The Desolation Of ‘Christendom’

By Rev Canon Chinemerem Uche

Part 1

One can be sued for trying to rebuke a homosexual or transgender in America and Europe. In fact the beginning of wisdom is to mind your business.

For you to survive in such localities you just have to adopt a “wetin concern agboro with overload” attitude.

In Nigeria and Africa to some extent, unnatural sexual orientations are not supported by the Government, the church and traditional institutions. To be openly gay is an abomination and a crime that can even attract imprisonment.

Before one is made a priest or pastor or evangelist in any church in Nigeria, one has to take an oath denouncing homosexual practices and its likes.

It is an abomination to be a homosexual while holding a position, post or ordination in the church.

In fact it is an abomination to be a homosexual or lesbian or transgender while being a chorister, youth leader or mother’s Union or Father’s Fellowship member.

It is therefore an ultra-abomination to see or hear that a priest, pastor, archbishop or primate is a homosexual or a lesbian or a transgender.

One thing about our religiosity especially in Nigeria is to be something you preach against in secret.

There might be, and I stand to be corrected, people who legislate against homosexual practices and still use same acts to gain power spiritually and also use same to promote their secret cults as an underground movement in the church.

The indicators around us which are not yet official and provable is that there are now very highly placed and influential church officials almost in all denominations who are kingpins of homosexuality, lesbianism and transgender (ism).

We cannot continue to wish this away!

The Desolation Of Christendom (2)

I would have tagged this piece the desolation of the church but I do not want to be misunderstood to mean the denomination I am coming from. I do not want those who have been trying to lord their personal interpretations to most of my writings to find a basis for saying I am singling out an individual. I also do not like using the term ‘Christendom’ because a sect uses it derogatorily but I am compelled to use Christendom rather than church.

Christendom here refers to the Christian world and all the denominations and organizations that are involved in propagating Christianity. I am not pointing to any (particular) church or denomination. You may want me not to write about this. To some it is better to keep quiet, live a peaceable and quiet life and by so doing avoid trouble and attack by the fury and critical. A peaceable and quiet life is not complete if one decides to keep quiet, look the other way while things putrefy in an entity that is made to be an icon of sanctity and righteousness. The Psalmist had this same challenge of looking the other way and keeping quiet, he reacted thus,

Ps 39:1-3

“I said, “I will watch my ways

And keep my tongue from sin;

I will put a muzzle on my mouth

As long as the wicked are in my presence.”

But when I was silent and still,

Not even saying anything good,

My anguish increased.

My heart grew hot within me,

And as I meditated, the fire burned;

Then I spoke with my tongue: (NIV)

The truth is that if you have a prophetic calling you cannot afford to keep quiet in the midst of evil, especially when it is being brought into church circles. Should we keep quiet simply because we want to sound politically correct and allow the church to lose her voice in the world of sin? The voice of the church is stronger and more efficacious if she is not part of, or condoning the evil in the society.

Seeing the abominations currently gaining grounds in some countries, one would want the church to declare a crusade to wipe out the men and women propagating homosexuals, lesbians and other ungodly sexual orientations. What we must beware of, is that the Church and Governments are separate entities. You as a church cannot rise up to dictate to the United States for instance, to stop accepting and tolerating liberals as a natural way of life. We cannot also say it is not our business, it is!

Our business is in being a model of true sexual orientation and holding forth the word of righteousness and purity without compromise. Our business is speak against such and not to appoint such men and women to carry out our day to day functions be it ecclesiastical or temporal. Our business is to also know and recognize that adultery, fornication and all other deadly sins are as abominable as well as homosexual or lesbian or transgender.

You cannot be a General Overseer crying loud against liberals and revisionists in the church and at the same time being a polygamist or having a notorious reputation of keeping harems and concubines with the attendant children of such escapades of yours staring at us while we say in hush tones, “These are the children that adulterous woman begat for our bishop or pastor or G.O as the case may be.

Some of us feel just like, “let there be a government in some of these Western Countries that would put up strong legislation against gay people.” Some of us feel like carrying out actions to eradicate or silence them.

We know that these sinful sexual orientations are as bad as fornication and adultery and God does punish sin and the sinful, but the world has changed and the system of the world is not the system of the church. Before in Israel, the church was not separate from the state. The state was indeed guided by the laws of “the church” and God indeed punished both the state and “the church” for sinning. The prophet Daniel reveals this:

“The men of Judah and people of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. O Lord, we and our kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you.” (Dan 9:7-8 NIV).

To be continued…