A Senior Pastor of Awaiting The Second Coming Of Christ Ministry, Adewale Giwa, has warned religious leaders to abstain from partisan politics or political controversies to avoid losing public respect.
Giwa who stated this in Akure, the state capital, frowned over the involvement of religious leaders, turning the pulpits to campaign platforms for politicians during the last election in the country.
He maintained that God is not interested in the politics of the world and lambasted religious leaders taking sides and anointing politicians ahead of the election, urging clergymen to resist the temptation of converting God’s houses and pulpits to soap boxes for political campaigns.
According to him, prior to the just-concluded presidential election, some religious leaders turned their pulpits to campaign platforms to announce their preferred candidates and urged Nigerians to vote for them but said churches should avoid being turned into a piece of political machinery and a partisan campaign platform for one individual enjoy a special advantage.
Giwa warned against dragging the name of God in the mud while saying the beautiful one is not yet born when it comes to politics but stressed the need to preserve the norms that make the clergy’s moral authority inviolable.
He said,” Gone were the days when God would pick leaders for the nations of the world, but nowadays, they force themselves on the people by hook or crook. Do you think our God supports this process? No.
“Let me tell you this; the beautiful one is not yet born. You killed, manipulated your way to power and you said God made you the leader. No sir, impossible. God’s Spirit lives in a good environment, not an environment surrounded by the wicked people of the world.
“The current politics is meant for those who don’t fear God. They lie, kill and manipulate results in their favour. At the same time, you see these people in churches, mosques praying and giving God the glory.
“Nobody can manipulate God, He is too big to be manipulated. The current political leaders don’t know God, they are far away from Him. Please, stop dragging God’s name into politics because His Spirit dwells in a decent environment.”
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