Article of Faith
Beware of who you follow; Leaders are powerful -By Azuka Onwuka
I have attended different churches in recent times. I noticed that in some churches, nobody bothered with face masks or social distancing or hand sanitising. Handshakes and embraces were done as a show of love. I noticed that in churches like that, the leader of the church didn’t believe in the existence of COVID-19. Even when members of such churches die of COVID-19, it is seen as the way God wants it or blamed on other causes.
We wear face masks in my church in Lagos. You can’t come in if you are not wearing a mask. If you don’t have a mask, you are given one. If you remove yours while inside the church, a member of the Guild of Stewards will come to you and gently urge you to wear your mask. If you strongly don’t want to wear a mask, then you stay at home and follow the service online.
We also practise social distancing sitting arrangement. In addition, we have automatic hand sanitizer dispensers by each of the doors as well as a machine that sprays disinfectant on you as you enter the church.
We are people of immense faith. We believe in the healing power of Jesus. But we also believe that we need to do what is within our power to do.
We have seen those killed by COVID-19, some of them were our members, friends and relatives. We don’t want to take actions that will put other people at risk.
I have attended different churches in recent times. I noticed that in some churches, nobody bothered with face masks or social distancing or hand sanitising. Handshakes and embraces were done as a show of love. I noticed that in churches like that, the leader of the church didn’t believe in the existence of COVID-19. Even when members of such churches die of COVID-19, it is seen as the way God wants it or blamed on other causes.
Leaders are powerful. Whenever you see a leader who is a conspiracy theorist, his followers are usually strong conspiracy theorists. If a leader is peaceful and preaches peace, his followers are usually merchants of peace. If he preaches violence, his followers will be violent. If he insults people, his followers will insult people at the drop of a hat. If he preaches and practises integrity, his followers will strive towards integrity. If he celebrates materialism, his followers will do whatever is possible to acquire wealth. If he preaches love, his followers will exude love.
Charismatic leaders can even convince their followers not only to kill others but also to commit suicide and they will do it with ease.
Be careful who you listen to and who you follow as a spiritual leader, a political leader, a moral leader, a business leader or whatever leader.
