Just the other day, I saw this really touching piece on Facebook where a guy gave a testimony. The guy, whoever he was, narrated how a bus preacher got into a bus and told them to start praying. Allegedly, the preacher had a bad feeling about the journey. As usual there were those who just groaned and plugged in earphones to block out the preacher’s voice.
To cut the long story short, the bus had a head-on collision and everyone died of course other than the narrator, the preacher and a 3 month baby…tragic!
I would come out and say it, I would be one of those guys who plugged in my earphones to block out the preacher’s voice. If I would have died, I would have died without guilt in the world….at least I wouldn’t feel bad for ignoring the preacher.
Here is why….there is a time for everything. There is a time to listen to the word of God and unless we are on a church trip, I would not appreciate someone in a bus deciding to shove the gospel down my throat. We as Africans have this notion that if we do anything to offend a ‘Man of God’ (read..ignore a ‘man of God’), the heavens will burst open and we will be struck by thunder and all kinds of pestilence.
Yet again for an entity we hold in such high regard…why do we assume that He, God, can be so petty? He is the same person who dictated that there is a time for everything. We assume that He is so vain that if His name is mentioned and we do not stand alert and listen to words spewing from a stranger.. He will be waiting with his rod of lightning aimed right at our hearts.
We have been led to assume that in the hustle and bustle of taking care of human beings who are maybe stuck under the rubble of an earthquake or drowning in floods, the Good Lord will stop to take note of us who do not drop everything to listen to His word and shower Him with adoration.
Magnificent structures have been built over hundreds of years to ensure that there is a place to worship and listen to religion. Everyday, currency exchanges hands to help in building these dedicated structures and yet even that is not enough.
Here are people who assume that because it is the work of the good Lord…every place is as good as any.
Well the very same Lord should strike those bus preachers for imposing on the travelers. For not observing the simple rule that there really is a time for everything.
And here is a thought…Not everyone in the bus is of the same religious affiliation. Imagine if a Muslim cleric stood up and started reciting the Quran or a traditional healer starts to jump up and down spitting on the faces of the passengers because well…there is a higher power involved.
Are you beginning to see the stupidity and inconsideration in such a practice??
So yea, I will plug in my earphones the next time I see a bus preacher stand to talk in a bus because in my heart, I know…..I know that the Lord Almighty understands the essence of timing.
Documenting Life Lessons 