Spoilers In The Church

THE church is one unique place. It is the place where the weak go to find strength, those in grief and sorrow find comfort, the poor and down trodden find succor and charity, the rich share with those who don’t have, and of course, sinners go there to find redemption. Those who have lost their hope and are frustrated can still get up and forge ahead, after hearing a sermon. It is a place where people find peace for their troubled minds. You find all manner of people there; the good, the bad and the ugly.

The church is regarded as one family, one body; we are all brothers and sisters. Hence, there is this general expectation that we should all “be our brother’s keeper”. In fact there are passages in the bible that admonish us to put our brethren first, to do good to members of the household first, and of course there is this popular saying; “ do unto others what you would have them do Unto you”. Everybody appears to be okay in church.

Today the church is made up of, different groups, departments, and with well structured administration. The most active group in almost every denomination is the women’s group. They make the church go round or you could say the church revolves around them in most of these denominations. They are always in the fore front, their impact is always felt and most of the time, certainly noted.

Some of these women are young mothers, some mothers of adults, and some grand mothers. This story I am about to tell you revolves around these groups of women, the young spinsters, and bachelors in the church. For the sake of privacy, I will be using fictional names. Angela was a member of the choir in the church, she finished her diploma education, and was looking for a job to enable her further her education. Her parents were from the eastern part of the country, and were living there. Hence she had to put up with some relatives for a while, and then a nice family in the church.

Eventually a young married man in the church, whom I will call Mr Edet, out of the good of his heart helped her to get a job. This man had been married for two years running, and he and the wife were believing God to bless them with a baby. Of course by this time, parents, family, relatives, friends and even church members were beginning to show concern and ask questions.

This job Angela had, enabled her to rent a one- room apartment of her own, that her younger brother who was also in the university, could stay with her whenever school wasn’t in session. Also, because her house was a stone throw from Mr Edet’s, and they happened to be working in the same place, Mr Edet asked her to be taking a ride in his car with him to work every morning. to enable her save more money.

Soon, tongues started waggling in the church, and before you knew it some of these women went to Mrs Edet, and told her that her husband was having an affair with this young lady, Angela.

Trust a young woman who dying to have a baby for her husband , and at the same time is threatened by the possibility of another girl sharing her husband’s attention. She did what the gossips who call themselves mothers in the church expected. She confronted the young lady and told her to stay away from her husband.

Angela complied, and she told Mr Edet what was going on, The scenario in the church became too choked up for her, that she almost left the church, but the pastor encouraged her to stay, and that people would always talk being what they are, and that the church is a mixed multitude.

God works in mysterious ways. Behold, after some months, Mrs Edet walked up to Angela, asking for forgiveness. She pleaded that she acted on the information the gossips in church gave her, since they came from women who were old enough to be her mother and aunties. Women who were apparently deaconesses and group leaders. She confessed that she had lost her peace, since she confronted Angela with that sordid information,

Angela made her understand that she had forgiven her before she came to apologise. The women in question were ashamed when they saw the turn of events. A little above a year later, Mrs Edet gavebirth to a baby boy. Till this day, the women in question, are ashamed to look into Angela’s face, and Mrs Edet has no respect for them

In another scenario, a different church, a young lady Betty, who happened to be in the choir, was engaged to be married to the choir master, David. Betty’s father was an unbeliever , while David’s father was the pastor himself.

A woman Mrs Bolaji who got married and lived in Betty’s father’s house for many years, became the tale bearer. By this time, David’s father had been transferred to another local government in the same state. Mrs Bolaji would travel from the city to see David’s parents just to bear false tales. Eventually, David’s parents said they were no longer in support of the pending marriage. Mind you, these were all members of the same church. While David and Betty were still engaged and trying to salvage their wedding plans, some women in the church “arranged”‘ with David’s parents to foist the leader of the unmarried sister’s group (Edna), on David, saying that they would make a better couple. Edna was a very close friend of Betty, and was always encouraging her that things would be okay between her and David. Before Betty knew what was happening, David had done introduction with Edna and a wedding date was fixed. Well, you know the rest.

However, the story has it that David is pretty messed up , to put it clearly; miserable. He is said to have sworn he would keep moving from one girl in the church to another, because they spoilt his chances of marrying his heartthrob, and Edna’s family seem to be the one taking care of her. She practically lives in her parent’s house most of the time Betty is said to be married now to a more stable man, and considers her breakup with David, a blessing in disguise after all.

Meanwhile, Mrs Bolaji runs whenever she sees Betty’s siblings, with guilt written all over her “The wicked runneth when no one pursueth’’