POLITICIANS AND THE CHURCH: 20 PRACTICAL WAYS PASTORS MAINTAIN THEIR RESPECT ~ By Dr Bola Adewara

POLITICIANS AND THE CHURCH: These are 20 practical ways pastors can maintain respect and prevent the altar from desecration.

1. MAINTAIN A STRATEGIC ALOOFNESS FROM POLITICIANS

Stay connected to God and remain scarce from politicians. Only appear before them or interact with them when either God sends you to them or they send for you for guidance, prayers, etc. Or you are invited to essential government programs. If you consider the program frivolous, you can decline or send a representative. Otherwise, stay away. Stop dragging yourself and the Church in the mud!

2. IF YOU ARE WITH THEM, MAINTAIN YOUR DIGNITY

If you are with them, stop massaging their ego for favours. They are not your source. God is. Stop giving them bills and asking for free tickets to Jerusalem. You are becoming a beggar and will soon lose respect. Immediately you finish your engagements with them, rise and leave, like prophets Nathan before David and Isaiah before Hezekiah. If they have anything to give you, let them bring it to your office themselves. That is honourable. They will know that you are not a hungry preacher.

3. DON’T GET INVOLVED IN PRIVATE MATTERS

Avoid poke-nosing in other people’s matters. John the Baptist got involved in the private matter of Herod and got killed for it. Did the Lord ask you to get involved? If yes, feel free to talk with wisdom. ‘Thus says the Lord’. Deliver your message and leave.

4. KNOW WHEN A MESSAGE SHOULD BE PRIVATE OR PUBLIC

When God opens your eyes to see things to come, get clear instructions on what to do with the information. Is it for the public or a private message? When God showed Nathan what David did, Nathan did not go on national TV. He went straight to David. Same with Isaiah, he went straight to Hezekiah. When God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham kept quiet. If Abraham had told his wife, Isaac would have been missing the following morning. Know the purpose of a revelation?

PREACHERS AND POLITICIANS: PRESERVING THE ALTAR FROM CORRUPTION

5. INVITE THE POLITICAL LEADERS TO YOUR OFFICE

Don’t drag yourself in the mud by queueing in their offices. If you have carried yourself with dignity in the past, they will rush to your office immediately after you send for them. Carry yourself with pride such that these political leaders will be seeking you. Learn from Billy Graham, who had a personal audience with 12 sitting US presidents, from Harry S. Truman to Barack Obama. He was a kind of spiritual guidance to them. That is spiritual authority!

6. CAUTION, PRAISE AND ENCOURAGE THEM

When they invite you to public functions to speak or pray, or they come to your Church for service, speak the Word. Caution them on their excesses, praise them where they have done right and encourage them to do more. Don’t put them down or berate them with harsh words. Show them examples from the Bible and other lands to challenge them. Make them friends of the Church. Present yourself as someone they can rely on for advice and guidance.

7. YOU ARE NOT A MEMBER OF ANY POLITICAL PARTY

Even if you have your political preferences as a private person, a pastor in a plural society like ours should remember that members of all political parties are in the Church. Don’t condemn any party. You might injure the sensibilities of members who follow them and create needless enemies for yourself.

8. SPEAK ON ISSUES, NOT PERSONALITIES

It is not in your place to say Tinubu is a lousy person, Obi is a liar, Atiku is a thief, or Kwankwaso is a local champion. That is none of your business as a pastor. Your duty is to guide your members on good leadership and ask God for exemplary leadership for the country.

9. DON’T BE PUSHED BY SOCIAL MEDIA LIKES AND POPULISM

Don’t be carried away by popular opinions or social media likes. Popular opinions might not be God’s opinion. Don’t speak because you want to be heard or praised on social media. Speak only when you have a message and a genuine faith concern.

10. DON’T TRY TO IMPRESS MEN WITH PROPHECIES

If you have not received any spiritual instruction or clarity on any issue before you, be bold to say so. There is no crime in that. Don’t seek to be popular with men with fake prophecies. Even if God has shown you something but suppose He changes His mind? You have become a liar! Don’t try to impress men with prophecies, especially when God has not told you to speak in public.

11. BACK UP YOUR STATEMENTS WITH SCRIPTURES

Back up your positions with the Scriptures when you speak in public. That is how you speak like an oracle of God. 1 Peter 4:11. Use the Bible to guide your members on Christian ethics and doctrines of good governance. Cite the verses and encourage them to read them themselves so they can be convinced you are not manipulative. Give them assignments every Sunday on chapters and verses to read so they will know how God operated in the past and how He could operate now.

