By Ubong Sampson
The video below is that of a clergy who has the bible in his hands and a congregation. He knows the power of anointing. He also knows about 2Corinthians 10:4, that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through the pulling down of strongholds. But guess what, he has the wisdom to differentiate problems that require spirituality and those that require simple human effort, proactivenesss and productivity.
The Ecclesiastes 10:10 part of the bible says, wisdom is profitable to direct.
What baffles me about our approach to christianity is how we act like this religion originated in our land, hence, must show that we know what others do not know about it. Let’s go a bit down history lane…
Christianity was brought to Nigeria by the British missionaries. Yes, it was part of the aim of the religion, but underneath that veil of evangelism, were interests ranging from economic to political. I’ll break down further.
Britain had the Church of England (which came to Nigeria and became the present day Anglican church), among other churches. From an era of hard, manual labour by red Indian, and later, black slaves in plantations, the country discovered technology that could produce for them machines that would speed production process. They didn’t gather fathers of faith to pray. They went to work and produced the machines that could produce ten times what the human slaves did and in a shorter space of time.
This brought forth new challenges, namely:
1. the proliferation of finished products and the consequent need for new and larger markets;
2.more need for raw materials, among others.
They did not gather Christians and church goers alike to pray. They thought of possible solutions and when found, went to work by returning the slaves who had become useless to them to their land. Research had shown that Africa had lost over 15 million of its population to slavery and slave trade as of the break of the industrial revolution in the 13th/14th century, with about 85 percent being in the youth class. British thought that in their new higher needs for raw materials to feed their industries, the slaves would serve better from and in their land of origin. It didn’t only free and return the slaves but made efforts to end the trade in order to stop other white nations from reducing the African population.
Fathers, daughters, sons of faith contributed to this new economic plan by choosing to use missionaries to discourage the practice. They suddenly termed it barbaric and against the christian beliefs. While they knew they would have little resistance from their fellow white nations, they moved to tackle the problem from the roots, by introducing the religion to Africa, through which, they could convert the citizens and automatically make them see the trade as barbaric as they had termed it. Fathers of faith did not gather to pray God to stop other countries from continuing in the trade, or stop Africans from selling off their people into slavery. Matter of fact, Britain, using their superiority, had then went as far as deploying over 30,000 troops at the shore of the Atlantic to inspect every ship going onboard and placing a fine of 100pounds for every slave found in a ship. Those were active and physical steps of rolling out every the stone of impediment, just as the the priest in this video said.
The prosperity and wealth Britain made upon its success in reducing and eventually ending slavery, cannot be emphasized, especially in their years of monopoly in sugar production, but this will be left a subject for another discussion.
Enter the post World War-1 (inter war) era. The economically stronger European nations, namely, Britain, France, among others, did not gather their churches to pray for the weaker ones, which were seriously depleted by the war. They sorted out ways to assist them get back to their feet. That was what birthed the European Economic Community (EEC) which became the present day European Union. The Euro currency was also a product of that move which was introduced to reduce the hitches of export trade for the weaker nations. Many years after, not even the strong US dollars can beat the Euro in value, while the currency has remained a strong defensive midfielder for the British pound. Belgium for instance, stands today as one of the beneficiaries of that great move that birthed the EU. In Nigeria today, we have more dealers of (direct) Belgium cars than those dealing on brand new ones.
Enter Africa, when the issue of continental economic integration and political cooperation came up, leaders of governments rather saw it as a move to make them surrender the sovereign powers. Rather than embrace the idea and refining it as a proactive move towards tackling Africa’s economic backwardness and setting forth a productive future and economically stronger Africa, the leaders preferred to fund churches and clergies to pray. Years down the line, the European economies are growing stronger and strong enough to survive the current global challenges, while African states are still gathering to pray for their economies.
Isn’t it therefore a stupid thing to see, in the 21st century, an agency of government trying to wire the minds of the much younger generation towards these same counterproductive and self-destructive approach to religious practices, whether in the name of being creative or in attempts to figure another channel of waste of public funds, through which, some can be diverted to private coffers? Under normal circumstances, that Earcom Chairman woman should be made to carry her resignation letter in hand, while apologising to the parents of those kids and the future of this country for attempting to pass to those children, such mindset of backwardness.
Sad as it already is, it is even more saddening that at a time we should be accepting our catastrophic past and present and move on, we are doing nothing to make the future meet us differently. Children (holders of the future), like in the recent instance, are not being led into productive ventures, but rather to prayer networks – same approach of the past and present that has shown no result.
When you listen to our summits on economic and leadership issues, you will have no reason to doubt we are already with full knowledge of the solutions, but rather than get to work, we gather to pray and expect God to come down and work for us. Won’t that be God favouring ours above other nations of the world who got the knowledge and grabbed their destinies with their own hands?
Finally, the bible tells us that prayer without action is useless. Below is how James 2:14-26 explains the Africa and Nigerian situation. Pay more attention to verse 16.
14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food.
16 and one of you says to them, “depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?
17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!
20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?
22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?
23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God.
24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
25 Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
May we now bow our heads in prayer?
Ubong, a journalist writes from Village Hall, Ata Idung Minya, Akwa Ibom State
