Unity Over Division: Healing the Church and Nigeria Through Togetherness

I am a strong believer in the spirituality of self. But I am finding the divisiveness in the body of Christ and our country very discomforting. I pray that God shall grant us the wisdom to know that the more united we are, the better for us all.

Though we may differ in our approaches to issues, but the ultimate focus should be on Christ Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Not s/he that leads us. We should respect our leaders, serve them, make provisions for the church to function, but not making deities of them.

Divisiveness and rivalries in religious settings or society started many thousand years ago. Compounding the divisions in the church system for example was the following of big names in religious circles instead of following Christ Jesus. People of all ages have found ways of dealing with these differences, and we too must begin to do just that if we must survive the present day travails and hardships.

The above led Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians: 10-13 to beg the early church to do away with divisions and rivalries. He asked the divided church system then, “Is Christ divided, or have I Paul, been crucified for you? Have you been baptized in the name of Paul”

I also found it a little curious when he said, “Christ did not send me to baptize, but to proclaim his gospel. Whao!. But compartmentalization of offices seems to have given way to unitary systems like most earthly governments in our everyday life.

Incidentally, this time, we the followers are the ones, who decide to worship personalities and not the Christ Jesus the preachers proclaim to us. I have never seen a preacher say pray to God in my name. But gradually, we are the ones pushing many to break away from the body of Christ because we also want to be in the inner cabinet to make decisions or seek relevance or simply to answer GO, Man of God, Papa and Mama this and that.

I am sore worried that the divisiveness and the destructive pride in today’s church system, which do not seem to be helping society is destroying the moral fabric of our dailly existence.

It is on this note, I join Apostle Paul of blessed memory this morning using his words, and say to us as a people, “I beg of you, brothers, in the name of Christ Jesus our Lord, do agree among yourselves and do away with divisions.”

The unity I preach this morning within the body of Christ should also be extended to all tribes in disunity and factions across Nigeria.

Divisiveness cannot give us the desired dividends of democracy. Disunity can cannot lead to our development. The more divided we are, the more polarized our political spaces will become and the more poverty we shall slide into.

If all warring groups within the Nigerian space can begin to gravitate toward each other and embracing peace, this could be the beginning of sanitizing our dysfunctional systems, to rid it of the decadence, poverty, corruption, avarice and conflicts, which conflict entrepreneurs capitalize on to further pauperize us.

I want to see Nigeria great again, and we all can make it happen. Grace and peace!!!