The Key Role of Christians in Transforming Nigeria
Many Christians in Nigeria are looking forward to the 2023 elections, hopeful that a change in leadership will steer the nation’s course towards accelerated advancement. No doubt governments play a key role in determining national outcomes, yet the Bible places the burden of national transformation on the level of individual character that can be found in a society, and not on the government. Even if a low-character society is able to elect the best leader, that leader's greatest efforts may be hampered by the population's actions. In alignment with this understanding, we here submit that national transformation is not dependent on the forthcoming elections, but on a focus on character building and the virtues of love as espoused in 1 Corinthians 13. Nigeria will be transformed into an enduring and continuously progressive social, political and economic space by citizens who have cultivated a character built on love, as espoused by Christ.
About half of Nigeria’s over 200 million population identify as Christians, who, as Jesus Christ characterized His followers, are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Yet, life in Nigeria, as many citizens have noted, is like food cooked without salt. Could this mean that, for the most part, Nigerian Christianity is bereft of saltiness, turning the nation into a huge food cooked without salt? Jesus makes his followers understand that salt can be present in food without necessarily improving the taste of the food. Such salt has lost its saltiness and is only fit to be thrown away.
As the light of Nigeria, Christians are expected to be pacesetters in pristine character formation. Ways of righteousness, peace and joy are what will build Nigeria. The Bible says that "righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to a people." The church in Nigeria will have to get back to a place of righteousness, peace and joy, which is the way of God’s kind of love. As its core message, the church in Nigeria will have to re-embrace the emphasis on building a heart of love for God and for people. It's time to stop putting so much emphasis on things like money, a better life, the praise of men, and other luxuries of life.
In the thirteenth chapter of the book of 1 Corinthians, we learn about a Christian culture that is based on and driven by love. This culture is the key to changing societies. In that passage, the Bible notes that "love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and it does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy, fretful, or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]."
The Christian culture of patience and kindness described above would make Nigerian Christians learn to not be judgmental in their worldview. A judgmental heart appreciates the efforts of others. Armed with patience, Christians would not snap at others out of impatience. People who mock the weaknesses of others do not have the virtue of patience. Patient people understand that people are to be respected for being made in God’s image and likeness and should never be disrespected, for any reason at all.
The culture that will lead Nigeria to take its pride of place in the world will be founded on a love that is neither envious nor bursting with jealousy. Does that culture exist in the body of Christ in Nigeria today? Are Christians genuinely happy when their neighbors make progress? Do Christians genuinely celebrate the success of others? Or do Christians get embittered in their hearts or begin to question God and wonder why they are not the ones in the limelight? Some Christians will go to the regrettable extent of harboring evil thoughts in their hearts towards other successful people, including fellow Christians. Some Christians, out of envy, go as far as looking for, making up and believing negative stories about the successes of others. Christians should get rid of a culture that feels threatened when someone else is celebrated. These are some of the foundations upon which Nigeria’s national transformation will occur.
To change Nigeria, every Nigerian Christian must aspire to imbibe the Christian culture of humility. Christians must build a character that "is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily, is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride)." Conspicuous consumption or ostentatious living is not a virtue. Any form of display of wealth to prove anything to anyone is rooted in a consciousness that does not depend on the finished work of Christ on the cross. When we want to use our car, education, job, living condition, dressing and the rest of such earthly possessions to prove a point, then our self-confidence is not based on the cross. If we draw our strength of character and purpose from our salvation, from the unconditional love of God, then we will not need ephemeral things to make us feel worthy.
In conclusion, the greatest work that needs to be embarked upon by the body of Christ transcends a campaign for voter registration and a berating of Nigeria’s political situation. The most effective and long-lasting way for Nigeria to change as a country will be to rebuild a Christian culture of love. Some of the manifestations of a culture of love in the character of Christians include patience and kindness, not being envious, and having a meek and humble spirit, among others.