Rev. Samuel Reeves should take the Bible along

The Reverend Dr. Samuel Reeves, Resident Pastor of the Providence Baptist Church in Monrovia walked away from his congregation on Tuesday, 27 June to become vice standard bearer of a political party here ahead of the October 10th Presidential and Representative elections.

He is optimistic that his new environment will afford him an even bigger opportunity away from the church services to practicalize morality, godly leadership and salvation that he has been preaching over the years at Providence. The Board of Trustees of the church expresses respect for Rev. Reeves’ decision, which it terms as personal and in line with his constitutional rights as a Liberian citizen.

The Standard Bearer of the opposition political party Movement for Economic Empowerment (MOVEE) Dr. Joseph Mills Jones, named Rev. Reeves as his running mate on Tuesday in his bid for the Presidency.

The decision by the Baptist prelate is not strange, as two former Liberian Presidents – the late William V.S. Tubman and Dr. William Richard Tolbert, Sr. himself a Baptist preacher, had top religious leaders as their respective vice presidents. But we urge Rev. Dr. Samuel Reeves to use the Holy Bible as a lamp to his feet as he journeys into politics.

He should be reminded that in politics, personal interest, deception and expediency supersede truth-telling in most instances, where the Bible could be compromised.

We challenge Rev. Reeves, a firebrand Baptist preacher, to remain firm in upholding those virtues and principles of Christian leadership that he has taught his congregation at Providence, not only to defend the faith, but to truly represent God wherever he finds himself as well as the Motherland.

Liberia is in search of a leadership that can heal the wounds from years of violence precipitated by neglect, greed, lack of love for country and bad governance, among others. And so when a servant of God musters enough courage to step into a messy political terrain such as ours, to help correct some of the wrongs, he should be highly embraced.

But it should be hinted that politics in Liberia has never been an easy journey as there are huge influences both in and outside the country that always dictate the affairs of state sometimes at the detriment of the people.

This is where Rev. Reeves would need the Bible to guide his decisions in matters of state or else, he could become disillusioned and subsequently misguided if the Holy Book is put aside for so-called political expediency as we as a nation, have experienced from past leaderships over the years.