CHURCH BOY

‎Growing up as a young lad, I saw my parents serve God with all they had. That was supposed to be a template for me to follow. My mum was literally in all the sensitive units in church, and my dad was also a devoted worker in God’s vineyard. If you wanted to get access to my parents, the church was the place to go!

‎Having these kinds of parents, going to church was not an option for me — it was compulsory. I remember one time my dad discerned that I was about to skip church on a Sunday morning. I was just wasting time in the backyard when he opened the window and asked, “Are you not going to church today?”

‎I responded, “No.”

‎He asked, “Why?”

‎I said, “My clothes are squeezed.” (If you know me well, wearing well-ironed sleeves and trousers was a big deal for me.)

‎He then told me I should come to church with whatever I was wearing at the moment. (I was wearing my boxers and a singlet.) Skipping church was a red flag in my household.

‎So, I was just going to church without really knowing its importance. If there was any time I liked going to church, it was on Fridays — One Night with the King. It was usually a night vigil.

‎You may be wondering why I liked going to church on Fridays. Was it to listen to God’s Word?

‎Was it to be transformed?

‎None of the above!

‎When we arrived at church on Fridays, around past 10:00 p.m., I would find a place to sit. The ushers were usually relaxed at that time. I would follow the service from the beginning, then suddenly step out, pretending I wanted to buy sweets (Milkose or TomTom) to stay awake. But instead, I would quickly find my friend, Chimaobi — my only friend in church.

‎We would go straight to his mum’s car, get inside, and start our own “private service.” For some weird reason, he always had data, so I would log into my 2go account (master 🌟).

‎When we got tired of chatting in the car, he would start the engine, and we would leave the church to go for some Formula 4 (F4).

‎I always had two agendas during the night vigil:

‎• Participate in our midnight Formula 4 (F4). After that, we would return to church.

‎• Come back and start a marathon sleeping competition.

‎We would sleep until the service was over, and when we finally woke up from our “trance,” we would find members cleaning the church.

‎When I got home, I would go for a second round of sleep. This time, I had a license to sleep because my eyes had been open from past 10:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m.

‎Have you ever wondered why people who are close to the pastor are not always blessed? These people never miss a service, or any other church expression yet their lives show no significant change?

‎Have you wondered why some pastors’ children become corrupt?

‎Well, it started as far back as the time of Eli. We can see that in 1 Samuel 2:12:

‎“Eli’s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord.”

‎How did they get there? Their father was a high priest and judge of Israel. The same pattern can be seen in the lives of Samuel’s sons in 1 Samuel 8:1–3:

‎“When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel’s leaders… But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.”

‎These examples are not fictional — they are real. And guess what? Hophni and Phinehas, Joel and Abijah were all “church boys,” just like I used to be.

‎My advice to future parents reading this piece is this: don’t only focus on instilling the routine of taking your children to church every time — though that foundation is good. Also focus on teaching them the importance of going to church. If they understand the importance, your work will be much easier.

‎And I also need to tell you at this point that I am no longer a “church boy.” I stopped being one a long time ago.

‎Stay woke…

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