Bishops Hustling As Religious Crusaders And Political Campaigners May Be Bounced By Heavenly Guards
There is no denying the fact that virtually all Journalists and other attendees that graced the official presentation of former Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima, as the running mate of the presidential flagbearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday, watched in hilarity as persons dressed as pastors and bishops showed up at the venue. Their presence at the political event, no doubt, triggered a hilarious atmosphere as onlookers and guests stared hard at them as they walked into the reception of the Musa Yar’Adua Centre, dressed in their vestments and habits, amid heavy security presence at the venue.
To the consternation of not a few Nigerians that are affiliated to the Christendom, the bishops and pastors were seen at Tinubu’s unveiling of Shettima as running mate, then anger spreads in the land.
In its reaction, the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) issued a statement disowning the clerics at the event, saying they were fake. The body said they were hired mechanics and artisans by the APC with robes on them to give the impression that they were bishops and pastors.
The Vice President of CAN (19 Northern States and Abuja) and chairman in Kaduna State, Rev. Joseph John Hayab, said Tinubu, was free to “hire mechanics and other artisans and sew clerical garments for them.”
He said, “The people we saw at the unveiling of Shettima paraded as Bishops are people who did not have enough time to learn how to wear Bishop’s Garments. Take a closer look at their photo and you will see another Nollywood movie.
However, in the bid to douse the literary flame of knocks that have continued to greet the theatrical incident, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s Campaign Organization has out rightly denied the news report making the rounds that fake bishops were hired to attend the official unveiling of Kashim Shettima as the vice presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections.
Reacting to the development, Tinubu Campaign Organization through its Director of Media and Communication, Mr Bayo Onanuga said the bishops were not hired, adding that the clerics are patriotic Nigerians who believe in the unity of the country, stressing that they (bishops) are not big names in Christendom yet but coming up.
He said, “We want to say that those clergymen were not fake, not mechanics or yam sellers as the purveyors of hatred have made Nigerians to believe in the social med ia. They are not big names in Christendom yet, they are gradually building up their missions.
“They are church leaders who genuinely believe that Nigerians must eschew politics of hatred and religious bigotry and rather embrace politics of peace and nation building.
“We, therefore, deplore the hysterical twisting of the presence of these men and women in cassocks and the false accusation against our candidates, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Senator Shettima”.
To my view, the leadership of Tinubu Campaign Organization should not blame anyone that says the bishops are fake as there were 10 obvious errors that exposed them, and kept tongues wagging. First and foremost, they all came to the event at the same time, meaning they were coming from the same place, and secondly, they were rushing in a queue at the entrance, and anyone that is saying they are genuinely ordained bishops should know that a truly trained bishop that is called by God will not publicly behave in such a reprehensible and disorderly manner. As if the foregoing errors were not obvious enough, not few Netizens that understand the dress code of bishops took to social media to enlightens other Nigerians that the so called bishops wrongfully wore the cassocks which ought to be ceremonial wears to a political event. They enlightened Nigerians that the Roman Pontiff wears a white cassock, Monsignors, bishops and cardinals have what is known as a "choir cassock" for liturgical occasions but they are not worn for everyday occasion.
They also explained that their dressing were bereft of pectoral cross which ought to be wore on the neck even as the Pallium was said to be wrong which the regalia worn by them well all not ironed. To worsen the matter, it was observed that the Mitre/skull cap were wrongfully adorned.
Again, they all left at the same time and all headed towards one particular direction (as if going to share something) while some of them could not afford a Taxi but used Keke or Okada (motorbike) to return Home.
Suspicious enough, they refused to be interviewed by journalists even as they individually use bags to shield their faces from cameras. Again, those in suit had no bibles or collars as they all appeared stressed and distressed. Worse still, of them, 30 in number were unknown Men of God.
At this juncture, it is expedient to say that whether the bishops are fake, and were hirelings do not remove the fact that Muslim/Muslim ticket is not ominous even as their visit to the venue of a political event smack off an unprecedented level of partisan politics in the political history of Nigeria.
In as much as I am of the view that there is nothing wrong for men of God to be involved in politics as the involvement of more Christians in the political affairs of the nation is arguably the only way righteous leaders can be in authority for the people rejoice, I detest seeing men of God getting involved in partisan politics, and in the process literarily dirtying their cassock in the murky water of politics.
In fact, the reason every man of God should avoid political partisanship is because, quite literally, it is one of Satan’s most powerful instruments to conform the Church to the world. Jesus was clear in stating that “His kingdom was not of this cosmos” (John 18:36) and in praying that his followers would be unified “in the cosmos, but not of it” (John 17:14–19). The Greek word κόσμος (cosmos) is rightly translated “the social order of the world,” the very stuff of partisan politics.
This is what Jesus resisted when Satan took him to a high mountain and offered him the “kingdoms of the cosmos and their glory” if Jesus would submit to him (Matthew 4:8–11). If the kingdoms of the world were Satan’s to give, then they are still his purview.
When these “cosmetics” are worn by the Church, and the social order of the Church looks like that of the world, the Church loses both its moral influence and its freedom to speak truth to worldly power of every stripe. Jesus plainly directed his followers to avoid this social order of the world with all its power plays (Matthew 20:25–28).
Again, there are legitimate reasons for men of God to be involved in politics, but partisan politics is not among them. Paul establishes that “our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20) and that we are “Christ’s ambassadors” imploring the world to “be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20). Every local church is an embassy of the kingdom of God, and every member is an emissary of Heaven with a missionary visa to the world. The redemptive prayer of everyone in the Christendom is that the kingdom of God would be visible “on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).
In a similar vein, Paul counsels everyone in the Christendom that their “true and proper worship” is to be “transformed by the renewal of their minds, not conformed to the pattern of this world” (Romans 12:1–2). Against the foregoing backdrop, I wonder how this is possible if men of God take the bait of Satan and make our churches partisan temples of political ideology.
At this juncture, it is expedient to say that any man of God, a bishop in this context, should understand that he lives and ministers in the same “deep state”; the condition of fear and shame. Whenever he begins to believe that he is simply fighting those on whichever side of the aisle, he will forget that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).
In fact, our bishops should be in the church preaching the good news, and also speaking truth to the collective conscience of politicians by urging them to engender good governance, because they cannot avoid real issues as Christ’s ambassadors in a world they are called to redeem. They should refrain from preaching partisan politics, because nothing would please Satan more than to get his foot in the door of their various churches in his quest to conform it to his will. Therefore, they resort to be preaching God’s infallible word, and it has a way of offending us all, sometimes, as it reminds us again and again that we living in a world that cannot make sense, even as the world is not our permanent home. Against the foregoing backdrop, one cannot be wrong to say that considering the fact that the Bible states that heavenly gates are guarded to prevent evil from entering the city of heaven, and that each of the 12 gates is protected by an angel, that bishops hustling as Christian crusaders and political campaigners may be bounced by heavenly guards.