THE PRESENT DAY PHARISEE One thing about this man that makes me never willing to miss his sermon is the moral supplements which come with it. Talking about Rev. Father Donatus Udoette, the priest in-charge of St. Athanasius Parish, Nung Oku Ibesikpo; anyone who knows him, I am sure, can also attest to the fact that apart from the generally perceived purpose of the gospel which is to show us the right track to life eternal, father Udoette’s sermon usually has a way of adding values to even to our earthly valued morals. Well, unfortunately, you will only have to imagine the details of this, as I am not willing to ride any further with the veteran priest; but that notwithstanding, this piece is dedicated to him anyway, because he inspired it through a message drawn from Luke chapter 18 verses 9. Reading through this bible portion will once again tell us of one of the many parables of Jesus Christ which we are already familiar with. It is the parable of the two men, a Pharisee and a Republican who went to pray in the temple. The parable makes us understand that while the Pharisee was busy justifying himself with his head and shoulders up high, reminding God of how consistent he has been in keeping commandments, how he pays tithe from every penny that comes his way, and how he fasts twice weekly; the Republican had simply acknowledged the fact that no perfect man stays on planet earth, and he, as a matter of fact, was not an exclusion; therefore he only sought God’s mercy which, ofcourse, has always been our lifeline as sinners. Ofcourse the Republican went home more justified than the “St Pharisee”. What message was Christ trying to convey by that piece? Obviously, it was simply a message of humility and pride. The Pharisees were known for their pride and arrogance. They usually saw themselves as the holiest among all homosapiens. This caused them to feel more important than others and would for no reason mix up by way of talking to, or eating from the Republicans for fear of being contaminated by their lawlessness. They were usually boastful, and even their prayers were more of praises on themselves just like the man in the parable. They loved encomiums and would readily and willingly make friends with anyone who was good at wasting same on them, including the Republicans. They constituted the lawmakers and were the only ones who consisted of the high and mighty, the who is who in the society. These were the qualities of the Pharisee and, enough reasons to be proud, you will say. On the other hand, the Republicans, humbled to what fate and nature had subjected them to, had to undergo the herculean and onerous task of coping with this holier-than-thou attitude of their senior colleagues for only God knows how long. Now looking around our immediate and distant environments, (many years after the Pharisee/Republican era) the question is: are our environments free from the “Phariseeing” virus? The answer is NO and certainly NO. Looking into our societies today, you will be shocked at the number of Pharisees and the rate of the Phariseeing attitude you will find. Everywhere you go, everyone has a borrowed leaf from the Pharisees attitude attached to his disposition. Particularly in Nigeria, the rich seem to have the greatest representation in the Pharisee community, while the poor, common men are forced into the Republican community, and it is even the public/political office holders who who play lead roles in the phariseeing business, while the masses they represent are forced into accepting their Republican fate. But looking within the boundaries of the state, and our digital governor is the first to be seen with an outstanding leaf from the phariseeing virus. It is unfortunate that we have a state governor who pays no regard to modesty when giving speeches. Everyone knows our governor as one who is always conscious of his self-appraisal instincts. He never forgets to give kudos to himself, and even in a “no speech making day”, our governor’s speech must be longer than a Mount Zion Light House Full Gospel Church Sermon. This is because either in the middle or at the end of the “no speech”, executed and commissioned projects must be counted. Our governor’s love for praises/encomiums cannot be over exaggerated. And perhaps this is the same virus that saw a proliferated increase in sycophancy in the state, giving rise to various aimless and objective-less groups which came under the socio political umbrella to give to the governor what he loves most, in exchange for the big size brown envelopes. Little did they know that the governor’s money splash bonanza was a promo that was to last only til the April 23, 2011 gubernatorial elections. Good enough because now our government house road has regained its sanity because we no longer have crowds of people dressed in same attire, ranging from market women to students and even youth corp members (who consist of mostly non-indigenes), gathering at the entrance of the governor’s lodge pending the governor’s exit or return. Taking our gazes away from the governor to the wide space of the political sector will enable us see many other Pharisees in the land. Public officers, from as low as a ward councilor to the highest position in government, are worse Pharisees in this trend. Once they get into the office, they begin to feel too important to recognize even the electorates. Watch them closely at public events, you will notice that once you approach them, the first thing they do is access the person from head to toe; and once you do not fit in to their class, the response you get differs from the expected mutual exchange of pleasantries. Some will offer a cold or even an ice handshake while the very proud ones will substitute the handshake with a wave of the hand which most times do not differ from that of a traffic warder giving a stop signal to road motorists. Not only the