Nigeria - A cleric, Bishop Olu Lawrence, says the church needs to play its role in advancing the nation's political course through involvement of credible and anointed pastors to right the wrong of this country. Lawrence the pastor of the Bethel Worship Centre, Sapele, Delta State, said for a nation to make progress, its leaders must be God-fearing and be right with God, adding that if true ministers of God participate in the political system, righteousness and holiness shall prevail to tackle all the forces of unrighteousness and corrupt tendencies of this country. Lamenting the hypocrisy among pastors, the conference speaker said pastors who pretend to have God's calling and establish churches all over the place surreptitiously for material benefits and mundane desires at the detriment of spiritual upbringing of their flocks are known by their fruits and will eventually be sifted from the wheat and cut-off as chaffs.

Lawrence, who embarked on a one-week spiritual enlightenment in Delta State in a programme, 'Light The Nation,' stated that his vision for the programme was borne out of a desire to enlighten the public through pastors to preach and teach the people on the declining political development in the country.

Pastor Chris Okotie and Pastor Tunde Bakare need to be encouraged against the backdrop of the passive role of pastors and other clerics that are shying away from addressing political instability in the country, he said.

'While this programme is meant to get ministers of God to face squarely their original calling, preaching and teaching through crusades and campaigns to the political class to abhor 'Do or Die' kind of elections, Light The Nation is targeted at attacking greed and other corrupt tendencies of the society through pastors touched by God to deliver the people,' he said.

While praying for the souls of pastors who fall prey to the influence of rich politicians, Lawrence bemoaned the silence of the church over corruption that is manifest in high and low places of the society.

According to him, 'I condemn pastors' inability to check this ignoble acts among their flocks simply because their hands are soiled and thereby cannot rebuke any sinful acts of their followers.

'It is difficult for such pastors to preach righteousness to them because they have lost their positions in the sight of God, yet they need to go back to God's calling and condemn evil in all its ramifications,' he said.

Sam Akadoro

Daily Independent/13/04/2011