Kill that antichrist

When I visited a family a few days to Christmas, I almost wanted Christmas postponed. I had met the man of the house mourning the death of the cockerel he had managed to procure for the festivities. Alas, it suddenly dropped dead due to inexplicable reasons. As the man lamented his woes, I wondered if it would not be better to defer the annual event to a later date.
It was not because I had forgotten the import of the celebration. Rather, it was because of the wretchedness of this poor Nigerian and many others. Many could not afford a few cups of rice because since the price shot to the rooftop and refused to come down, evil merchants resorted to turning plastic to rice and for fear of eating poison unawares, many families stayed off rice altogether. Many parents could not afford to buy new clothes or shoes for their children either. But seeing the bustling business at Cele Express under-bridge “bend-down-boutique” in Lagos, where mothers struggled to buy two-two-hundred naira clothes for their kids and wards and even some ‘big babes’ among them on Friday, I nodded resignedly that surely Nigeria’s change had come in different hues.
So, celebrate we must and here’s wishing you a merry Christmas. I really hope yours was truly merry.
However, as we bury this year and birth another, something worries me more than dead cockerel and plastic rice. I have realised that as we religiously await the manifestation of the Antichrist, we have unwittingly allowed small antichrists to fester in our midst. It is true that hunger has thrown up a lot of charlatans, making Automatic Teller Machines of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is also true that babalawos now wear suits behind varnished pulpits, ‘winning souls.’ It is true that fraudsters have turned the offering till into next meal ticket. But what difference does that really make? The babalawo knows he is still babalawo; so do the fraudster and all the sick hirelings of satan, spoiling the broth of salvation. Did Shakespeare not tell us that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet? In other words, a new name does not change babalawo, even if he camouflages as arch-pope.
How can a man of God so called bring comedians onto the altar of God, cracking inane jokes even against the Holy Ghost, just to entertain and pull crowd? When did the church become an amphitheatre? A man of God so called asks women to come to church with cucumber as big as they want their husbands’ John Thomases to be; and women shamelessly troop there, armed with cucumbers and faithfully praying for the miracle of transformation. A man of God so called tells men to fondle their JT if they want theirs enlarged, and you see men rushing to the altar to have a feel. A man of God so called tells women to submit their breasts to his lecherous mouth to suck out the demons therein and they comply; some even submit to sexual deliverance. Are these men of God or dog of men? Shame! O foolish Nigerians, who bewitched you? (Galatians 3:1).
“How do you treat God?” Wanda Jackson asked in her epic song, “Like a God or d-o-g?”
My problem is not really with these sons of Baalim but with those that chose to be hoodwinked by opting for the broad easy way to wonky miracles. Knowing that his day is up, the devil has unleashed his latter day armies in these last days and that is why these atrocities long foretold are intensifying today. My problem also is with those that have become evangelists of satan, through whom he has seized the airwaves to propagate his gospel, thus casting a slur on the church of Christ. The mass media is awash with daily abominable activities in the churches. Even pastors, who may not really be any better, devote much of their messages to the activities of these deviants, thereby discouraging the saints. The world rejoices with hilarity over the fall of that ‘powerful evangelist’ without even confirming his true identity. After all, he bears a Christian name and runs a church. So what? Don’t chairs stay the most in churches; are they too Christians? Have you not read (Matthew 17:22) that on the last day God would deny knowing the self-called hobos; why then impose them on God?
Why is the world so titillated when a brother falls into sin? Why do they not bother about the ritualists and occultic men in high places? Why does the world celebrate debauchery and octane moral depravity but feel scandalised over a little imperfection in the church? What is so special about the church? Is it not human institution, imperfect as any other? Where do we find saints on earth? Granted, the church is supposed to hold up hope for crumbling humanity but, no, the saints are all in heaven, not inside the church. The church is only a place for sinners, transforming to saints.
Let us rise against this Janus-faced world. A world that does not see evil in porn, homosexuality and lesbianism. A world that encourages ladies to cook their fetuses in approved abortions. A world that elevates occultists to positions of power and influence. A world that gives front seats to ritualists that pound innocent babies to powder in search of wealth. A world so much in a hurry to tan the church black but easily distributes accolades and premium titles to known gangsters of corruption. So, before running your diarrheic mouth against men of God (and the church), beware of God’s wrath (Numbers 12:1-9).
Nevertheless, Christians must remain conscious of their calling as Christians; be the salt and light of the world, bearing in mind that God’s judgment would begin in His house (1Peter 4:17). Let Christians be true and be not like those that only have a form of godliness but without power (2 Timothy 3:5). Let those that are true to their calling remain ever so; not easily discouraged because the message of the cross is foolishness to the perishing (1 Corinthians 1:18).
Before the Antichrist’s soon appearing, let us not kill the church. Let us rather kill the antichrists in us. Whoever runs down the church is antichrist, whether the person is a Christian or not. Those who feed the world with the fodder will reap the same death as those who light the fire. Jesus is the rock of offence (1Peter 2:8); many are already stumbling and falling. How about you; will you stand or fall?