The newly consecrated Bishop of the Lutheran Church of Liberia identifies fear, complacency, self-centeredness and lack of discernment as locusts eating the fabrics of the Liberian society.
Bishop/Rev. G. Victor Padmore says fear and indecision have caused Liberians to lack integrity, and unable to do the right thing, saying “We are afraid to do the right thing, we have become indecisive. Our fear is not fear of God but man. We see the truth but decide the opposite.”
Speaking Sunday, July 3, 2022, at the St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Monrovia after his consecration as the 5th Presiding Bishop of the LCL, he noted that Liberians are complacent or satisfied with doing wrongs.
“We do not want to make positive moves. Even if the wrong things are happening, we are satisfied”, Bishop Padmore adds.
He notes that Self-Centeredness (I, me, and myself) is not only found in the social structure but even in the church, adding “Even though others are crying from neglect and abandonment, we refused to hear.”
He explains that these are locusts eating the fabrics of both the society and the church.
The Lutheran Bishop continues that a lack of discernment between what is important and what can wait is another locust impeding the growth of the country. “If the church should go forward, we must discern what we can do now and what later.”
“Moving forward needs all of us. It needs our time, talent, and possession, but more importantly, it needs our integrity. Those who want to help us, those who want to accompany us are grading our integrity. The lack of discernment leads to Spiritual Immaturity.”
According to him, the lack of fear of God leads to lack of spiritual maturity thus, he says Liberians are spiritually immature. “So, we do not see ourselves as a locust that has eaten up the good years of our church and country.”
Bishop Padmore recollects that Liberia was once a place considered the Grain Coast, and people from other land found the country as a place of rest.
He says Lofa and Nimba counties were once referred to as the bread baskets of Liberia and pointed to the Lutheran Training Institute in Zorzor, Lofa County as the institution that once championed the cause of education here.
He adds that people came from across the country to acquire education, moral character and integrity at the LTI, but asks, “Where are these important legacies that put us on the map? Where?”
Bishop G. Victor Padmore is 5th Presiding Bishop of the Lutheran Church in Liberia.
He notes that today, everyone in Liberia is a pastor, adding that from president to senator, from nurses to doctors even the zogoes are preaching, yet still the country’s morality and integrity are constantly under question. “Where is our integrity?” he asks.