One of our fathers in the Lord sometimes ago called all Christians in this country to begin to send torrent of curses on all anti-Christian elements in the country. He said it is high time we arose as great soldiers of God and fight with prayers of fire and brimstone on God’s enemies.
As much as I agree with him that Christians are supposed to be soldiers in the army of the Lord; his call for rain of curses on the supposed ENEMIES of the Cross of Christ call to mind a lot of questions:

 Who are the enemies of God?
 Is Boko Haram responsible for the Nation’s woes?
 What does the Christian body need, prayer of curses or prayer of repentance
 Will Nigeria problems be solved if Boko Haram and its sponsors are nibbed in the mud?
 What are the responsibilities of the Church and the Church leaders in the Nation building?

WHO ARE THE ENEMIES OF GOD?

Philipians 3:18 – 19 says “For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the Cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things”.
From here, it is clearly stated that it is not only those who persecute the name of Christ and His followers that are the enemies of God but majorly those who are in the church but not in Christ. Those who have the form of godliness but denying the power thereof; the mixed multitude in the church and those who use the name of Christ to enrich their pockets and at the same time fulfill their fleshly lusts even at the expense of others. The self-indulgent Christians, people who claim to be Christians but can’t live up to Christ’s model of servant-hood and self-sacrifice. As Tyndale rightly put it: “Such people satisfy their own desires before even thinking about the needs of others”. They do not realize that the freedom that Christ gives to Christians does not in any way mean freedom to be selfish. It means taking every opportunity to serve and to become the best person you can be.

God frowns at and sees as His enemies those who live to appease their appetites, those who believe so strongly in their greatness that they become slaves to pride, those who are so concerned with earthly trivia that during worship, their minds wander. They are so consumed with work that worship and brotherly love is so inconvenient; so busy planning the next party and church events that there is not time for prayer; so engrossed in material possessions and fame that righteousness is shunned. Deacons in the church but demons at home; ministers in the church but monsters in the place of work; preachers on the pulpit but perverts at work; saints in the church but satan in the society.

These vices and more are what is prevalent in the church today. Our pulpit has been turned to money-making machines where truth can no longer be told in order not to push out the tithe payers. Where members are indirectly instigated to be corrupt and live beyond their means. Righteousness, peace, self-denial, temperance, patience, love (for God, friends and foes), hope, longsuffering, goodness, faith, meekness, even Jesus and His redemptive work on Calvary is no longer preached. What we have now are messages that will tickle the fancy of the congregation, that will encourage theft, covetousness, pride, worldliness, hatred, corruption, envy, fornication etc. nobody prays for righteousness and salvation of souls and desire to be more like Christ anymore; if anybody does, it is only mentioned in the passing, to fulfill all righteousness. What we have today are prayers of define turn-around, fire on enemies (real & imagined), double, triple and multiple promotions, someone should die so that one can access his divine destiny, prayer for latest mansions, cars and private jets. All these that we may consume it upon our lusts. And we complain of corruption and evil in the land!?

In essence therefore, the church of today is the real enemy of God; like the Israelites, though chosen, we have lost our first love and turned to idols (our belly, pride and flesh).

IS BOKO HARAM RESPONSIBLE FOR THE NATIONS WOES?

My candid answer is No! What is responsible for this Nation’s woes is unrighteousness in every home and total disregard to God and godliness.
The bible says: “righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people”. Examples abound in the scriptures of nations (especially Israel) that received divine judgment as a result of their unrighteous life-style. Our beloved country – Nigeria has been plunged into total darkness and completely enslaved by evil; right from our homes, to the Local, State and Federal government. The church that is supposed to be the light in our darkness has lost its credibility and the home its values.

The fact remains that the greatest contributor to the plight of this blessed nation is the church! The church leadership is doing nothing (their messages even encourage it) to check the process of decivilising men in the name of vast organizations, of destroying the spring of tenderness, of compassion, of fellow-feeling in human heart. The need of the nation today is human unity and the church is proving to be great obstacle in its way. Even most denominations don’t see face to face. We have departed from our original purity, lost our dynamic vigour and degenerated into arrogant sects. The spiritual inspiration has been buried under irrational habits and mechanical practices.

