The Church Is Not a Battleground, Keep Politics Off the Pulpit
By The Editor, Sunday Edition | July 6, 2025
Today being a Sunday, it is yet another day for politicians to insult one another, threaten each other from the pulpit, and be celebrated or booed by congregants.
It will be a chance for the Gachagua faction to thrive on tribal politics, and for the Ruto faction to use church platforms to return fire. It will not be about worship. It will not be about the Gospel. It will be about political showmanship dressed in holy robes.
On Saturday, July 5, 2025, during a burial in Nyeri, Rigathi Gachagua took the microphone and declared:
“We’re in trouble and at crossroads.”
He alleged that President Ruto has launched “an onslaught and persecution” of Mt. Kenya leaders and the Kikuyu community at large.
It was a grave accusation, not made in Parliament, not in a press conference, but on a clergy pulpit, in front of mourners, and later echoed on church platforms that were meant for healing, not division.
When Did the Altar Become a Podium?
Let us ask ourselves, when did we allow the altar to become a podium? When did sermons take a back seat to soundbites? When did the pulpit stop being a place of worship and start becoming a stage for tribal propaganda and hate politics?
In 2022, churches across Kenya opened their doors wide to politics. Then-candidate William Ruto was the darling of the clergy. He gave generous contributions, spoke frequently from pulpits, and was prayed for, prophesied over, and, in some cases, outright endorsed.
Now that the political climate has shifted and public pressure is rising, the same pulpits that once declared, “This is God’s chosen,” are now being used to fuel opposition politics and fan ethnic divisions. The very church that helped usher in this government is now offering the microphone to its fiercest critics, not to call for truth or peace, but to hurl accusations, spread fear, and turn congregations into political battlegrounds. Don’ get me wrong, it was wrong then as it is now to allow politics on the pulpit.
What Happened to Moral Authority?
The church should be a place where leaders are rebuked with love, corrected with truth, and prayed for with sincerity, not a venue for tribal mobilization or revenge speeches.
It should be the one place left where a Kenyan is not a Kikuyu, a Kalenjin, or a Luo, but simply a soul seeking grace.
Instead, we are witnessing a growing trend where:
- Politicians are regularly given pulpit time, often before the Word is preached and if not given they take it by force and rebuke the priest for trying to deny them a chance. This was recently witnesses between, Hon. Gathoni Wa Muchomba and a priest who had denied an opportunity to politicians.
- Congregants cheer tribal slurs and political threats more passionately than they say “Amen” to scripture
- Hate and division are dressed up in religious garments
- The church encouraging young people to rebel against their government and protest. The have not suggests peaceful resolutions or dialogue as protests in Kenya have proven to be violent and deadly.
This is not worship. This is not church. This is a spiritual crisis.
Keep Politicians Off the Pulpit, All of Them
Let us be clear. This is not just about Gachagua or Ruto. It is not about UDA or the opposition. It is about the church and what it is becoming.
No politician, not one, should be allowed to speak from the pulpit. Not to campaign. Not to defend themselves. Not to attack their rivals. Period.
Let them speak at rallies, press briefings, and town halls. Let the church remain sacred.
The moment we allow political factions to hijack the Gospel, we trade truth for tribalism and worship for warfare.
To the Church, Choose a Side, and Let It Be Righteousness
Dear bishops, pastors, and reverends,
You cannot bless a man on one Sunday and curse him the next.
You cannot welcome the government’s tithe with open arms and then host its enemies the moment the political wind shifts.
You cannot claim to be neutral while acting as a political amplifier.
The church must reclaim its voice, not rent it out. Not be emotional but spirit guided.
If leaders are wrong, call them out boldly but fairly. If the people are hurting, stand with them honestly but prayerfully. If the nation is at a crossroads, be a beacon of reconciliation, not a tool of polarization.
In Conclusion, The Soul of Kenya Is at Stake
This country is deeply wounded, economically, politically, and spiritually. What we need are not more microphones in churches, but more prayers, more repentance, and more truth.
Let Sunday return to being a day of worship, not warfare. Let the pulpit return to being a place of truth, not tribalism. Let the church once again stand for morality, not political mileage.
Because if we lose the church, we lose the last place where the nation can come together as one.
Editor’s Note:
Let those who preach, preach Christ. Let those who lead, lead with integrity. And let those who seek to divide, do it far away from the altar of God.
