Of Christian Ministers and Elective Politics

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