If only ten percent (10%) of the population of Christians in this nation genuinely have the life of Christ in them, then, the nation will surely experience greatness and tranquility! Ten percent of Christians I say who are genuinely broken, saved and Christ-like are more than what God need to change the fortunes of this nation. God said, if I can see just ten people in Sodom who are righteous, then I will not destroy it.
Boko Haram, bad leadership are only instruments in the hand of God to punish our Sin. If we can have an handful of true Christians who are selfless, loving and godly; who will not take or give bribe nor lie, who will discharge their duty in their little offices faithfully and without prejudice, who will not lust after their neighbour’s spouses, who will take the law of the land seriously and obey it, who will not keep malice with their neighbours, who will be good example to their spouses and children in words, actions and disposition, who will shun religion and cleave to righteousness, who will love peace and pursue it at all cost; then, we will have a happy nation.

WHAT DOES THE CHURCH NEED, PRAYER OF CURSES OR PRAYER OF REPENTANCE

The scripture says: “if my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and will heal their land” 2 Chronicles 7:14.
It is very clear here brothers and sisters, for our land to be healed and for peace to be restored; we must humble ourselves and seek the face of God in a heart-felt repentance. Here lies the solution to our problems.

Someone asked me one day: “are we not praying enough in this nation, why is it that with all our prayers, things are not turning for the best”? Yes! We do pray in this nation and am not sure if we have a country that prays or is more religious than Nigeria in the whole world. However, how do you expect the righteous God to answer the prayers of a totally evil people? Those who pray and praise like angels but act and talk like monsters once they step out of the church. Those that leave the church to brothels and bear parlors after each service. Those that pay fat tithes and offering from money stolen from the country and their fellow humans. Those that will do anything to make money so they can be known and respected in the church. Those that leave the point of prayer to shed innocent blood and you can go on and on.

The good Lord will not answer such prayers for bible says: “Behold the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear. But your iniquities (sin, unrighteousness) have separated between you and your God and your sins have hid his face from you that He will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity, your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness (irritable words). None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth; they trust in vanity and speak lies; they conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity.” Isaiah 59: 1 – 4. Emphasis mine. So, it is very clear that given our present corruption within and without; we are only wasting our energy praying for vengeance.

What the church as well as the nation needs now is a prayer of repentance. We need to turn back to our God and seek Him in truth. We must put aside all these religious activities and seek the Lord with the whole of our heart. We as a matter of urgency, must see the evil in our ways and like the prodigal son, return back to our heavenly Father with total humility. We must go to the Lord and ask for the grace to forsake all lies and pursuit of vanity and He will heal our land!

Let us remember Nineveh who after hearing the pronouncement of God’s judgment on them quickly saw the evil in their doings and repented. The repentance did not just involve the low class alone but every citizen of that county. From the president to the lowest citizen did repent and prayed and the judgment of God was stayed on them. Fellow Nigerians and brethren in Christ, if only we can take this step as a church and nation, Boko Haram, bad leadership and corruption will fizzle out of the country totally.

“Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the LORD and He will have mercy upon him and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” Isa 55:7. Remember the nation of Israel; they were specially chosen by God but each time they turn from God to evil, they were punished but genuine repentance always brought about great deliverance. Let the church repent from its pursuit of vanity and the nation from its evil and total disregard for God and godliness and we will give birth to a nation of peace and prosperity.

WHAT ARE THE RESPONSIBLITIES OF THE CHURCH AND ITS LEADERSHIP IN THE NATION BUILDING?

Time and space will not permit me to list out the responsibilities of the church in our nation building. However, all of these responsibilities can be summed up in these words: “be the light of the nation”.

Our Lord Jesus, the savior of the whole world says in Matthew 5:13 – 16 that we are the salt and light of the world. He said if the salt loses its flavour, it becomes good for nothing but to be cast out and be trodden under the foot of men. Little wonder why the MOGs are ridiculed everywhere. The church has lost its saltiness. We as Christians must make effort to affect the world around us. If we don’t we are of little or no value to God. If we are too much like the world, we are worthless. Christians should not blend with everyone else or join the multitude to do evil. Instead, we should affect others positively, just as seasoning brings out the best flavor in food.

The Lord said, we as the light of the nation must shine before all men that they may see our good works and glorify our heavenly Father. This simply means that we should live our life for Christ. Like Christ, we are to live in such a way that no one will be able to point an accusing finger at us for any wrong doing. If we live for Christ, we glow like lights, showing others what Christ is like in power, righteousness, humility, peace, spirit, words and selflessness.

The question then is: how can we be the light of the nation?

