by Shadrach Bako

It is wise to delay judgement,  at least, until you hear from both sides and have all the facts available to you,  otherwise,  you’ll jump into something you don’t have a clue about and end up vilifying an innocent person for a wrong they did not commit.

People can do just about anything and go any length to tarnish a person’s image,  especially if they have a personal rift with that person. This is why it is advisable to verify the authenticity of any story you hear/read online from source one by approaching source two to get their own version. Where it is not possible to hear directly from them,  read what they’ve written about the issue (if any); read thoroughly,  in between the lines; If you’re wise,  you’d be able to know who’s telling a lie,  guilty,  being personal or trying to vilify the other. This is wisdom.

A few days ago,  I had written on my Facebook wall that I would be responding to “a woman masquerading as a critic of Hallelujah Challenge.” Well,  that woman is no other than Joy Isi Bewaji, the CEO of Happenings Radio.

I was ready to tear her to shreds. My mind was made up. I was going to give it to her like she had never seen before. I was going to throw caution to the wind and call her names she’d never been called before. And why?…because I read a rejoinder wherein a self-styled writer,  attacked her perspective on Hallelujah Challenge, with very strong and bitter words,  which made me develop instant hatred towards her,  for “presumably” attacking the Christian religion.

Thank God I delayed judgement. Thank God I did not only read her original post,  where it was said that or made to look like she killed Jesus,  but followed through and read almost everything I could find on her wall. Thank God,  because I would have maybe made a big mistake in the way I would have approached the matter.

For the records,  I don’t know this woman in person,  I have never met her,  and probably never will. Hence,  my intention is not to endorse or condemn her,  but to take into perspective her opinion on the ongoing Hallelujah Challenge, to contrast them with those of mine,  to gauge her opinions on the scale of logic and truth and to find the place of wisdom,  in all of this.

Please,  before I proceed,  kindly take a moment to read Joy’s complete unedited thoughts on the  Hallelujah Challenge.

Indeed,  not only should one shake their head in deep retrospection of the active role religion has played in relegating this abundantly blessed nation to the background and making it a mockery before comity of nations, after reading the thoughts of Joy,  but it should provoke any open-minded, development conscious,  lover of truth and lover of this entity called Nigeria,  into soul-searching. Although I do not agree with everything she wrote there (which I will come to a bit later),  many of her assertions are, unfortunately,  the bitter reality,  based on logic. I would quote just one part from her piece, that sums up all she said:

“Religion makes us vulnerable, self-centred and clearly delusional. It attacks our rational and coherent capacity.”

Indeed it does. To deny this would be evil. Religion has been a major stumbling block against our collective unity and progress as a people. Not only has it made us vulnerable,  self-centered, delusional and attacked our coherent capacity,  it has made us gullible,  stupid,  naive and lazy.

Now, I wouldn’t know how much of what she said could be termed as “attack on Hallelujah Challenge,” or why. What I do know is that her points are legit from a logical point of view and it is only normal for an open-minded and educated person to easily relate to them.

Here’s something to note though.

When Gospel music act, Nathaniel Bassey,  made the announcement to lead a social media challenge tagged the ‘Hallelujah challenge,’ he did not say it was about Nigeria. In fact, at NO point did he say the Hallelujah challenge was going to change anything about Nigeria or better the lots of Nigerians. It is important that we know this and put it into perspective,  so as not to deviate from the topic. Here’s more on the inspiration that led Bassey to start the online praise and worship challenge.

While speaking in an exclusive interview with Entertainment News on Channels Television, the singer explained that he was led by the Holy Spirit to conduct the midnight music and worship session.

“It started as an inspiration from God, it was the leading of the holy spirit and that was following up on something we call the “Tongue challenge” which was initially praying for one hour every month,” he said.

“In the month of May, when we were done, I just sensed that God wanted us to praise him in the month of June, in the midnight hour based on Acts 16:25-26 and the kind of praise should be the hallelujah kind of praise.”

(Excerpts from Channels TV online)

To better understand where the inspiration of Bassey came from, let’s see the book of Acts Chapter 16 Verse 25 through 34  (NIV).

“25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.

27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped.

28 But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”

29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.

30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”

32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.

33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptised.

34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.”

There you have it. The Hallelujah challenge is NOT about making Nigeria better. It is not about seeking personal breakthrough or success. It is,  in fact, about fulfilling God’s directive to Bassey,  concerning His people. It is about the salvation of Christians. It is about spiritual edification. It is an inspiration from God,  as can be seen in the Scripture verses quoted above. Should we condemn a man for choosing to serve God in a way alien to us before now,  simply because it does not address Nigeria’s woes?

Verse 26, sums up all there is to know about Praise and worship vis-a-vis the Hallelujah Challenge. There’s power,  healing and deliverance in praise and worship. As a people of God-Christians-our faith is rooted in Christ Jesus, who’s our Lord and saviour. In other words,  Jesus Christ is the foundation upon which every other foundation is laid and without which NO OTHER foundation can stand. As Christians,  we do not believe in social institutions as our last resort or rest our hope on the government to deliver us from the quagmire we’ve found ourselves, in this unfair world. As Christians,  we believe in Christ Jesus and He is our ONLY hope.

It is a given that the Challenge would witness massive success,  not because we do not understand that we do need to stand up to the government for accountability,  write petitions and follow them through, stage protests or because we are foolish or whatever. It is a given that it would succeed because we are doing God’s anointed work. It is a given that it would succeed big time because it was commissioned by God Himself. Its success, thus far, is a testament to the claim of Bassey, that,  indeed, his inspiration came from God.

