I write this in response to the great flood of Christian
ministers, and especially pastors who were ‘called’ to join elective politics
in the last few elections. I feel we need to get a clear picture of what God is
saying concerning the same.
For a start let me say, and emphatically so that I believe
that politics needs the healthy influence of the Christian church, that the
best politicians are those who are under the lordship of Christ. Unfortunately,
I don’t believe they should be stolen from Christian ministry. I believe the
ministers’ main assignment in politics is to raise God’s banner as they prepare
Christians to be completely submitted to Christ as they get involved in
politics (Eph, 4: 11, 12)
I believe politics is a calling, even as business is a
calling, a ministry where Christians ought to be trailblazers because they have
been prepared by their spiritual leaders, mainly pastors and teachers. The
prophet’s role is to guide one to be sensitive to what God wants, not to pamper
disobedience. Even as I write I remember a pastor who prophesied someone a seat
publicly and the guy lost, yet all information on the ground showed that the
position was easily his. I believe God wants to shout at us that we OUGHT to
stop playing publicity games in His Name.
How does a pastor (and many of our bishops and apostles are
simply that) leave his flock to run for political office? Reminds me of this
The trees went forth
on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign
thou over us. But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness,
wherewith by me they honour God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?
And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us. But the fig
tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go
to be promoted over the trees? Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou,
and reign over us. And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which
cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? (Judges 9: 8 –
13)
The function of a bee is to make honey. Making him the
manager of a sugar factory will waste him terribly. Though he might feel very
important, he will be completely wasted. Though he might think he is enjoying
his enhancement, he will die inwardly from frustration though he will be doing
and probably excelling in his new responsibilities as that is not what nature
has created him for.
I am convinced that there are Christians God has called to
be involved in politics and I am completely convinced that they are not
pastors. And I also believe that a pastor’s involvement in elective politics is
the devil’s tactic to kill their spiritual impact, to castrate them spiritually,
I may say.
How does he do that? I think by first convincing me that
swaying over men is a greater job and higher responsibility than shepherding people’s
hearts as I minister to God. That the higher financial returns and solid
financial opportunities are bigger and better than the willful and loving
support we receive for the work of ministry. That the acclaim we receive from
the masses we are swaying over is greater than God’s ‘well done, thou good and faithful servant’. That the reach of our
impact will be bigger than the one we have from ministry. And I think finally
dangling the big carrot called remuneration as to satiate our greed and use it
to look for scriptures to justify what I want to do.
I will then get into politics. And that is where the
emasculation happens. How? Elective politics is competitive, meaning that it
requires me to prove either my superiority over my competitors or tearing them
down, which is the same thing. The essence of campaigning is trying to show the
electorate that I am the gift from heaven for them since the others are trash;
and that whether we are discussing people or policies. That simply gets us to a
field that is totally different from what God released in us when He called us
to His ministry. You see in ministry we talk partnership and know competition,
even when we are practicing it, is not something we should operate in.
We then start doing things that though they may not be
outright ungodly, yet know are inconsistent with our calling as ministers of
God.
Yet I feel the greatest danger comes from our simply getting
into politics as ministers. We lose our spiritual authority simply because we
lose our high ideals and impartiality. You see in elective politics you must
join one side or the other, either of which is being led by purebred
politicians who simply play by their ‘rule less’ rules. They therefore will
have no qualms planting any sort of dirt on you, and especially as they know
that if you have been faithful to your calling they have no capacity of getting
anywhere near you as far as high values are concerned.
Yet it is even worse when it comes to the people you were
shepherding. You leave them stranded. You can’t convince them that God ordered
you to desert them. I have talked to several people whose spiritual leaders joined
elective politics. You can plainly see the pain. They can’t believe they are
worth less to their spiritual leader than a position or salary. And this even
from retired pastors because pastoring is a calling and not a job and does not
end with the stopping of a package.
For the gifts and
calling of God are without repentance (Romans 11: 29)
It is interesting that this time round a majority of them
lost in the elections. I believe God is fed up with His ministers meddling in
affairs they have no business getting involved in. And this is the reason the
church has been continually losing its bite on all fronts. It is the reason the
political field rubbishes the church’s concern on anything, because some
Christian leaders have fallen from their callings to look for political
positions.
