Judas'
kiss on the cheek of Jesus which gave him out to the roman soldiers have
several applications nowadays.
A kiss to the cheek had been known in certain cultures to signify greeting, to confer congratulations, to comfort someone or even as a sign of affection but Judas used it with an evil intent -- to betray Jesus Christ, a case of using something that is designed to be advantageous for a bad purpose. When you take a look at our world today, you find that the same thing keeps repeating itself only in different forms. The government for example is meant to better the lives of the citizens through formulation of policies geared at making things better but this same government would formulate policies that would help them fill their pockets, that of their cohorts and family members without being questioned while the initial purpose a government is meant to serve is overlooked. Public funds are taken oversees, institutions that are meant to make life better for the masses lay in shambles rather wars are being endorsed with billions of taxpayers money.
What about the Internet? This happens to be one of the most important tools of the 21st century as it made everything easier since its advent and this was the initial intent. Deals are being closed virtually, Job interviews are being conducted without the need of physical presence or over the phone, people get informed without the need for the traditional radio or television set, plus its other usage or importance. The same internet is used today for wire fraud, all sorts of scam and even 'cyber wars' as have been witnessed globally. Stories have been told on how unsuspecting people were swindled by criminals posing as men of God, businessmen, politicians and even potential husbands/wives online.
There are a greater number of charity organisations today than is obtainable about a decade ago and the number keeps increasing. From musicians and actors floating charities to businessmen and politicians starting foundations cum charities. A charity organisation as we all know is a non-profit organisation usually started to cater for people with special needs or even the less privileged but most charity organisations today do just the opposite. There have been cases of diversion of funds and other forms of fraudulent practices within charities and all these rubbishes the purpose for which they were started in the first place.
One would've been able to argue logically that the number of churches around Nigeria today would mean little or no vices or at least a morally upright society but that argument would be rebuffed as soon as it is started. It even looks like the increase in the number of churches is proportional to increase in immorality and now the question remains, 'why is this so?' Churches are meant to bring people together, preach the gospel without bias, emphasise salvation and good works etc. All these, if in place would mean that the society would be a little saner and free from vices but the reverse is the case and this is due to the fact that most churches are profit-making enterprises or companies. In a previous article - THE RELIGION INDUSTRY IN NIGERIA, I wrote: "It is no longer a question of if one has the anointing or not(as a pastor) but rather it is how to get members because, the more the 'customers', the more income is generated. I have watched closely as the theme of most sermons graduated from Salvation to Prosperity simply because a good number of church goers would come back each sunday to listen to the Our-God-is-not-a-poor-God, His-children-must-prosper sermon rather than the boring Accept-Christ-and-be-saved-or-refuse-him-and-perish sermon." All of these boils down to the fact that churches are not being used for what they were established for in the first place but for other ungodly purposes.
There are several other examples and a closer look would show that every one of us is directly involved in or is a party to this using-something-that-was-meant-to-be-good-for-something-bad syndrome.
Most of the time, the blame is being put on the society as the cause of things like this but the same society is made up of you and me and if that is the case, correcting this condition that have been eating up the society or reducing it rather should start from an individual and then to his immediate family, friends and then to neighbours, the community he lives in, state, province, country and then to the world at large. Even the biblical Judas knew this and punished himself for his wrong rather than blaming anyone or the society (Although I am not advising this).
When we begin to see ourselves as the cause of most of the problems in the society and not putting the blame on the word - society - then profer solutions to these problems, maybe just then we would put a stop to or reduce some of these vices thereby making our country and in turn the whole world better.
A kiss to the cheek had been known in certain cultures to signify greeting, to confer congratulations, to comfort someone or even as a sign of affection but Judas used it with an evil intent -- to betray Jesus Christ, a case of using something that is designed to be advantageous for a bad purpose. When you take a look at our world today, you find that the same thing keeps repeating itself only in different forms. The government for example is meant to better the lives of the citizens through formulation of policies geared at making things better but this same government would formulate policies that would help them fill their pockets, that of their cohorts and family members without being questioned while the initial purpose a government is meant to serve is overlooked. Public funds are taken oversees, institutions that are meant to make life better for the masses lay in shambles rather wars are being endorsed with billions of taxpayers money.
What about the Internet? This happens to be one of the most important tools of the 21st century as it made everything easier since its advent and this was the initial intent. Deals are being closed virtually, Job interviews are being conducted without the need of physical presence or over the phone, people get informed without the need for the traditional radio or television set, plus its other usage or importance. The same internet is used today for wire fraud, all sorts of scam and even 'cyber wars' as have been witnessed globally. Stories have been told on how unsuspecting people were swindled by criminals posing as men of God, businessmen, politicians and even potential husbands/wives online.
There are a greater number of charity organisations today than is obtainable about a decade ago and the number keeps increasing. From musicians and actors floating charities to businessmen and politicians starting foundations cum charities. A charity organisation as we all know is a non-profit organisation usually started to cater for people with special needs or even the less privileged but most charity organisations today do just the opposite. There have been cases of diversion of funds and other forms of fraudulent practices within charities and all these rubbishes the purpose for which they were started in the first place.
One would've been able to argue logically that the number of churches around Nigeria today would mean little or no vices or at least a morally upright society but that argument would be rebuffed as soon as it is started. It even looks like the increase in the number of churches is proportional to increase in immorality and now the question remains, 'why is this so?' Churches are meant to bring people together, preach the gospel without bias, emphasise salvation and good works etc. All these, if in place would mean that the society would be a little saner and free from vices but the reverse is the case and this is due to the fact that most churches are profit-making enterprises or companies. In a previous article - THE RELIGION INDUSTRY IN NIGERIA, I wrote: "It is no longer a question of if one has the anointing or not(as a pastor) but rather it is how to get members because, the more the 'customers', the more income is generated. I have watched closely as the theme of most sermons graduated from Salvation to Prosperity simply because a good number of church goers would come back each sunday to listen to the Our-God-is-not-a-poor-God, His-children-must-prosper sermon rather than the boring Accept-Christ-and-be-saved-or-refuse-him-and-perish sermon." All of these boils down to the fact that churches are not being used for what they were established for in the first place but for other ungodly purposes.
There are several other examples and a closer look would show that every one of us is directly involved in or is a party to this using-something-that-was-meant-to-be-good-for-something-bad syndrome.
Most of the time, the blame is being put on the society as the cause of things like this but the same society is made up of you and me and if that is the case, correcting this condition that have been eating up the society or reducing it rather should start from an individual and then to his immediate family, friends and then to neighbours, the community he lives in, state, province, country and then to the world at large. Even the biblical Judas knew this and punished himself for his wrong rather than blaming anyone or the society (Although I am not advising this).
When we begin to see ourselves as the cause of most of the problems in the society and not putting the blame on the word - society - then profer solutions to these problems, maybe just then we would put a stop to or reduce some of these vices thereby making our country and in turn the whole world better.
Twitter: @victorikeji
