My Conversation mostly on Kenya's election as a Kenyan Christian

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Someone (born again) ambushed me with a question and he was very sincere,

“Should there be a separation between the church and the state?”.

I wanted to be very honest but something came to my mind and I asked myself before I asked him this question, “Why and what has triggered this question?”. I came to realize that this person was tired with competitive politics mostly in our country now, and he was trying to wish that God would one time say this term I would like all Kenyans to vote for Candidate No 10, because to him God is being so silent and he is just watching how everything is going on in our land. I know right now you have listed an answer that probably you would have given to him.

This has made me remind myself of two incidences in the formation of the first Church, first in the book of Acts 1:12-26, I came to realize that there were 120 gathered in prayer in one accord, and Peter realized that Judas has to be replaced and being that all other apostles were there, they started by being selective before being elective. They said first they want everyone who was with them all the time they were with which was very specific, because they wanted people who started walking besides Jesus from the day He was baptized until the day He ascended to heaven. To me this is a person who has been a disciple of Jesus although not listed among the 12 disciples. Then they selectively appointed two, that is Joseph and Barnabas. So after this appointment then came election (casting of lots). When looking at this I asked myself “this was the first Church, and God did not Tell them, “Pick Mathias”. I overheard someone state that God is not a democratic person BUT a dictator. I have tried to understand why but nobody has given me enough reason to believe it, but God is only “PURPOSEFULL” He chooses a leader for the sake of the people. God is purposeful, He gives us a leader depending on the place He wants us to go and He chooses the best person who can lead his people to the place. So in the selecting and electing Mathias God did not intervene because I believe that He knew exactly that if these people were thinking and were having His mind they will have no problem and also before they did anything they would have prayed first before they went to selection and also before casting their lots.

The second scenario was also in the same book of Acts 6:1-7, when they wanted to select 7 people to help them handle the management of food and other distributions and storage. I have seen here also the 12 apostles called the multitude and the disciples told them to look among them and bring out 7 men, of honest report and full of the Holy Spirit and also wise to be appointed to help in the business of managing the food. In simple there was pre-qualification for selection before election. Looking at this, I realized that God was not asked here to direct them on who to pick, also the Apostles did not participate in appointing BUT the multitude and the other disciples. That is the same as what I believe is happening in Kenya now in this season. The opening verse has just pictured exactly what is happening in Kenya, where there are these people and those other people. This tribe and that other tribe, this is a pure division and there the 12 Apostles who came on board and gave wise counsel not as supporting these people or those people or Hebrews or Grecians. At this time in the book of Acts there was The Sanhedrin, these were part of the Israel leadership and also there was the Romans who was the Governing Authority there. But my point in this setup is that in the book of Acts, which is the same as our nation at this point in time where people if allowed to have an opportunity to choose the right people they can choose, but the problem in Kenya resembles the one God mentioned to prophet Ezekiel in Ezekiel 22:23-30. When God was talking to Ezekiel He listed to him four categories,

The Priests, the Godly people who should be speaking to God about the issues of the people, these are people who stand in between men and God.
The Princes, These are the leaders of the people, the God chosen people to help in running and managing the human and material resources.
The Prophets, These are now the voices of God, these are the people who say things as God wants it and as God has just said it, they don’t speak before God speaks.
The People, these are now the recipients and the constituents or the citizens, while the previous three are there for them.

God told Ezekiel that there is a conspiracy with prophets to devour souls, they have taken precious thing and left many widows. Looking in this season we have many prophet springing up to prophecy of this election and many lazy Christians who want to be directed are held captive by these prophets. The priests have also violated God’s law, they have NOT put a clear distinction between the clean and the unclean, the Holy from the unholy and also God says He is also profane among them, the most paradoxical statement, God being profane among His priests. Then the prince are shedding blood, destroying souls just to get dishonest gains, and the prophets are justifying what the prince are doing by approving them by “God said”. The people also have inherited this and they are robbing the poor, and oppressing the strangers wrongly.

I think this scenario takes me back to the discussion “Should there be a separation between the church and the state?” Looking at this scenario as how God described this to Ezekiel. I said, “YES THERE SHOULD BE”. Looking at these two scenarios, because in the book of Acts people were still paying taxes but were also helping the needy. In the book of Ezekiel when there is a conspiracy and the Church leaders collude with political leaders there is a real mess in the country, county, constituency and community. If the Spiritual leaders are going to put a clear distinction between the Holy and the unholy, then the prophets speaks the direction of God and the priests teach the law and interpret it well, even the leaders will change. By this I believe the people will have no alternative because they will see, know and observe the laws of God as directed by the priests.

In our conversation we tried to start by eliminating things by asking ourselves questions like;

Where is our (Country, County, Constituency, Ward) going to help us know who is right for the Job?
Can a political party help in identifying who is able to do the job?
Can a person’s ethnicity help us identify who is the best person for the Job?
Do I know all the candidates who are vying for the same position, and what do I know about them?
As a servant of God, do I pray for all of them? So that the winner will humble him/herself knowing that it is God and honour God. Do i pray also for the looser that he/she will humble and know that it is God’s will and respect the verdict. Are we also praying for the IEBC that they NOT only be independent BUT THEY DEPEND on God to help them run a free and fair election.
After getting a choice of people to elect, do i impose them on others or also others have their own choices?
Is another person choice a threat to me? If yes why?