Finally, I think one will simply lose his authority,
spiritual or otherwise as he has simply become a politician. I for one don’t
think I would go to these leaders for any spiritual counsel as they have
defiled it. Unless and until they repent I think they have lost all spiritual
authority. It can be equated with defiling the person with a Nazarite
commitment, like Samson shaving and therefore nullifying his reason for
existence (Numbers 6).
As an example I posed a question concerning a presidential
candidate before the elections. From the responses I saw that many were
thinking that I was getting into politics yet when I explained my position
everybody was content. Now suppose I was a candidate in the elections! Nobody
could want to even listen to any explanations from me because I could have
taken sides already. This is where these pastors now are.
I remember this bishop whose church is in the middle of the
city. She and her two sons were contesting various positions. I passed by her
church a few times during the electioneering period and was visibly annoyed.
There was a very large crowd outside the church and several vehicles but nobody
was getting into the church. In fact the church was closed. The crowds and the
vehicles were there for the day’s campaigns. They would then be dispersed to
the various areas to campaign. I don’t know whether anything else was taking
place in church. What would you have felt had that been the church you attend
or that your pastor?
Before you think of joining politics as a minister I would
suggest that you go back to God who called you and ask not just for a sign,
especially from people as many times vested interest and demonic agenda could
very well be playing its part. It is very important to ask God what has changed
between His call to ministry and the new adventure. What are the reasons for
the same?
Is it that you have failed in the original call? Is it that
you have finished the ministry He called you to? Is it that you have attained
irrelevance or redundancy? Is He retrenching you from ministry?
This is because a call to ministry is the highest of calls. I
never saw a prophet or priest (and we normally are proud to associate with
those titles) leave that to become a farmer or even king. Yet the Bible and
Christian history is replete with people called from other vocations to Christian
ministry.
God, in ordering the priesthood, disqualified the priestly
family even from farming as ministry to Him was their inheritance. He was in
fact their whole reason for living. And that is why they were only given cities
and their pasturelands. Seeing the priestly families getting involved in other
business was a clear indication of a backslidden society because they lived on
the support of the ‘working’ other.
This was so that they could spend their entire lives seeking
God’s face and word. And that is why the scribes were Levites or priests. In
fact even a majority of the prophets were from those families. Their relevance
in society was limited to hearing God, studying His word, teaching the same and
showing the application of God’s values to society (Ezra 7: 10). In fact even
judges were supposed to come from the Levitical line so that they always
operated on God’s principles.
Even retired priests were not supposed to get into other
work. Their duty after retirement was to train other priests and Levites to
fulfill their duty to God. They left active ministry to concentrate on
supervising new ministers in their pursuit of effective ministry. At no time
was a priest or Levite expected to be anything other than a minister in or for
God’s house.
That is the reason we had the Asaph’s and Jeduthun’s whose
core ministry was singing. Singing to them was not the business so many of our
music ministers are making it nowadays. Scribing was not the business us
writers are making our ministry into. They just served God and left God to take
care of their needs. I try to do that but to many, especially pastors, I am
simply not utilizing the ‘gift’ God has given me to make ‘tents’ through
selling my writing and consultation as I develop writers. And of course support
is hard to get by because Christians are being taught that the only minister
who is the responsibility of the church is a pastor meaning supporting ‘fringe’
ministers like me is against God’s will.
But God is not limited to our worldly interpretation of His
revelation. He is still in the business of calling His people into His ministry
as He envisioned it and I continue to see God manifesting Himself to me as He
raises support for me against such odds. God still speaks to resources and does
not need the approval of the pastor or bishop to do so.
This is why I insist that a minister is not called in a
temporary manner. A minister can not just leave ministry for worldly pursuits
unless he joined ministry for other reasons than ministry to God. Let us honor
God as we respect the call He has placed on us by constantly bringing glory to
God.
Then ministry will start being honorable again. Then
ministers will start being clearly known as representing God and standing for
Him as opposed to worldly pursuits. Then, like in the past, there will be a
nomination slot in our parliaments for spiritual people for God’s will to be
known even as laws are being made.
God bless you
