COVID-19 PALLIATIVE SUPPORTS: WHERE PASTORS SHOULD DRAW THE LINE
It’s a great thing that the body of Christ rose up to the critical challenges of the Coronavirus spread.
Some denominations and Pastors have been making very fantastic donations to the government at the state and federal levels ranging from cash donations, ambulances, sanitizers and other much-needed stuffs.
It’s part of our ways of caring for our brothers and impacting the community. In business parlance, it’s more of a social responsibility. The gesture will touch copiously on the lives of Christians and non Christians, since COVID-19 isn’t peculiar to people of a particular race or religion.
On the other end is the apparent need to provide for the needs of our own parishioners who are adversely affected by the total or partial lockdown. It’s interesting that some pastors are coming up with foodstuffs, cash gift etc for some of their vulnerable members. This is commendable.
HOWEVER, while I believe donations handed down to government quarters and officials should be made public and displayed over social media and television, I don’t think the same should be done for our brethren we are helping.
For God’s sake, while will you distribute foodstuffs etc to your members and invite the press? It’s ridiculous. It’s not good for the psychology of the people we are helping. I don’t think we need all of that.
The church is a sane and organized society with celestial focus, and such gesture should be in-house. I don’t think it’s a healthy evangelism strategy as we may suppose; since this is not happening on an evangelical outreach or mission field. Giving to the needy in the church is something that happens everytime, not limited to times of economic doldrums. It’s part of the welfare/social ministry of the church.
We should not take advantage of the situation to gain undesirable attention and attractions. We should not allow pressure from social media users to push us to spoiling a good case with a bad approach. If we must please everyone on social media, the church would have degenerated into a mere social club.
Let’s do it right, not as a show off but as a ministry. We are a royal-prieshood generation so we should discharge our ecclesiastical and social duties with the SANCTITY of a priest and the DIGNITY of a king.
Churches who have not come out with any palliative schemes for their members should do something about it. This lockdown extension isn’t going to be a joke for self-employed, artisans and other people without stable salaries… The next 14 days in Nigeria is not going to be a tea party of sort. The hardship is becoming intensive. Yet, I think the government is right to keep us indoors for now. May God help the government too to do more for her citizens NOW!
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