World, when he noted, “No matter where you fall in the political spectrum, it is impossible for biblically-literate people to deny the thousands of verses in the Bible about hunger and poverty.” Are Nigeria’s biblically-literate people in denial of the mass hopelessness, insecurity and deprivation that pervade the land? If not, why the deafening silence in the face of tyranny?
The Church as a Haven for Corrupt and Wicked Elements of Society
It is instructive that the destroyers of Nigeria people’s collective heritage belong to one or another religious denomination. Most often than not, these despicable elements are usually prominent members of certain religious establishments where they are revered and made demigods by the religious leaders. I challenge anyone to make a critical list of people who can truly be described as anti-Nigerian progress and development, and you will notice that each person on the list will be easily traceable to a particular house of worship.
The wicked in society litter our churches, and they are usually rewarded with titles. The occupy offices and positions of authority and decision making in the church. They are revered mostly because they usually are the “biggest tithers and givers.” The practice of liturgical merchandism is responsible for the wholesome apathy to, collusion with, and compromise of the clergy in matters relating to the oppression of the underprivileged of society. If today was Jesus; time, who would the Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes, and the Sanhedrin council members Jesus loved to disparage be?
In response to the unholy alliance between a corrupt society sold to inordinate capitalism and the compromised clergy, Jesus demonstrated an example of courage, truthfulness and exemplary honesty when He drove out those who had turned the temple to a safe haven of illegality (Matthew 21:12). In Acts 8:20, Peter told Simon the Sorcerer, “may your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!” it is time for the clergy to learn from these examples and develop the will to speak truth to power irrespective of the attendant loss of lucre.