political sector can we find these Pharisees, as a gaze on the private and entertainment sector can also help us discover more Pharisees. The entertainer, especially the celebrities are worst, and it beats my imagination how these set of people act the way they do. These are the people who work so hard to get the fame and when the fame eventually comes, they begin to cover their faces to avoid being recognized. And be you a fan to them or not, you will only end up hating yourself if you force yourself to recognize them while in their hide and seek. Another amazing of people in this trend are the ward councilors who are the worst in the political sector. Mostly constituting a group that would best be described as “forum of immediate past wretched persons,” these ones turn out to be so annoying with their new attitude. Ofcourse they are the latest arrivals, so did anyone expect anything different? Funny enough, not up to 20% of them can correctly construct a simple sentence. So how do we call this? A dead man’s pride; right? And to have their friendship, you must be ready to pay undue respect and pour exaggerated praises on them, even when they are generally known to be the worst when it comes to performance in terms of office- with due consideration to the difference in allocation. The Phariseeing virus is nonetheless synonymous with pride; the same virus that causes the Pharisees to place themselves on top and look down on the people below; the virus that causes the Pharisees to ostracize the poor and less privileged. Go to churches and you will find the Pharisees, upon arrival, meticulously searching for rows where their likes are sitted so as to join them, and would for no reason sit among the Republicans. And like Father Udoette had asked; I am extending the question to every ‘Pharisee’ out there. And the question seeks to know why the present day Pharisees see themselves different from others? What do they have that they did not receive? Truth is, you may be privileged to hold a better office, marry a prettier wife, drive better cars and live in a better house than the ‘Republican’ next to you, but they are not enough reasons to have you look down on him because the only difference between you two is just opportunity. And the fact that the world regards the fact that everything in your possession are yours cannot change the fact that you received them. Yes they may have come through your years of toiling and tilling, but the fact however remains that you received them. So if truly you received them; why boast of them? Why announce to the whole world whenever you offer assistance to a fellow, when you cannot stand before a soul to testify to the abundance of God in your life? I can recall when a certain rich man was desperately in need of a big contract and went to the church to pray. While he was praying a certain poor man was screaming on God to give him just five thousand naira to solve a serious problem and, considering how distributing the prayer of a poor man can be, the rich man not being able to concentrate on his prayer due to the loud voice of the poor man, quickly brought out the five thousand the poor man was asking God for, handed it over to him and asked him to leave the church so he could have a quiet time to discuss a more important issue with God. And after the poor man had happily left, he continued his prayer which went thus: “God, you have seen, this is how I have been doing it, helping people here and there. I give people assistance without any second thought, and the poor man that just left is the fifth person I have assisted today. God, am I not worthy to receive this two hundred million naira contract? If for no other reason, at least for the fact that I have taken one serious case off your table by helping the poor man who just left here is enough reason for you to give me this contract. Please God, give me this contract so as to enable me continue in this business of helping people which I have been doing”. Prayer of a typical Pharisee, you will agree, and good enough to amuse the entire heavens, if you ask me. This shows how deep the virus has eaten into both the people and the society; and the situation seems more despondent when we see these Pharisees hold tenaciously to unnecessary things like titles, etc., and you dare not address them without taking time to enumerate their titles in the right order. And as surprising as it is, I keep wondering why it is only public office holders who are addressed with former titles like “General this and that” (Rtd). What happens to the retired teachers, medical doctors, roadside mechanics and even market women? I have been hearing of former state or federal house member; former governor, former commissioner; former military officer; etc., but never have I heard of former trader, former market woman or former mechanic. Whatever is good for the goose, methinks, is equally good for the gander, therefore those who fall in the later group should also be regarded accordingly, especially after a successful career. I once heard of a very successful trader who started a trade with biscuits and groundnuts until the business grew into about 10 warehouse size shops. Unfortunately, the trader, apart from his trade, was also known to be very stingy even in issues concerning God. So after few years of “not sowing seeds”, his business crumbled and he went bankrupt again. Yes he is bankrupt even as you read this piece, but that notwithstanding, will it not fair if this former trader is being addressed as Ex-Trader or Trader (rtd). What do you think? Culled from the SINE QUA NON column of COMMUNITY PULSE NEWSPAPERS, Tuesday October 29, 2013 edition, and written by UBONG SAMPSON; a Public Affairs Analyst and Human Rights Activist.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Oct 2013 18:21:24 +0000
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