Once upon a time, there lived a man of God. The man of God had a lovely donkey.
The man was known of being close to God. He used to bring blesses or curses to people as God instructed. He had gained the respect of the kings surrounding him.
One day, the king living in the city he lived learned that his enemies were coming. His enemies were the people of God. The people blessed by God were migrating to the land God promised to them. When the king saw them, he was afraid and he wanted to destroy them. He tried with his government to fight them but he knew he could not manage since the children of God were so many. He concluded with his covenant that fighting would not help. Maybe a non-violent process would work.
In the twinkling of an eye, he remembered what he thought would work and that would be non-violent. He remembered that there was a prophet of God. He planned to use the prophet of God to curse his enemies. He had identified one thing that the prophet of God lacked. He knew the prophet of God was in need of being honoured. He said that he would promise honour for the prophet of God.
The king sent his first team, second team and third team to the prophet of God. They all explained everything to the prophet of God. They told the prophet of God that he would receive honour and any other important thing from the king if he would accept to curse his enemies for him. The prophet of God received their message and told them that he would first inquire from God and would only act according to what God would say.
The prophet of God consulted with God and was told not to curse the people. The people were blessed by God and no one had the power to curse them. The prophet of God took the message back to the king. He told the king everything and left the king.
But when the prophet of God reached home, he forgot his agreement with God. He was only calculating the promise of the king; the promise of Honour! He wanted to be called honourable. He had lived for his years but no one could call him honourable.
Since the prophet of God wanted to be called honourable, he decided to go back to the king. He promised the king to go and curse the people. The king was very happy and assured him of the promise of honour. The prophet of God left his God. He decided to follow the king than God. He left the instruction given by God and went with the instruction given by the king. He accepted to go and curse the innocent people just because he would be honoured.
The prophet of God climbed his donkey. He started his journey to curse the children of God. He was on his way only calculating how he would be honoured. He forgot the danger of cursing innocent people. He forgot that God knows everything that takes place in heaven or on earth.
As God had seen what was about to happen to His children, He sent His Angel to rescue them. The prophet of God was just enjoying riding his donkey when the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand. The donkey turned aside out of the way and went into the field. The prophet of God became angry and struck his donkey so badly. The Angel of God again stood in a narrow way between two walls and there was completely no way for the donkey to pass but the crazy prophet didn’t understand what his donkey was going through. The donkey had seen a danger which he had not seen. He could not see it since he was focusing on the honour he would receive from the king.
When the donkey struggled and struggled and there was no way, it just lay down. By lying down, the prophet of God became very angry and struck his innocent donkey with his staff. From there, the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth to speak. “What have I done to you that you have struck me these three times? Said the donkey to the prophet of God
Being filled by love for honour, he was not scared of hearing an animal speaking for the first time in his life. He answered his donkey and say, “Because you have abused me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you.” Before he could finish his words, the Lord opened his eyes and he saw the danger that he didn’t see but his donkey only.
The king judged it so well that violence does not bring peace. He would try to fight them but he calculated the dangers of fighting. He saw that it would be the church to bring peace. Unfortunately, his methodology was very wrong. He wanted his enemies cursed. He wanted God to curse his enemies. He knew very well that God is one. How could the same God curse the same people He created? I advise my government to use non-violence process to bring peace in South Sudan.
All over the centuries, the church has been the centre of peace. But in the story, I have learned the men of God don’t follow the instructions of God. There would have been permanent peace in the nation if the men of God had followed their honest calling. I believe they side with the political leaders. They are promised honour by the political leaders so that they don’t speak the truth.
A religion should not be formed in favour of the government. The government should be formed in favour of the religion. Of course, the government is the people and the church is the people, but the church is believed to be the eye of the government. The church has the teaching of God. The church has the light that can lighten the path the government walks. The church or mosque is there to transform the government. The church has the responsibility of correcting the government systems which are against human rights. Every government leader is a church member. The president of the nation is a church member. It means the government is under the church. The church leaders have power to discipline the church members of which the president is included.
One time a friend of mine impregnated a girl in the church. The church leaders sat down to discipline him. He was given a discipline of one year in the church without carrying out any church activity. He was only allowed to come for worship and he could not go to the altar.
Another time, my two friends had a conflict with each other. They lost temper and decided to fight. When the church learned that they fought, they were called for discipline. They were warned of fighting and given six months of discipline. Like the other friends, they were told to remain inactive until the church leaders sat again to free them.
Fighting is on and on. Many bad things are done. But the church is quiet! Do you discipline others when you don’t discipline the rest? Are you saying you are unfair? Are you saying some people are more equal than others? God is God of Justice, what about the church? We all claim to go to church, where is the justice we get from the church? Are you not ashamed of having that Christian name, Peter, James, John, Barnabas, Michael, Ezekiel, Paul, Rebecca, Mary, etc, but we can’t stand for it?
The man of God was challenged by a donkey. He was blinded by injustice that he could not see the Angel of God. It was only the donkey, a mere animal that saw the Angel of God. We can be people of God, but sometimes we are so blinded by our self-fish interest that we undermine the truth. The prophet of God knew he was doing what could not please God but he focused on benefiting himself. He wanted earthly honour. He wanted man’s recognition.
Sometimes, we prove that animals are better than us, human beings. Animals are sensitive to dangers. They avoid danger when they see it. That is contrary to human beings of now a day. When we see danger, we ululate to jump into it. I don’t know why we conduct funerals when it is us planning their death. You are a man of God at that funeral and you are praying that God should bless the soul of the deceased; are you not afraid to pray when you contribute to the person’s death?
South Sudan needs people who cannot be bought; people who stand straight like a needle; people who would not sell their pride for the nation by a loaf of bread; people who are God pleasers than men pleasers; people who call injustice by its right name; people who will turn-down favours to make justice rules. Be kind to the nation.