BEFORE YOU TAKE THAT OATH OF OFFICE...STOP & THINK

At the Sunday school in my parish this past Sunday same as in every other Sunday school class in RCCG world wide the topic of study was “Mission and You Part two”. This part of the study focused on Paul’s commitment to mission work (Romans 15:16-21). As part of the interactive class activity, members of the class were given sheets of paper, asked to rise up and recite in unison the contents of the paper which was a seven point declaration that expressed this commitment.

The first recitation was at best a cacophony of noise and our teacher had to stop us. She now took time to explain that what we were about to do was very serious and was a personal declaration

to do well by GOD. In her own words, “It would be better not to recite it if you can’t be committed o, this is like taking an oath, and it is better not to take one, than do so and then go contrary to what you have declared..hmmm, my brothers and sisters keep standing if you want to declare and for the others that are not sure, you can take your seat.”,

- For those who by now are wondering what I chose to do, please know that this is not about whether I stood or sat, - rather the crux of the matter for me at this point was the seemingly enormous nature of this task before the majority of the class. At the end of it all, the atmosphere in the class just sort of changed, people seemed to be caught up in sober reflection of sorts I guess, and probably running the events of the past minutes through their heads and maybe fully understanding the implications of what had just taken place. As I sat there, my mind just went off on a tangent and I started thinking about oaths in general and their implications and imminent consequences.I began to wonder if perhaps the levity with which the majority of us regard oaths, vows, declarations etc, we make in the name of THE ALMIGHTY GOD, FATHER OF JESUS CHRIST OUR SAVIOUR, is because we believe that no matter how much we stray outside the conditions of the pact we “swear” before HIM, HE always tempers justice with HIS MERCY.

I mean how else would you explain self professed Born Again Christians being more “of the world” than those in it; how do you explain spouses doing what they do to each other after the kind of strong vows they make to each other before God; how do you explain a President, governor, Senator and all other cadre of elective office holders including political office appointees taking an oath of office during their swearing in ceremony to put the people’s interest before self, yet a lusty grab of filthy lucre becomes the order of the day; how do you explain someone standing before a judge with hand on the Bible, solemnly swearing to tell the truth, yet the lies that spew forth from such lips can sink the Titanic for the second time. I guess it is this assumption of GOD’s mercy that gave rise to the Okijas and Umuleri Oath ceremonies and others of their ilk as well as the so called political cults by political kingmakers aka godfathers, whose main tactic is to maintain a stranglehold on their minions by having them live in fear of the imminent threat of despicable consequences hanging over them if they renege on their oaths.

As I sat there still lost in thought, I realized that the assumption of GOD’s mercy for every misdeed did not hold water anymore, Mercy is HIS prerogative and HE shows it on those HE chooses to show it to – so many Bible facts attest to that-. At that very moment, I realized just how seriously GOD takes these oaths and declaration we make in his Name. Unlike these toy gods, HE doesn’t need to read the riot act every time we enter an agreement with HIM for us to know there is a price to pay; no need for HIM to reel out the consequences of reneging, because believe it or not, HE is the best Project Manager known to man and follows through in ways that surpass human comprehension. I sat there and thought of the many times I thought I had gotten away with “it” only for his legendary timing to prove to me that HE remains at the wheel of my life and it can never be anything goes because the day I vowed to be reborn by the spirit and the blood, I promised that it would be HIS way or the highway. I sat there and thought of the paradigm shift that has been gradually unfolding in the Nigerian polity, where “untouchables” and sacred cows were no longer exempt from dire consequences stemming from their actions or lack of it.

Who would have ever imagined that past Presidents who once dined with Kings, whose silence alone could invoke dread in many, would become objects of vilification; who would have imagined that former political office appointees would be indicted for fraud publicly; who would have imagined that big time lawmakers would be implicated in raunchy scandals and face public ridicule; who would have imagined that former governors would be hounded for complicity in ‘grand theft and larceny’; who would have imagined that a time will come when an incumbent would be shamefully railroaded out of office; who would have imagined that the Golden Guv, who presided like a Colossus over the Eden City would be rendered ‘impotent’ and living in exile; these and many more went through my mind and I came to the chilling conclusion that GOD does come back with HIS reward for good or for bad when we run the cause of our ‘PACTS’ and the scary thing is, HE doesn’t give notice before dishing out HIS ‘REWARD’,.

So just as we were asked to do a quick appraisal of ourselves that faithful Sunday morning, I ask today that as every office holder prepares for one Swearing –in- Ceremony or the other this period he/she should make a “Note to Self’ and it should read something like this (WHEN I ASSUME OFFICE, I MUST ENDEAVOUR TO ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT SOMEDAY I WOULD PAY THE PRICE FOR MY STEWARDSHIP)

And to the rest, we all have our part to play in ensuring that we keep to our part of the bargains we make…