Politics is too serious a business to be left with unserious people – Kputu
*Participate actively in politics – Okonkwo admonishes Christians
A former National President of the Student Wing of Peoples Redemption Party, Rev Sam Kputu, has said that Politics is too serious a business to be left with unserious people.
He spoke as a guest speaker, during the first edition for 2022 of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission’s (TREM), programme tagged: Breeding Leaders for Empowerment and National Transformation (BLENT) at TREM’s international headquarters, Anthony-Oke, Gbagada Expressway, Lagos.
He spoke on “Becoming a game-changer in Nigeria’s politics.”
Kputu who is also the International Director, Calvary Ministries identified family, church, and government as God’s institutions.
He said, “Politics is more than a game. Some people call it a game. It is defined by Wikipedia as ‘activities associated with the governance of a country, or an area, especially the debate between parties to have power and exercise power. These activities are aimed at improving people’s status and increasing their influence within organizations. Politics is a way that people living in groups make decisions. People are about making agreements between people so that they can live together in peace as tribes, cities, countries.
“So politics is the space, the table on which men and women sit to negotiate how they live together. You can not live such a table to other people. You got to sit at that table.
“Many people talk about politics as a game. That puts it at par with soccer. It is as if Manchester United is playing Man City. In such games, it only affects a very tiny group of people, investors, vendors, players, managers, and fans. As exciting as soccer games are they carry very few consequences on the lives of a majority.
“But politics is different. It has great consequences on the lives of all, even the eternal consequences. If in doubt, look at the events in Somalia, Libya, Brexit, and currently Ukraine and Russia. Someone said, ‘in a jiffy, Putin ended COVID-19, nobody asking Ukrainian refugees whether they are vaccinated. Everybody is going.”
Kputu added, “So politics is not a game. It is a serious business, too to be left to the unserious. There are three institutions that God established on earth to build and sustain His Kingdom. The first is family. God established the family as a means to reflect the love between Him and us. Husband and wife are a typology of Jesus and His church. Parents and children are a typology of us and our father. And through families, God built and sustain His kingdom on earth.
“The second institution is the church. The church was not built by men. It was not started by politicians. The church is God’s creation. The church is the custodian, the divine National Assembly that sits and makes rules to run God’s kingdom on earth.
“The third institution is government. Government or whatever description, whether it is monarch, autocracy, presidential, parliamentary, whatever form of government, God is not a God of anarchy. God does not rule in the midst of confusion and sometimes we need to be careful. That some of our pro-democracy and social activists are actually advocating anarchy. That is not God.
“So, family, church, and government are God’s institutions whenever and wherever the enemy wants to fight and limit the growth of God’s kingdom, he attacks these three institutions. He attacks family, he attacks the church, he attacks the government.
To grow and preserve God’s kingdom is to fight for the preservation of family, the preservation of the church, and the preservation of the government.
“Politics is one of these three institutions that affect the governance of nations. The Lord calls leaders in government His minister 1 Peter 2:13-25. He places them at the same level as our pastors, bishops, and ministers. They are His ministers. Do not ask me how He ordained them.
“When those in leadership promote good and deters sin, they are acting as God’s servants, His ministers. For that reason, we are called to submit to them. The Bible teaches is that God is sovereignly involved in deciding who bears political leadership in every nation. Also, the Lord in His wisdom has always desired to put a line between spiritual authority in His church and political authority. When Kings and leaders arose who try to usurp God’s authority over His church, they usually fall by the wayside. And whenever the church arises to take control and exercise political power, it ended up weak and compromised. The separation of church and state was one of the legacies of the American and French revolutions at the end of the 18th century. It was achieved as a result of ideas arising from men and women who sought to protect the church from political influence. The separation of the church and state was not to protect the state from the church but to protect the church from the state.”
The Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM), Dr. Mike Okonkwo, said it is important for Christians to participate actively in politics.
Okonkwo said, “The church must come out. We are called the light of the world and the salt of the earth. And you put salt in a bottle? We are not the bottle. Come out of the bottle and be the salt in society. That is who we are. We are to make an impact.
“How many of you know that we are praying for the coming elections in Nigeria? How many of you know that we are trusting God for a change in Nigeria? But the question is how many of us are participating actively in the political process?
“Many of us do not understand how powerful government is. There are powerful forces on earth: God or the church. After that the Government. Government is powerful.n Government can kill you if they choose to kill you and there is nothing you can do about it. They can decide to throw you into jail, lock up the key and throw away the key and you will be there. Government is powerful. But we are burying our heads inside the church and we are praying. There is nothing wrong with praying. I believe God has answered our prayers. But the issue is that we have not actively been engaged.
“Decisions are taking behind the scene and they will throw up two candidates and you will say, ‘out of two evils, let us choose one.’ I do not want to choose any evil. I want a good one. But we choose out of the two evils they will throw up and you expect them to make decisions that will bless you. We are wasting our time. It does not work that way.
“Go to your wards and register. Be there when they will take decisions so we will be looking for who is right and who is wrong that will come because once they throw them up,
“If you say I will not vote, for people will still vote and they will win and they will go there and take decisions for you.”
He added, “Many people who say they want to go into politics are actually looking for positions where they will carry sirens and not really to serve because if you really want to serve, why don’t you want to be a councilor. The grassroots, that is where the people are. Why do you not want to display what you can do as a councillor, chairman of a local government, and not I want to be a governor?
“You do not even have a political structure. You say you are praying to God. Is God the one who will come and organise it for you? It is the local government should do the road for you in your area and we leave those ones. We are looking at President. Go and get involved in your ward. Join the political parties and make your voice count. Do not be lost in the crowd. We need to be committed, otherwise, this country will not change.
“You think the social media will move them? You are telling them to reduce their salaries, how can they reduce their salaries when that is the reason they went there in the first instance? And you expect them to pass a law that will reduce their salaries? They can not pass a law that will reduce their salaries because that is the main attraction.
“They will even take more while they allow you to suffer. How much is the Academic Union of Universities (ASUU) asking for that they have shot down the schools and our children can not go to schools? Our school system is destroyed because we have bad people in those places. And a nation without education, a nation that is destroying the education in that land can not make any progress.”
The bishop further said, “Is it not a shame that somebody said he is a Christian, born again. Let us start from where you are in, in your little corner. Display integrity, there is nothing like if you can not beat them, join them. No! No! You do not join them, even at the risk of your life because your salvation is more important. Jesus said where your treasure is, that is where your heart is. What is the treasure/Jesus is our treasure and that is where my heart is. That is where I have been zeroing in on. I can not allow society to determine how I behave. I look at the Scripture. How will my Jesus behave? Some of us are here now when they talk about government we laugh. You nko? In your little corner.
“So let us start with our constituency. Your corner is your constituency. Make up your mind to be a man or a woman of integrity, excellence. When you do things, they are different. You have integrity and excellence. You are committed. Take a quality decision. Let it be part of your life because that is what Christianity is all about.”