Stop lying, you don’t fear the Lord but man

THE most effective way to strike fear in most people and have them eating off your palm is to call upon the name of the Creator. It does not matter whether He goes by the name Allah, Buddha, Jehovah or God, the effect is the same, believers will conform to anything. But is there anybody who really fears the Lord? The answer is sadly, no, not even one person fears Him. We are all without doubt afraid of fellow humans more than anything or anyone else.

Youths have a restraining clause in their social intercourse “ungangijaji” probably taken from the biblical warning as popularised by reggae maestro Dennis Brown when he sang “judge not, judge not for we’ve all come short of the glory of Jah.” That saying is clear testimony that at the back of our minds, we are aware that we do not lead holy lives. We do not live up to God’s expectations, we simply do not fulfil His wishes or His orders.

In a way, we ignore His code of conduct thus we are not afraid of His wrath. Yet on the other hand, most people try to abide by the country’s laws, follow all family rules and stick to the company’s code of conduct. What further evidence do we need to show that we fear man more than God. In any case He is omniscient.

None, even the revered pastor, prophet, bishop, evangelist, nobody really tries to live up to the simple laid down guidelines in the Bible.

Hellbent on satisfying our earthly cravings, it is easy to consider the feelings of fellow men ahead of spiritual commands.

Who among us has not transgressed against Him knowingly? When you snitch on your colleagues, sometimes untruthfully in order to curry favour with the boss you are in breach of the commandment “do not bear false witness against your neighbour”.

As a woman in love with somebody who does not appreciate it and you revert to sweetening things through love potions, your conscience must trouble you if you really fear God. But you have a clear conscience as you share your spices with friends.

You cuddle him and playfully spank and kiss his big bald head knowing that you cast a spell on him. He is no longer an image of God but of a confused Lucifer. Yet you claim you fear God.

Lovers, have you ever considered confessing to your partner that dark secret that you have vowed to take to the grave. We all have secrets you tell yourself. Indeed we do but is that fear of the Lord. No, He sees everything for God is omnipresent. So you are afraid of human beings and how they will react. You fear losing your partner.

The romantic fantasies you have of that person you hardly know, that one you saw at Barbourfields Stadium or Pick n Pay.

Your partner must never suspect you have such wild unfulfilled imaginations of kissing a hog. You see the Bible is against bestiality so whereas God is all-knowing, I will pretend to be content with my partner yet my heart is elsewhere in the bush. Do not covet your neighbour’s wife, the holy scriptures say. How many people have been caught in the bedroom next door? Or worse, how many men and women dream of dating their neighbours, churchmates, colleagues or random people we met at parties while a spouse is snoring in your arms?

Moslems may have a point in limiting instances when unrelated males and females interact such as segregated buses, universities, hospitals and workplaces. Sometimes the body and the brains do not work in harmony and it is not perversion.

When we sing hosanna and dance, more often we are merely demonstrating vertical expressions of horizontal intentions. What do the scriptures say on the wandering eye?

As a councillor or Member of Parliament, you make rules that you ensure will not touch you. Your fellow men are struggling because you set them up through draconian by-laws like outrageous parking or toll fees.

As a headmaster you demand outrageous levies and as a supervisor you behave like a slave driver. As a mechanic you steal parts and then offer to get them from somebody you know, of course you would know yourself! A barber who charges the full fee even though one is almost completely bald. Is that fear of the Lord?

You know a friend or neighbour who is cheating on their spouse. A colleague who is stealing from the company. You have an armed robber and rapist for a roommate.

You buy your parents double the grocery you buy for your spouse’s parents. Yet you say you fear the Lord.

When was the last time your children visited gogo and khulu? They don’t visit because with your husband’s support, you raised your kids to believe that grandmother, the mother of your husband, is a human flesh eating witch. The Bible says honour your father and mother so that your days on earth may be multiplied.

Most of us do not know what medication our parents need but we know what perfume the prophet wears. For most people a good life is a painful dream all because we do not take care of our parents, widows and the elderly as the Bible commands.

Acting all fancy like peacocks as we embark on ego trips in church, community and all public spheres outdoing each other as we donate to the not so needy who guarantee maximum publicity, we neglect the orphans and homeless. Every country has poor homeless hungry street dwellers, we console ourselves.

After all if God did not want them He could have eliminated poverty so we cannot go against His plans, we convince ourselves as we flaunt our blessings on social media.

After all, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom so who are we to try and change His ways by uplifting the unfortunate and blessing the poor with opportunities. That is why councillors get all hot and angry when a politician builds roads, provides WiFi and safe drinking water to an under-developed suburb. The council curiously remembers it is their duty to provide such services and warn anyone doing so of dire consequences instead of embracing such help.

We fear God and pray in chambers but we will not brook anybody uplifting residents of undeveloped suburbs to our lofty levels in upmarket suburbs. Do we fear God when we don’t believe in leaving no place and nobody behind? We fear what the rich people will say. What will other councils, neighbouring countries or even foreign development partners, above all the political party gurus, usually in opposition, say? We cannot let anybody steal our thunder by paving roads when other areas are full of potholes.

As humans we fear the Lord in a very peculiar way. Bob Marley warns us, “don’t gain the world and lose your soul. Wisdom is greater than silver and gold.”