Closing religious organizations is not a crime because it is not new and it should not be seen as a slap on religious body,it is biblical, it is divine because the situation we found ourselves warranty it.
In Gen 7 before the flood, God instructed Noah to shut himself and his family in the ark. In Isaiah 26:20-21 people were instructed to enter into their chambers and shut the door, also in Exodus 12 the Israelites were asked to stay indoors so that the angels of death will not kill them.
For government to say we should stay at home and worship our God because of coronavirus should not be seen as crime against the government and it should not be politicized it is for our own good.
Generally speaking, people are difficult, some people always want to make name or create a negative impression from any situation, shutting the worship centers was not done last year or year before, when the situation demands for it we have to comply, when it happened in 1918 they closed every where. Sincerely we don't need to be told to stay inside to curb the spread of coronal virus.
Corona virus can be described as a war because in the war time nobody goes to any where for the fear of been killed. The pandemic is ravaging the whole world not limited to Africa and Nigeria, when other nations closed every where to stop the spread of the virus, must we leave our own opened?
Let us put sentiment apart the government has done the right thing. Infact, the church has been brought back to how it started, the church started from individual homes, the lock down order has brought many gains to us although there might be some problems associated with the lock down but we still have some benefits attached to it.
Corona virus is not a scam as some people believe, it is a reality, people may be making money from it but it is real in Nigeria although the government had not help the situation by not telling us what they used for those who recovered from the virus but by and large it is not a scam.
If the condition attached to the opening of churches is the use of face mask and to conduct the service for one hour, to me as one of the religious leaders we should accept and abide by it, the face mask is to limit the spread of the saliva because all the activities goes with the saliva all the guidelines are just to protect us and it is for our safety, any attempt to disregard the guidelines is disobedience to the constituted authority and it is suicidal because bible says we should obey the leaders, and again our service to God does not require spending hours in the church and mosque before he can hear our prayers but attaches importance to our hearts and sincerity before he can answer our prayers and supplications.
There are lots of lessons God has thought us and gains we are benefiting from the lock down, for instance, the fathers could play with their children, mothers who always leaves the house before day break and comes back later in the night had opportunity of seeing and playing with one and another.
Family can stay together, sings together like I did with my grandchildren, we use to sing different hymns for one hour which we have never done before the lock down, it has promoted family unity. It has activated the family altar. It has grown family together and family can plan together on financial budget in other to plan for the future because covid-19 caught many families unaware, although life is ups and downs there are some side effects of the lock down of churches. We are not free to serve God collectively.
God has been shut out of his house, we have given Satan freedom to operate unhindered. No corporate spiritual activities that produces corporate anointing. Spiritual decline, I will not be surprised when some people refuse to return to church after opening of the churches. No congregational fellowship people and many ministers of God have been financially hindered.
The only sure way out of the pandemic is to go back to God, medically, scientifically and technologically human being are limited, corona virus is God judgement to redirect our attention, our focus and our life to him as the true God, we must serve him, trust him and obey him.
Rt. Rev. Samuel Ogundeji, is the Bishop - Egba West, Anglican Communion
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