First, we must learn to speak out against evil! We must never keep quiet when we are supposed to speak. The work of Martin Luther King Jr and Desmond Tutu come to mind. These were preachers who vehemently spoke out against evil and oppression in their land and the world cannot forget the great impart their words had and is still having in the history of the world. It is so amazing to see our preachers and MOGs in this country totally silent against evil. Could it be that they benefit from the corruption that is in the land in one way or the other? Are they scared of losing their vast wealth if they speak out against evil and bad leadership in the land? Are they afraid of teaching their congregation the truth about Christian living because it may reduce their financial harvest at church services? It is so disheartening to know that most churches have become wonder banks and avenues for money laundering. The poor and the less privileged are looked down on and rich and powerful are praised and respected not minding the source of their wealth. Truth and justice have been totally erased from the dictionary of many so-called MOGs. This ought not to be so, as Christians and preachers, we like our Lord, supposed to be stern against oppression, corruption and stealing in every sphere of life. We must desist from preaching sermons that will encourage stealing, covetousness, jealousy and corruption. Let us preach message that will make man to seek righteousness first, and trust God for daily provision - Matthew 6:33.

Secondly, we must not go along with the crowd. The statement: “if you cannot beat them, you join them” must be totally erased from our vocabulary. Our light should show the world the evil in their ways rather than blending with the evil in the world. We must not join the world to give or receive bribe. We must not be seen walking in immorality or speaking abusive words. We must not be seen cutting corners or looking for quick way of making money but rather work hard, be creative and trust God for blessing and upliftment. If and when we become rich, we must not trust in uncertain riches but help the needy and relief the oppressed. We must not be known as drunkards and wife beater or husband abusers. Our life must be the change agent and not change with the world.

Moreover, we must not deny the light. Most Christians turn to monsters when devil presents crooked opportunity for them to make money. They quickly deny the blood that save them. They jump at every opportunity to be violent or abusive. They cannot be cheated or insulted; they quickly let down their faith and show whosoever cares that they are not fools. They have forgotten the words of our Lord that whosoever cannot carry his OWN cross and follow Christ cannot be His disciple. They fall at little oppositions and challenges. This ought not to be so; we must hold on to our faith and never compromise our light.

Also, Christians and its leadership must not allow sin to dim their light. We must know that though we are in the flesh, we must not walk according to the dictate of the flesh. Truly, the world is corrupt and a lot of devilish activities are in the air; these notwithstanding, Christians, must keep their garment pure and untainted by the corruption of the world. We must be watchful, prayerful and run from every appearance of evil. We must study the word of God and prayerfully obey its instructions. We must realize that God does not want us to indulge in sin or any unrighteous act and as such we must constantly guide our soul from the corruption of the world.

We must also point the world to the Light. The whole world is in darkness and it is the duty of every Christian to point the only Light that can illuminate the world to it. We must realize that we are not the light but a reflection of the Light. Many pastors and MOGs have turn themselves to demi-gods requiring the worship of other men. They have forgotten the example of servant hood that Jesus laid for all who will serve Him. We must go back to preaching Christ and His redemptive work on the cross in order for this Light to illuminate the whole world. We must tell the world that in Jesus only is life and the life is the light of men. We must preach righteousness at every opportunity we have whether the people like it or not; we are not here to please man but God. The bible says He is the true Light that lights every man that comes into the world. We must tell the whole world that it is only through Christ that power to live a righteous life can be gotten. We must desist from preaching about the glory of this world and tell people about how they can be redeemed from the corruption of the world. We must remember the scripture that says: “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” 1 Corinthians 15:19

Lastly, we can shine our lights by caring for the needs of others. We must learn from of Lord Jesus who “was going about doing good”. He was compassionate and always helped those in need. Christians are supposed to be caring and loving to everyone, both friends and foes, rich and poor. The whole scriptures, old and new testament is full of God’s injunction to His people to care for the needy. Christian life connotes selfless life. We must wake up from our selfish lifestyle and begin to think about others even as we think about ourselves. We must desist from building great edifices while neglecting those young members of the church who don’t have anyone to pay for their school fees. We have enough church buildings; let us start building industries for our young graduates to work in. Let us help those in the hospital, visit those in the prison, clothe those that are naked, comfort the grieved, help the widow and fatherless, invest in the economy of the nation.

Let be that beacon of truth and don’t let us shut our light off from the rest of the world!

Righteousness will uplift this nation!