12. BE STRATEGIC ON SOCIAL MEDIA

As pastors, don’t come to online platforms to argue or abuse people for whatever reasons. Some pastors have conducted themselves shamelessly before, during and after elections by abusing people on the other side. They comment or respond to every idle talk or post, copy and share lies and fake news on social media.

13. CENSOR WHAT GOES ON NATIONAL TV OR SOCIAL MEDIA

Your members, after some years, know you, your jokes, your mannerisms, innuendos, etc., but the public might not. Therefore, censor what goes on National tv or social media. Not all messages are meant for the public. Some messages are Church specific. If you are the type who cannot control his mouth, remember to tell your members that… ‘what I’ve just said is for this Church alone. Don’t go outside and quote me’. However, not saying it is the best condition for not being quoted.

14. HAVE SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGERS

Rather than conduct themselves in controversial manners on social media, pastors with the wisdom of communication would raise men in their Churches, teach them the history or truth they want to propagate and let their wards do the social media talking. They chose their battles. They guide their images and names. Remember that what you say today becomes your history tomorrow. Don’t give yourself a permanent image in the hearts of men over a temporary situation. Once you lose your respect and reputation in the sight and hearts of men, it is always difficult to restore it.

15. BE FAIR TO ALL RELIGIONS, EVEN THE TRADITIONAL WORSHIPPERS

Remember the verse: for God so loved the world, not, for God so love the Church or the Christians. Don’t condemn their gods because that will hurt them. You cannot openly denounce people and think you can get their attention again. Preach Jesus. Speak on His powers and love, what He came to do and the profits of serving him. Remember that in a plural society like ours, we have to cohabit with one another. So many church members are married to Muslims. Our families are made up of different religions. We need to show love. That is your job specification. You are not there to condemn anybody. Even Jesus did not condemn anybody. He sat with the sinners but condemned their sins.

16. STAND FOR THE FAITH

You are permitted to be militant in words and actions when political actions tamper with matters of your faith or directly against your members and their feelings. You can contend for your faith when political statements or actions can threaten your followers’ lives.

17. BE CAREFUL WITH THE GIFTS OF POLITICIANS

When politicians patronise you, they are interested in your electoral value. One of the methods they employ to catch pastors is by making irresistible donations. Politicians believe every man has a price, and they are ready to dangle it. If you fall once, you have fallen permanently!

18. CHECK YOUR WIFE’S ACTIVITIES

Pastors should watch who their wives associate with. Women in this part of the world have a way of doing their things. If the political powers cannot get the pastors directly, in their desperation, they go through their wives by sending their wives to the circle of the pastors’ wives. From there, the politician has access to the bedroom of the pastor.

19. RAISE LEADERS IN YOUR CHURCH

If you want to be friends with politicians who will obey your words and treat you with dignity, politicians whom you can control and trust, raise them in your Church, under your watch. Let your Church establish a leadership school, seminary, or academy where you give political and leadership education to members. From there, they are trained to aspire to political leadership, and when they get to the top, they don’t forget the fingers that fed them. It is imperative for the Church to create an arm that would engage in political education. If the Church is the light of the world, members should be involved in politics and lead from the front.

20. BE HUMBLE ENOUGH TO APOLOGISE
    When you say that God told you that something would happen within a period and did not happen, be humble enough to come to the public and explain what happened and tender an apology. Don’t think you can sweep it under the carpet. People have marked you as a congenital liar who God never sent in the first instance. We have seen a so-called pastor in Nigeria who came on national tv to say God told him that President Olusegun Obasanjo would hand over to him in 2003 and that Obasanjo should start packing his loads from the Aso Rock villa. Today, we know that God did not say so. He lied.
    Some so many pastors said Buhari would die if he tried to contest the presidential election in 2015. Buhari did not only contest; he won and has almost completed his eight years in power.
    We also have a pastor who said God told him he is the 16^th president of Nigeria. You all know him. He contested the primaries of his party and won not a single vote. He couldn’t contest the presidential elections proper. We are still waiting for him to become the 16^th president of Nigeria. Some pastors tell these lies and try to sweep them under the carpet as if Nigerians are fools. No. We are not fools. When you tell a lie and are found out, be humble enough to come to the same public and apologise.