The Senior Pastor of The Censers Church Inc. Worldwide Pastor Ugochukwu Anike has stated that Christians must be more involved in politics as 2023 draws closer.
He said the involvement of Christians in politics will promote good governance anchored on accountability and quality performance.
According to him: “Christians need to be involved in politics because we believe in a God who cares passionately about His world and His creation and consequently, how it is run.
‘’The Bible is hugely political because it is about how God wants people to behave and act toward Him and toward each other. This involves economics and law because these are tools that essential in building justice.’’
Urging more Christians to actively get involved in politics he said: “Let us all rise as believers and get involved directly or indirectly in politics. Directly when we run for political offices and indirectly when we encourage godly people to join politics and also, when we go out and fulfil our civic responsibility which is to vote. The future is in our hands if we all rise and do the needful.”
To drive home his point, Anike, who is also an author quoted Proverbs 29: 2 which says: ‘when the righteous are in authority the people rejoice.’
He added God wants the righteous to be in authorities because when the righteous are in authority, they will make policies that will bring transformational changes and thereby bring joy to society.
“If you remember the case of Mordecai. There was a decree that God’s people should be annihilated. However, Mordecai and the entire Jewish race prayed that God should intervene and God sent Esther to the throne.
“As we pray in Church, we must also encourage Christians to participate in politics because if we are not involved, we must also not complain about bad leadership. This is because you can only change a system from within the system, not from outside the system,” he said.
He also called on Christians not to forget that the reason God brings men into great positions is to impact lives positively and not for personal interest and self aggrandisement.
Lamenting the state of the nation he said: “There is so much decay in Nigeria and African society today because very few politicians have the interest of the masses at heart while many are selfish and corrupt.
“In Matthew 5:13-16, the Bible calls us the salt and the light of the world. As you know, salt’s value is seen only when it is added. This means that the usefulness of every grain of salt is in its adding value.
” Also, a lamp is useless if it does not give light. Salt is a preservative which means as believers, we have been raised by God to preserve the societal value and norms of our day.
“Light brings illumination thereby expelling darkness. So, as believers, we must make a difference when we get elected, appointed or promoted into high office.”
