In today’s Christian world (especially in Nagaland), there seems to be a general feeling that man of God are Pastors, Reverends and Evangelists and all other professions are worldly professions that has nothing to do with the kingdom of God. In this kind of a Christian worldview, any theologian who is involved in politics is a man who has forgotten his calling to serve God and have gone back to the world. For many prejudiced Christians, such a man is a rebel, a backslider and a worldly minded person. The presented writer is branded as one such person by many of his Christian friends. Yes, there was indeed a time in the past, when I served the Church as a Youth Director as well as a Managing Director of an international Christian organisation. I had a salary then and was also often patted on the shoulders with appreciation. I however lost all those privileges when I entered my present profession of political activism and writing because Nagaland had become a land of killings and extortions. As for salary, for the past 21 years, I have not been paid a single Paisa for even a single month. But lest I go on prattling about myself, let us go to other people in the Bible who have served God much more than me. They were also civil administrators and politicians.
Let us begin with Moses. Moses was obviously a civil administrator in Egypt where he was raised up as the son of a Pharaoh. He was trained in this profession for forty years. In today’s parlance, we may even say that Moses was an IAS officer of the Egyptian government and Empire. Then when he chose to become who he really was (an Israelite), he was forced to become an exile in the wilderness of Midian for forty years. After wandering for forty years in Midian, at the age of eighty, he was re-commissioned by God to be a law giver and administrator –politician for the Israelites. Along with his guiding of the children of Israel from Egypt to Canaan, he was a God appointed politician and lawyer for most of his life.
Then there was the story of the Joseph. From his childhood, he was appointed of God to be an administrator of the highest order. After all the adversities that came to his life, he finally ended up first, as a slave and then the Finance Minister of Potiphar, Captain of the Egyptian Guards. Then he was again thrown into prison under the false charges of rape attempt on Potiphar’s wife. He again spent many years in Prison for a crime he was never guilty of. After his restoration, he was finally made ruler of all Egypt after Pharaoh. In that capacity he saved both the Egyptian and the Hebrews from the famine that ravaged the Egyptian empire for seven years (Genesis 37-43). Then there is also the story of King David who was a man after God’s own heart. He too was a King, a General and a civil administrator. Besides the Priesthood and the Prophets, all these (civil) man of God too served God in their own generations. Their names are many in numbers.
Today too, God has called out many civil administrators and politicians to serve in his kingdom on earth. But is the church today ignoring these people as man and women of the world who are not in the kingdom work of God? Indeed, the roles of the Pastor, the Reverend and the Evangelist are very important roles for the spiritual growth and wellbeing of a Nation. But if the Church chooses to ignore other professions as worldly professions, then they have belittled God and confined him into their own small worlds. Let me end by stating a recent event in Delhi. In that event, a highly respected senior Indian pastor had a meeting with the pastors in Delhi. When this senior pastor asked the gathered pastors whether they had conducted Bible studies with their congregations, all the pastors raised their hands. Next, when they were asked whether any of them had conducted Bible studies with IAS and civil administrator members of their churches, not a single pastor raised his hand. The senior pastor exclaimed: “This is exactly why we have a very corrupt India today.” I hope Naga Churches will change their mind sets and pray and give recognition to all other professions of life as important Christian professions.
