Blurred lines: Church in identity crisis, risks getting assimilated by powerful State

Some said that it was time to have Christian leaders in positions of power, painting their competition as a risky experiment. They persuaded Christians of the need to choose their own to position godly representatives in power.

Others heightened their church participation by identifying struggling church projects with promises to take them over to completion. This commitment was met with handclaps and cheers across many congregations with rare millions flowing in.

Debt of gratitude

The surface read godliness but beneath was church capture. The strategy worked in some churches but was treated with caution in others, leading to whole denominations issuing statements to their churches on politician handling.

The church map, therefore, took the colours of collaborators and resistors. The yellow collaborators are now singing the song of victory. Team Yellow is thanking the section of the church and its leaders who granted it deliberate visibility which cashed into votes. The pastors who were on the "ground" are finding a basis of congratulating themselves since their preferred leaders won.

UDA's gratitude debt combined with some pastors who are considering themselves as victory stakeholders has made the line between the church and the new administration blurred. This sets up the stage for a possible thick relationship between the church and the State. But this thick relationship is a strategic powerful shot from a long way out.

The score angle had its best view at the president's inauguration ceremony. While a president and his deputy kneeling for prayer is not new, the public granting of a Bible to the new president as the guiding book was new. Incorporating their wives in the kneeling moment was new. Some of the officiating pastors were new to an event of a president installation magnitude and the generally expected clergy were uninvolved.

Notably, and strange to many people, blowing the shofar was new too. It was surprising to hear the dynasty-hustler accent in one of the prayers, "God you have shown the world that a chicken seller can become a president..."

Sourced raw from the campaign narrative, the slippery line sounds more like the voice of the kneeler than the one knelt for! It implies a priesthood that is prone to the language of the king rather than the language of the Creator.

President William Ruto signs his inauguration certificate as his wife Rachel Ruto, far left, and Attorney General Kihara Kariuki (right) look on. [PSCU]

The Uhuru methods are overtaken - they will not do. Without new formulations, the church risks lagging behind and playing catch up, a sorry position it finds itself in often. The church game must change. The church must pull down its campaign-season tents and pick a new strategic location to pitch camp.

Otherwise, the clever political schemers will be happy to give the church a spectator role, allot it a terrace in the stadium with a sign saying "No jeering allowed. Only cheering."

And as the church checks the government, what does it base its assessment on? Does the church have its own comprehensive vision or is the church a masters student studying party manifestos while hers is missing from the pile?

The church needs its own known vision that displays and discusses in detail its plan for the people. Relying on political formulations means the church will permanently play second at best.

Party manifesto-dependency makes the church shallow. Some of the political parties went to great lengths to impress in the manifesto competition.

What does the church bring to the table apart from critiquing the formulations of others?

The church must do the hard work and present to the people a practical document of how to make "a little heaven down here...right here in Kenya."

This way, the church sits at the table as a thinker and designer - not merely a commentator.