YOUR COMMUNITY RESPONSIBILITY

Your righteousness should not stop you from engaging in tribal community meetings, contributions, and support programs. Sadly, many Christians misunderstand this. They believe a "good Christian" should avoid participating in mutual community efforts with their tribal kin.

This belief isn't true. Christianity it's religious extremism. The irony is stark, when these extremists die, they suddenly remember their body must be taken back to the hometown they neglected for years.

If you genuinely believe God only dwells in the city and evil only resides in the village, you need a mental health check.

My late father held this extreme view. He thought joining community meetings endangered his Christian faith. I grew up to see him cycle through three churches. Deeper Life, Mountain of Fire, God's Will. It took his elder brother years to persuade him to engage with our tribal community. He only joined after retirement as civil servant, participating for less than a decade before he passed away.

His impact was profound. At his funeral, community members testified how he single-handedly saved the group during a crisis. He hosted them, counseled them on love and unity, and prayed with them. When he died, these members and their families stayed with us throughout the wake, singing all night. Some even rode in the ambulance with me to carry his body home. And no, I never saw my father drink alcohol or smoke.

Being part of your tribal community is both a necessity and a right.  You cannot hide behind religion while others:

*   Clear the burial ground yearly,

*   Lobby the government for roads and electricity,

*   Defend the village from invaders,

*   Plant trees to stop erosion from destroying family homes,

*   Contribute their meager funds to maintain the village...

...only for you to sit in the city, call yourself "righteous," said you are focus solely on "making heaven," label your hometown kin as "bad people," and preach this to your congregation.

This hypocrisy and low IQ is widespread. Once, while listening to Pastor E.A. Adeboye's Holy Ghost Service on my phone, a man beside me complained about Pastor Adeboye associating with traditional rulers present at the event. I asked him, Are traditional rulers excluded from heaven. He fumbled, defending his stance with weak arguments.

The truth is, many Nigerian Christians are religious extremists. They attend church out of fear of death or hope for financial gain not genuine faith. By biblical standards, if you gathered 10 million Nigerian Christians, finding even 5 truly qualified for heaven would be difficult.

Nigeria will never develop if we fail to recognize that progress requires all of us faith communities, cultural groups, everyone to come together, pray, plan, and build. Otherwise, we'll keep holding elaborate church Thanksgivings celebrating our children fleeing this country for foreign lands.

Until the moment when will shall dance in white Greater Grace.

Oyugbo Jonah Osagie