It is instructive at this juncture to point out and correct an error/misconception that is held by many. THERE’S A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEING A NIGERIAN AND BEING A CHRISTIAN. As a Christian,  you think about God, your personal relationship with Him, your spiritual growth and personal salvation. The preoccupation and primary duty of every Christian is salvation. Every other thing is secondary, including prosperity and riches. Functional social institutions are good and desirable. But we can and should be allowed to worship God in peace,  whichever way we desire, without thinking about the burden that Nigeria as a nation places on our shoulders.

When we’re not worshiping the Christian way,  we can be challenged and accused of acting with levity towards serious national issues bedevilling us as Nigerians. I hope you can catch my drift?

To condemn outright the Hallelujah  Challenge on the logic that it does not address Nigeria’s problems is not only misplaced and arrogant. It is naive and pretentious. It is like saying concerts should not hold in Manchester ever again simply because the UK government failed to protect the lives of about 22 people – including a number of children – who died after an explosion tore through a pop concert at Manchester Arena, on May 22, 2017.

Every nation has challenges. France,  the UK and the USA (all 1st world countries),  have come under terror attacks in recent months. Is it because their citizens are laid back towards active participation in governance as Nigerian Christians?  The answer is CAPITAL NO. It is because social institutions are failing. It is because social institutions have never been the reason why the human race has flourished and remained. It is because the prophecy about the end is coming through.

Please see Matthew 24:4-14 below. It talks about the end time.

“4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you.

5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.

6 You will hear of wars and rumours of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.

7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.

9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.

10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other,

11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.

12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,

13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

Praise God!

There are poor people in every country of the world. There are rape and murder cases that go under the carpet each day in every country of the world. There’s class dichotomy in every country of the world. Most of the problems we are facing in Nigeria are not uncommon in other nations of the world. The problem is that they are more open and more pronounced here,  not because Christians have chosen to worship God but because as Nigerians,  we have failed collectively as a unit to hold government accountable. It is important to note that Nigeria is not backwards because of the way and manner Christians choose to worship God,  but because we are naturally a fearful,  vengeful and hypocritical people that love to live in self-denial and lies.

Also, Joy’s “rants” about religion being the bane of Nigeria’s problems seems to centre ONLY around Christianity and Christians alone. Not anywhere in her wall did I find where she mentioned that Muslims should stop fasting because it does not address Nigeria’s problem. This is hypocrisy of the highest order. If you want to talk about religion as the bane of Nigeria’s woes,  talk about Islam. Talk about traditional worshipping,  Atheism,  Buddhism,   Hinduism and the rest. Don’t focus your energy on Christians and Christianity alone. Balance your rants. Don’t be obsessed with a religion that has been in existence long before you were conceived.

Here’s the place of wisdom.

Do not condemn what you do not understand. But knowing that you may not heed this friendly advice because you have a penchant for stoking the fire,  let me just say this: be prepared and ready for whatever is thrown at you. Threats about suing or using money/connection to intimidate anyone who throws caution to the wind simply they come at you with full force for attacking their beliefs will not work. When you attack the sensibilities of millions of Christians for going about conducting an activity that should be no business of yours,  be prepared for a backlash. The Holy Scriptures has this to say about wisdom:

“If the axe is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed, but skill (another word for wisdom) will bring success.” – Ecclesiastes 10:10

In other words,  wisdom is profitable to direct. Joy Isi Bewaji comes across as someone who’s very intelligent,  knowledgeable and widely read. But when it comes to the things of the spirit,  book knowledge is the least thing you need to understand God. There’s a place of knowledge and logic and there’s a place of truth and wisdom.

You need patience,  you need understanding and beyond all,  you need humility.

Mark Anthony could be forgiven for turning what should be a simple rejoinder into a personal tirade. But I can relate to why he acted in the way he did.

[Read also]: “The Hallelujah Challenge vs the Joy Isi Bewaji Challenge

I find it curious that Joy could jump into her inbox with the speed of light,  take screen shots of Anthony’s messages from 2015 just to shame the poor man before the world,  for asking her to help his hustle,  when all she needed to do was to respond to his messages.

Whatever happened to courtesy?

Whether you admit it or not, that singular act says a lot about her. The brother only asked for help that she could have responded to in seconds and put the issue to rest. He didn’t ask her to build him a house or buy him a car or dash him money. He asked for help, JESUS!

But what did she do?

Pride. She displayed an over bloated feeling of relevance. So she was not too busy after all; she saw,  read all of Anthony’s messages and deliberately out of pride and wickedness refused to respond to the young man. She actually read the poor man’s pleas and turned the other way without a word…only to use those same pleas years later to shame the young man. Chai!  People like Joy should be feared. The truth is, she has no moral standard or right to bring the way Christians choose to worship God into question.

Imagine if everyone in a position to help behaved like she did to Anthony? How can we move forward as a nation?

As it is, it appears to me Joy urgently need more fixing and change of attitude/mentality, than the entire #OlowoGgogboroGang and the Christian community in Nigeria.

I would quote some lines in Mark Anthony’s rejoinder, to drive home the point of the Hallelujah challenge.

“Nathaniel wants to CHANGE the face of worship among Internet-using Nigerians. He wants to draw us closer to that which the world has been chasing us from. He wants to show the devil that the phone we use in sexting and watching porn can also be used to serve God.”

“Guess what? He is achieving this thing easily. Every day the number keeps increasing. You said we should try the Science challenge and mental challenge.”

“We are waiting for scientists like you and mental people like you to kick it off so people who didn’t do Chemistry and Biology well in school can join you.”

Permit me to end this with a rhetorical question which I stole from a friend’s Facebook wall.

Can you take half of what you give to others?

I hope you can answer that, sincerely, for your own good.

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Op–ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija