When a pastor says rebuke the government, not bless it

I saw what Odumeje said about pastors rebuking bad governments instead of benefiting from them. My first reaction was to laugh because the man is dramatic, but then I sat with it and felt uncomfortable. He specifically called out Adeboye and I am not here to attack any man of God. But the question he raised is one we cannot keep ignoring.

Look at it this way. When a pastor stands before a congregation and says God has blessed us with a leader who is clearly failing the people, something is wrong. Our people say if you see a snake and a stick, you do not praise the snake. I have seen too many of my colleagues drive SUVs paid for by the same system that is crushing their members. It breaks my spirit because the gospel was never meant to be a partnership with power. The gospel is supposed to discomfort power.

I am not saying every pastor must be a revolutionary. But when the church becomes silent so it can keep its tax exemptions and government appointments, we have lost the plot. I think about the young people in my youth group who ask me why their pastor is friends with a politician who stole their future. I don't have a clean answer for them. And that keeps me awake at night.