I don’t know the criteria of knowing the best person but what I know is if you are voting someone because;

You are related
He is coming from your community
He is coming from your tribe
He is an aspirant from a political party of your choice
He is handsome or beautiful
He is a good orator
He has alot of money (which you cannot substantiate the sources) and he is giving it out.

I request that as you are choosing who to vote for let among the seven fail to become your priority in selection.

But later we realized that the elected person will be

Related to a person
Coming from a Tribe
Hailing from one community
They will also be beautiful or ugly
Coming from a Political party or independent candidate
Either good or bad orator

But all these are discovered later but not the determinant factors.

Also let us pray for this nation and all the candidates not partially but with pure heart and God will just show you and directly talk to you concerning each one of them. And this is why the Church should be separate from the state simply to help keep the state in the spiritual radar and purpose of God. In the issue of praying we came to reflect the words of Anwar Sadat who said “We can not as a society continue to cover wickedness with piety and hypocrisy”. Sometimes it becomes a little bit technical to try to think that the politicians are like staying in their own island and coming to see us during the elections and then they move back to their land after the elections. But the realities hits us that these people are our relatives, we sleep, eat, talk, walk even pray with them. These politicians go to churches, mosques which means they have spiritual authorities over them. So this brings me back to Sadat’s statement really, “Can we as a society continue to cover wickedness with piety and hypocrisy? this is looking at the issue of prayer for our politicians and our nations during politics, while the people we are praying for are part of us. I am not against ‘peace prayer s’ but if I will be kneeling to pray for a politician who is either my son, wife, husband, daughter, brother and also a sister to be right while I am benefitting from his/her malpractices am I not a hypocrite here? If I know I am the spiritual authority of an aspirant and I cant tell him this is wrong and then try to call for national prayer retreat. I will lead the prayer retreat but I have not guts to tell the politician the laws of God. The prophets used to do that in the old Testament and that is what brought a statement in the bible in 1 Samuel 15:22-23 “…….Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams”. The spiritual leaders benefits from what God said is unholy in the first place and then they call for prayer. I was watching Fredie aka budaboss as he was speaking in some church related issues, I wish to direct you to his youtube channel “budaboss live” watch episodes 38, 39 and 40.

Budaboss live 38. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwC6b9ktYQ4
Budaboss live 39. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox3hV1bypCc
Budaboss live 40. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vT73mSIvruM

When looking at these issues is just the same as the one we have read from the book of Ezekiel if the nation has a conspiracy then we cant blame the politicians who every Sunday goes to a church or a mosque and both of them have spiritual leaders. These are our leaders, like God told Ezekiel they don’t know what is profane and what is Holy and the politicians, priests, prophets and the people are very selfish as a people they have failed to love their neighbors as they love themselves, and the second Greatest commandments after love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul and with all your strength, Mark 12:30-31. I have seen intercessors leave their intercessory for the words of politicians and this is what is eroding this country. Even the key leaders in churches and mosques are also selling ethnicity in their pulpits. Mahatma Gandhi articulated seven social sin;

Politics without principles,
Wealth without work,
Pleasure without conscience,
Knowledge without character,
Commerce without morality,
Science without humanity, and
Worship without sacrifice.

But when i look at all these, I have realized that “power” has put them in reach and that is why in Politics mostly in Africa, Kenya mainly “The love for power has overcome the power of love”. And Mahatma Gandhi adds up that, “Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary”. Then Leo Tolstoy puts it extremely clear that “All violence consists in some people forcing others, under threat of suffering or death, to do what they do not want to do”. In Africa is where violence is mostly used to attain power while the people you are forcing or threatening or even killing are the people you would like to lead, and your vocation is mainly to serve them, this has connected me to another statement made by Leo Tolstoy that,

“The vocation of every man and woman is to serve other people”. I still believe that these are among the statement which inspired Nelson Mandela and brought about his passion to go through oppression and incarceration because he knew he was a “servant” and when he made his speech he had to articulate this very clearly. “During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons will live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for. But, my lord, if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

Such kinds of statement have been made in the bible like Esther “…..and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.” Est. 4:16,

Paul for the sake of his love for Christ said “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain”, Phil 1:2.

But because of Esther’s love for the people she said “..if I perish I perish” and Paul also reinstated “to die is gain”.

These are statements made out of love for God and people not out of love for power. But every leader is purposely “serve people” but if anybody can demean, devalue, rob or even kill the person he/she is suppose to serve, then it changes the equation “it is the love for power” because the power of lover will propel you to have a passion to protect the people.

In simple the “Church” is the body of Christ and all born again Christians are ambassadors of the kingdom of God in the nations they are in. The bible says that the government shall be upon His shoulder and His government shall increase, be peaceful and has no end Isaiah 9:6-7.

Stephen Odiwuor

Stephen is a born again Christian who loves the Lord. He is the founder and Director of [DSI] Divine Seekers International. He is Spiritually gifted in teaching and pastoring and called to develop others through writing, training, mentoring and teaching. A Husband, a father and also a mentor to many.

Divineseekers.org

My Conversation mostly on Kenya’s election as a Kenyan Christian

Stephen Odiwuor

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