This evening I ventured to watch the video of the 4 students of University of Port Harcourt in Nigeria who were beaten, tortured and burned alive at the urging of a blood thirsty crowd armed with cellphones recording the whole incident (the video is on YouTube, but I chose not to post the link here).
I also watched a video of Boko Haram, the allegedly cultist islamic group that has been slaughtering Christians in the northern part of Nigeria. The video was of them making Islamic incantations over a man, before holding him down, slicing his throat and beheading him.
After watching these two videos, the pressing question on my mind is, what is the stance of Christians in Nigeria with influence? I can understand that the common man struggling to have faith to make ends meet can only express frustration and anger, and not really have any impact except complain. But the jet owning, mega churching Christians with influence sprawling in opulence, and jetsetting to major capitals of the world to dine with world leaders - are they sitting still, delighting in their achievements and having no social responsibility? What is the use of having influence if it isn't employed for a social cause? Coupled with the authority we have in Christ, there is no reason for Nigerian Christian leaders with influence and wealth to have no communal voice.
The warfare is obviously a spiritual one, and it has to be settled in the realms of the spirit - the pulling down of the strongholds of bloodthirsty principalities at work in certain cities in Nigeria. I would have thought such horrors would have made these influential Christians to rally the people who furnish their lavish lifestyles to initiate a national prayer vigil for change, or something equally divinely incorporating, communal and spiritually effective.
The kingdom of God suffereth violence, and the violent taketh it by force;
We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against spiritual wickedness in high places;
We have been given authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy.
These are scriptures we brandish about. The apparent influence of demonic forces in certain communities is a clear evidence that Christians in Nigeria need to return to prayer. Enough with this prosperity message that's so American! I don't live in Nigeria, yet after viewing these videos, I had to repent of my negligence in not consistently praying for the country of my heritage, and to take out time to fast and pray. I can only hope that there will be a coming together of Christian leaders with influence to wage a spiritual warfare. Until then, please save your stories of travelling to America or Europe to meet blah blah blah. Not impressed!
No comments:
Post a Comment