Christianity Religion! what a Shame

I was given birth in a Christian Home, not a contemporary christian home, I grew up in a white garment church, It was a very popular church in the day with a huge presence of affluent people. My Parents were Leaders in the Church and still active in the church at the time of this blog.

This church had a great impact on my view about life, however it took me twenty years to fully understand the total package. In my Secondary School Days "Scripture Union"was the fad , being cool in Secondary School was either speaking complicated heavenly tongues or being a rascal. then it was easier to speak in tongues than being naughty as my parents were relatively young, so they possessed so much energy, and one of their few hobbies was giving me a good whipping   ♥ . unfortunately I did not have the DNA of being holy, so I backslide as many times as I become born again. I wanted to be a cool kid in my Niche and I choose religion to look cool (Na wa o!).  As I got to SS2 and SS3 I threw the whole charade off and decided to be my age.  I never got into the cool kids clan but I am glad that I had the guts to be real to myself after 4 years. Those years taught me a lot on History of the Early Church, persecution of the Saints, I learnt that I should not be moved by what I feel, but by the Word of God, unfortunately this is the worst lesson I learnt in my life. Not being moved by what you feel kills the very essence of being human. Jesus became human to feel what we felt and taught us how to live.

The story goes on!

I got into the University ( a wonder to a lot of my classmates , as I was never considered the brightest, I cleverly picked a school I knew I would get into easily). I took my carefree nature with me. To go to a show was N30 then, though I never had enough money, I always walked home to ensure I had the N100 that would take me to the next party. I was in the opinion that why should I be stuck to one guy all night just because he pays for the ticket for my entry into the show. ( In those days, women had a high sense of dignity). The first Show I went to, was horrible, I was a terrible dancer, fortunately the School went on strike for  5 months, I can tell you that all I did was learn how to dance from Musical videos. I danced so well that Patra would have hugged me for my" Butterfly steps".

My younger brother joined me in the University the following year, so I decided to step back for him to have his fun, I felt it would be awkward doing my crimes with  evidence lying around, so I head back to church but this time my church of birth. "Total Disaster!" Sincerely, it started off nicely. I was welcomed into the fold, though the practices was more intense than what I knew from Home, My parents always ensured we enjoyed church. They showed us love, made us proud to wear the white garments, we looked so angelic. There were loving people in my home Parish, but this Student Parish hmmmmm. I can not say for why all the girls disliked me (LOL) I guess I had the cockiness of being loved by my parents, or being well protected from harm ( with lots of slaps, It is a Yoruba culture of raising kids then). by 9 months enough damage had been done to make me leave the Church to this present day. I know that the Parish has caused a great loss to an already dwindling congregation, but lets not forget, Religion has a way off making bad things look good. I know that nobody knew that "Life is a Long Story".

Looking for Love to heal a broken heart, I look for another Church( you see everyone looks for love in wrong places) this time around I go to a Pentecostal gathering, all I wanted was to find a place to fit in,I did not have the resources to be a Cool Kid, looking back I say to myself "Oyinda! you are naive" I got bored at the similar version of "Scripture Union"so I moved to a funky version of Church. just to fit in , I tried every  Department, Choir, Drama, Ushering, Evangelism. Yearning for the attention of just anyone, to tell me the words "I am proud of You",I needed a mentor, I needed friends. what a time. Another Disaster.

I graduated and went for my Service Year, I threw Religion into the Dustbin. No Drama whatsoever.  I got preached to quite a lot, I almost joined the NCCF (Nigerian Christian Corpers Fellowship) for a free bed, luckily my Cousin whom was an executive told me I was not Christian enough to sleep at the NCCF lodge (LOL).  I did have the best time of my life during this period.

After  Service year I return to Lagos, I was different, being away from home for a year had given me a sense of Independence I was not ready to release, after a hard search for a job, a year later I find myself in Kano ( Northern Nigeria was a nice place then).

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! being a Christian in the North of Nigeria is dangerous. People go on rampage at any slight instance, rampages are not complete without beheading Christians, burning cars,  Breaking shops, I was once caught up in a rampage in Kaduna , This rampage began because a beauty contest was holding in Abuja (300km away) during Ramadan, does not make sense.

But I still joined a Church, just to have somewhere to go on Sundays.

It was a nice church, a few nice people, a lot of busybodies that reminded you of nosy neighbors, yes you are right another disaster. ( Oyinda!)

I stopped going to church and I am Happy.

I have found love in myself, I am strong, and I am proud of myself.

I married a man whom does not bother about what I believe in.

 

I have come to realize that Christianity is not a tool for Church Leaders to oppress, or a place to go fill in the gaps for your yearning. If we all behave as Jesus did, this world will be a better place.
I believe Jesus Christ died for my sins, as well as everyone else.

Life is worth living happy.