By Osy Agbo
Apart from going to church every Sunday and surrenderring to the Catholic church’s centuries-old worship rituals observed in Latin, my dad is hardly an overly religious man. I remember being in this one prayer session where everyone spoke in tongue except him.
It couldn’t have been that bad if cynicism was not written all over his face. His eyes too darted back and forth as if he queried the power of the anointing. That day, I felt like the holy spiritual perceived he wasn’t there yet and decided it was best to just let him alone. I watched my mother bury her head in total disbelief but dad couldn’t be bothered. He was doing just fine with his Sunday-Sunday routine and wasn’t sure what that was all about. This was early in the days when the Charismatic Movement started making its grand entry into the Catholic church. But today it’s not about my dad and his life. It’s about Christianity and the church in Nigeria.
Less than a week ago, the world woke up to yet another cold-blooded act by Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA) also known as Boko Haram, the dare-devil jihadi movement ravaging predominantly northeastern Nigeria.
This time it involved the gruesome murder of Rev. Lawan Andimi, the chairman of CAN in Michika local government area of Adamawa state. This was after CAN already made a commitment to pay a whooping fifty million naira ransom as demanded by the insurgents to secure his release.
This happened while we were still morning the gruesome murder of 11 Christians group beheaded in Maiduguri on Christmas Day of December 2019.
My plan is not to cause you nightmares by throwing up the scary statistics but when you combine the wanton killings, burning down of Christian churches, looting and religious persecution of different kinds, there is no doubt that Christianity is under siege. There is no worst time in history to be a Christian in Nigeria.
Following the Killing of the CAN chairman,the Northern Christian Forum of Nigeria issued a statement to the effect that “Murder of CAN chairman won’t break our trust in God”, the tone of which is defiant and commendable.
What the body may not have reckoned however, was that when God created us in his own image, he trusted that we will do all that is necessary to protect that image. And that situations may sometimes require more than fasting and prayers.
Did the Bible not talk about our Lord’s army? Ok, maybe not in a literal sense but the blood of those faithfuls cries every passing day to high heavens.
Somebody once defined insanity as doing same thing again and again and expecting different result, yet that seems to be the factory reset for the Christian Association of Nigeria.
How about send a delegation to the UN, fighting back in some kind of way,I have no idea but for Christ’s sake do something else. A friend once pointed out to me that part of the problem is that CAN is just a loose association of different Christian bodies. Maybe now is the time to rise above the denominations and queue behind a solid and cohesive leadership.
After all we are all supposed to be one in the body of Christ and the attackers make no distinction between Catholics or Protestants, Pentecostal or Orthodox.
Lest I forget to finish off the story of my dad. There was another interesting part to his Christianity. Dad prided himself as a practical Christian which was to say he would meet you halfway between Moses(an eye for an eye) and Christ (giving the other cheek). In fact, his favorite quote from the Bible was “Faith without good work is dead” King James Version.
Which is why I can only imagine what he would have to say to the current leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria and the well worn call for fasting and prayers. In the current spate of unprovoked vicious attack on Christian faithfuls, he probably wouldn’t advice a reprisal attack but at same time might not have minded amputating the hands of the attackers. And no he will not do that as a punishment but as a means to keep the offenders from continuing on the killing spree. That was the man I called dad.
Now just so we don’t get this all twisted, this whole piece is not about Muslims fighting Christians. It’s about an army of depraved men who belong in the societal fringes carrying out the most cowardly dastard act using the cloak of religion. I know it’s hard to imagine for us Christians given recent experiences but majority of our Muslim brothers are good people.
The word Jihad reflects crimes against humanity and evokes the images of mass slaughter and forced religion. What most of us easily forget is that jihad (holy war) also played a significant role in Christianity’s dark days. There was once upon a time in history when “Christians” killed both Muslims and Jews in the name of God. If in doubt, don’t just take my word for it. I recommend the book “An important evangelical work, Christian Jihad” by Caner and Caner for your reading pleasure.
Today, Christianity is under a serious attack by enemies that are unrelenting and constantly evolving. I believe it’s time to heed the Caners warning that vigilance is needed also today to see that the church’s freedom is not impeded by the state or a group. To protect that freedom, it’s imperative we deploy all that is necessary.
“Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith , and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works…. For as the body without the spirit is dead , so faith without works is dead also”.
Because sometimes you need to hear it directly from King James himself.
Happy Sunday folks!
*Osmund Agbo MD, FCCP Writes from Houston, Texas