Steeze - by Friday Okwori

About two decades ago, I had a memorable experience. I still remember it vividly. My friend asked me to go to a game shop with him one fateful day. A game shop is a place where young boys go to play different kind of games. There are other things in between, but don't worry about it. We promised ourselves that we would only stay at the shop for thirty minutes before returning home. The first problem with a game shop is that time goes by so quickly. Before you know it, you're rushing home late after playing one game after another. I was just there to watch and applaud because I had no idea how to play. As usual, it was fun once we got going. Usually, you would run into people you know, so there would be lots of conversation and banter. After thirty minutes, my friend expressed his desire to continue playing games. I encouraged him to continue as I was also enjoying myself. There was nothing to be concerned about because the day wasn't dark. After a short while, the guy seated next to me gave me a back pat. I didn't notice that someone outside the shop had been staring at me for a few minutes. It was my elder sister. She caught me in the game shop. She gave me a little smile and turned to leave. It was a smile of death, I knew. My heart felt like it skipped a beat for a few seconds. I had received repeated warnings from my parents regarding the game shop. I knew I shouldn't be there. The repercussion of my disobedience was going to be severe. I kept hearing different phrases “remember the son of whom you are” “you can’t be found everywhere” “don’t bring disgrace to this family” ring in my ears the same time. I knew I was in real trouble. As far as my parents were concerned, being in the game shop was not good for the family’s reputation. I ‘lowkey’ prayed for rapture to happen there and then. There was a controversial pastor in one of the biggest cities. Despite not owning a church, he had a sizable congregation. He said he was called to form a movement. Nobody really knew where to place him. He didn’t like being called a pastor. He had previously made a number of outlandish claims that could easily be used to classify him as a fraud. At other times, he would accurately teach the word of God to anyone who desired to listen. There were obviously doubts about him. The majority of people concluded that his true identity would eventually come to light. He was aware that many people disliked him and were scheming to bring him down. He had no physical structure, so you could easily locate him debating the Bible in the middle of the crowd on the street. He went out one day to engage in some street evangelism with his group. When they were done, he remained there and instructed them to go home. He needed some alone time so he could meditate. He also wanted to regain his strength before returning home because he was hungry and thirsty. He was appreciating the lovely city when a woman walked past him. He stopped her right away and asked for assistance. He shouldn't have spoken to her at all. She was a professional call girl. Yes, she had a 4-star rated OnlyFan account. Everyone in the community, even the controversial pastor, knew her. She didn't care what people thought of her because she was proud of her work. After all, it sustained and paid her bills. Interestingly, she had never heard of this man before. It wasn’t her fault. She wasn't one to combine business with pleasure, and he isn't her target market. She was a thorough professional. For someone known as being controversial, being found alone with a prostitute isn’t what you’d want. Imagine your pastor pictured alone with one of the city’s most famous call girl? It doesn’t matter if it’s a public place. All the blogs and newspapers will eat good! You most likely won’t come out of this. She was the kind of person he needed to stay away from in order to restore his reputation. Despite being aware of all of this, he didn't give a damn about what people thought. It explains why they hated him! He spoke passionately with her and made some business propositions. A different kind of trade. She had always been the one calling the shot in business deals but this was totally different. He wanted her to join his movement. He made some irresistible offers and she willingly gave away her trade. He was such a smooth talker. She volunteered to bring her former colleagues to this movement. That’s how powerful his speech was. He could have lost a dogged follower (and her followers) if he was fixated on his reputation. Whatever people thought of him was not as important as what he needed to do. We always take every precaution possible to protection our reputation, which makes perfect sense. The only problem is that we ultimately lose ourselves in the process. We give up our purpose, assignment and life because we want to be in the good books of others. People that don’t really care about you. But, hey, nothing must hamper our reputation. We have to go all the way to protect our steeze! Article is culled from the bible; the story of Jesus and the woman at the well - John 4.

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