Reverend Canon (Dr) Olusiji Kolawole, is the Vicar of the Archbishop Timothy Olufosoye Memorial Anglican Church, Ogba-Ikeja, Lagos State. In this interview with SEUN OYEBANJI, he speaks about the coming elections and task before Christians.
What is your experience in the vineyard?
My experience has been a pleasant one and I can say emphatically that I am sure of the calling, because I have God’s backing. Though temptations will always come, if you are sure of your calling, you will surely overcome.
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How has life been as a medical practice for doing pastoral work?
I didn’t plan to quit medical practice when I was called. In fact, I didn’t answer the call for almost 10 years after I heard the called. Even my parents and my wife are aware of the called, yet I still did not yield and the reason is that I did not want to quit medicine, a profession I love so much to the extent that I was poised to own a hospital, which I eventually established and it was doing well. But unfortunately, at some point, I had the challenge of fund. I had to engage in some menial jobs to actualise my dream. Along the line, I got admission to the Emmanuel College of Theology. It was one of the most difficult decisions I have ever made in my life: to choose between my passion and the call of God. There was need to pray or consult. My father, Justice Ekundayo Kolawole, also advised me on the importance to heed to God’s call. This was why I decided to go to the School of Theology and I later employed a doctor to oversee my hospital. I was ordained and appointed to head a new church when I graduated. The hospital was still struggling to survive, but I made all efforts to make it a standard one with the support of a friend. I knew I would only practices Medicine as long as the Ministry would permit me and God has been faithful to me beyond my imagination.
What are your major challenges?
My greatest challenge is that people prefer to reckon with me as doctor instead of a priest. People are not interested in my priesthood, whereas, I am fully into the ministry and the hospital is secondary. This compliment is a bit harsh on me. Being a doctor doesn’t necessarily make one a good priest. If anyone is called, it is ideal one fulfill or do the will of God.
How do you perceive Christianity of today?
Jesus Christ said: “…when I come, will I meet faith?” Even sometimes, I examine my own life, I ask myself: Am I Christian enough? And the answer is no, because we can always get better. Our model is not anybody, but the Lord Jesus Christ, so we should just be looking unto Jesus, who is the author and finisher of our faith. As a priest, my duty is to point members to Christ, not even to myself and let them so love Jesus. We must not live a life that will make people run away from Christ. It is sad that Christianity is getting worse by the day. But I strongly believe that we can stand to do things in the right way and put God first in everything we do. And by doing this, the Christendom will be at peace and soar.
Talking about faith today, we have seen a lot of clerics deviating from the truth, as many of them no longer preach salvation, but flamboyancy and wealth acquisition. What is your view about this?
My take is that each person should work out his/her salvation. We must work it out with fear and trembling. We all have a duty; we must not let the blood of any man be on our hands. We must be ready say the truth and take up the responsibility of putting people unto the path that leads to salvation. Even in the early church, most of the epistles had sections directed to all teachers. I always tell my congregation that we must always remind ourselves about what we believe. And before anyone will come into maturity in the church through what we call confirmation in the Anglican and Roman Catholic Church, the individual must be able to recite the Decree of the Doctrine. Whatever the church is experiencing today is a result of the fact that the world is becoming more sophisticated, and the population in the world has increased greatly. The world is getting churchier and the church is also getting worldlier. Things will always get worse until Jesus comes.
We have seen Christians occupying top positions in Nigeria’s politics and yet they have been unable to make impact. Why?
To me, the biggest problem that Christianity has is the problem of nominalism. In Christendom, there are so many nominal Christians. They are always there as number. For as long as our conviction is not deep enough in our daily life looking unto Jesus, for so long shall we not be able to be the light of the world. There won’t be any impact. It is not easy to be a true Christian in today’s world and every vocation has its own skill. For instance, I am not skilled in politics, but our vice-president is skilled in politics and he is also good in faith. Is he not making a difference? By my assessment, I feel he is making a lot of difference. He has put himself under political tutelage for a long time. So, being a Christian is not enough. More Christians ought to get themselves involved in politics.
Some clerics seem very passionate about the ongoing preparation of the general election as they have been advising their followers not to sit on the fence. Does this have any scriptural backing?
This is an act of controlling people and it will continue to be argued about till Jesus comes. But, I don’t subscribe to anybody trying to manipulate anyone. We can only advise people to exercise their franchise. If you educate someone, what you are actually doing is setting the person free, because once you build somebody’s mental, intellectual capacity, he or she can then be free.
What is your take on the upcoming general election?
The situation Nigerians are is a very painful one. It is like the case of Israelites when they were stuck in the wilderness after they left Egypt. They grumbled and because of that they didn’t get to the Promise Land until 40 years. They grumbled instead of making up their minds to accept the policy. God is not going to come here to solve water and electricity problems for us. The elite and the educated are the people that have failed our country. In my generation, almost everyone had free education both in secondary and higher institutions. How do we give back to the community? We don’t, until each of us sees ourselves as having the responsibility to give back to the community in a positive way and make a difference. As the election draws near, we should stop grumbling and instead be wise to make right decisions, because God is not going to come down to make basic things for us.
What is the place of prophecy in Christianity?
Prophecy is very important. Before Jesus came, there were so many prophecies about him, and the very first prophecy in the Bible was when Adam and Eve fell. God told them that He will put enmity between Serpents and mankind and that the Serpent will bite the seed of that woman and her seed is going to crush his head. That is the first prophecy in the book of Genesis. So, prophecy is important for us. We know that Jesus is coming back. This is a prophecy and that is the season we are in now, which is why we are looking forward to the second coming of Christ. It is key and central to our faith.
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