Africa's Misunderstood Christianity: Reevaluating the Role of Faith and Responsibility in Development | #NwokeukwuMascot

   Opinion     

...‘AFRICA'S MISUNDERSTOOD CHRISTIANITY PART ONE by Eke O Ako’ | #NwokeukwuMascot

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Most Christians in Nigeria or African Christians are at different churches this morning worshipping God. Although Sunday is not the day the Lord set aside for us to rest, keep holy and commune with Him, it has been universally adopted as the Sabbath day, after the Roman Emperor Constantine, decreed that all mortals must worship the Roman sun god, or be killed. To avoid the persecution, Christians accepted the decree, and began to hold their religious gatherings on Sundays, and that has remained till today. Many may not know that there was a time when the Roman Empire ruled the entire world many years ago and even colonised Britain, and other countries.

While it is good to go to church, the fundamental question remains what Nigerians or Africans go to church to ask God to do for them. What exactly are we asking God for?

Unfortunately most of the church goers in Nigeria or Africa go to ask God to provide jobs for them, heal them of their sicknesses, provide food for their families, protect them from armed robbers or kidnappers and for the development of our society.  Some even pray for God to change their leaders or provide constant electricity for their businesses,  while some pray for customersto patronise their businesses!

Unfortunately, many of these church goers don't understand that God has already done for us, all these things we are prayin for. He created us with functional brains, functional limbs, and abundance of natural resources. He gave us the ability to vote for good leaders, and hold them accountable, He gave us good brains to demand from our leaders to use the huge resources available to them to create the enabling environment for jobs to be created for us. He gave us the brain to ask our leaders who we voted for, to use the huge resources available to them to provide us good education, pay us unemployment benefits, pay our children under 18 years child benefits, provide housing for us , and keep us safe.

The same church goers who have mostly misunderstood the Bible, believe that the Chinese are not better religious people. They believe that Europeans are no longer good Christians.

 

Unfortunately, our people have failed to understand that the Chinese and Europeans understood that God has given them the abilities to create prosperity for themselves; therefore they do not need 60,000 people crusades or 1-million man prayer conferences to pray to God for what He has already done for us.

 

The Chinese and European Governments have used their God given abilities to build world class hospitals for their people, water systems, power plants, schools, and world class environments that attract industries, which establish and employ their people. They use their brains, they don't go back to God daily for new brains like the Africans. On the part of the citizens of China and Europe, they don't praise their leaders, they dont defend their leaders who are stealing their resources, they don't sow seeds, they dont need prophecies,  they dont speak in tongues, they dont hold crusades to pray for jobs, tackle poverty or health challenges, they DEMAND EFFICIENT USE OF THEIR RESOURCES.

The African Christian still believes that shouting at the top of his voice, voicing some unknown words, bribing God with money, praying for material possessions, etc., will replace the use of INHERENT TALENTS, that God has given them, which we have consciously and deliberately buried in the ground.

While other countries are busy industrialising their places and creating job opportunities for their people, Africans are creating more churches, where even the corrupt politicians who abuse our resources visit, and create a false sense of fear of God and fraternity with the people, are awarded Knights or other lazy titles.

Having created such impressions of loyalty to God, and the people,  the politicians intentionally continue to  cart away resources meant for our development, while encouraging our oppressed people to put their faiths in God!

To be continued.....