Church Watch in Nigeria CHANGE SHOULD START FROM THE CHURCH IN NIGERIA!!! There’s both a mood and a clamour for CHANGE in the political arena in Nigeria. After years of undelivered promises, the electorates are fed up and are agitating for CHANGE. Hunger in the midst of plenty. Corruption romping through our streets with impunity. Stunted development of our tremendous human capital. THE PEOPLE ARE JUST FED UP! And they are demanding for change. CHANGE at all costs. In the quest for change, Nigerians are scrambling for anything that looks like HOPE. The candidate that most people are hoping will win the election in a few weeks is very far from the ideal candidate of a young, vibrant, charismatic, intellectual leader. But guess what? We don’t care! Our desperation does not end there. Even in the southern part of the country, predominantly Christian, we were willing to favourably consider a Muslim/Muslim ticket. And may have even campaigned for such if it will chuck out our sitting Christian brother that is widely adjudged to be ‘clueless’ and non-performing. That’s how desperate we are for CHANGE. We are just tired, tired, tired! But wait a minute…. As the larger society clamours for change, isn’t there an urgent need for CHANGE in the Church too? Indeed there is! Rot has crept into the Church, and one group that seems to benefit from this rot is the leadership of the ‘Church’ in Nigeria. A few thousands of sweet-talking men in ‘agbada’ cassock or ‘design suit’ cassock are clearly exploiting the poverty and hopelessness in the land to build their personal kingdoms. By selling HOPE to a HOPELESS generation, these guys are cashing in heavily, and laughing all the way to the bank in the soft-leather luxury of their private jets. For they indeed milk even the poorest in the land, taking 10% of their insufficient income with a suave promise of a ‘Jesus’ that is eager to turn them into overnight millionaires through miraculous, financial breakthroughs. A ‘Jesus’ that will automatically heal all their diseases and kill all their enemies. A ‘Jesus’ that will end all their sorrow, shame, and pain, on this earth. This deceit has been going on for almost three decades now. And nothing is apparently set to burst the bubble. Those who have any spiritual brain, or even physical reasoning, will see that the key beneficiaries of the Prosperity Gospel in Nigeria are mainly the pastors themselves. They are the ones that are getting fatter in the order of Ezekiel 34 (please read this chapter). The breakthroughs are not trickling down to the masses, some of whom have had to close their bank accounts to satisfy the unending demand for cash in the Church in tithes, offering, special offering, thanksgiving offering, building offering, prophet’s offering, first-fruits offering, etc. Particularly, the last one! For in this month of January, potentially, millions of Nigerians will have no income to take home because some men in cassock have pronounced that God demands our January salary as first-fruit offering! And the sheep in the Church, with an eye on the promised breakthrough, are now trooping to obey the directive. (Last year, in an Abuja branch of the biggest Pentecostal denomination in the country, a regional pastor told his congregation to ALSO give their February salary to the region, after giving the January salary to the headquarters!) All these in the name of Jesus! And yet the financial miracles are not flowing like rain. Neither is righteousness increasing in the land. The more people are getting ‘born again’ in Nigeria, the more ungodliness and lawlessness are pervading the land – even in the Church. Those who know the Bible will attest to the fact that IT IS A PURE LIE to claim that Jesus promised to make all His followers rich and problem-free in this life. I repeat that this is a pure lie, and ANYBODY that makes this claim, or creates this false impression/hope IS A LIAR! As a matter of fact, in most cases, Jesus promised His followers the opposite. “Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14:22) Rather, RIGHTEOUSNESS, in ever- increasing measure, is the attribute that Jesus promised will be the hallmark of those that genuinely follow Him in the narrow path. That’s why He described them as the ‘salt of the earth’ and the ‘light of the world’. Now, let’s ask ourselves the home truth: Is Christianity in Nigeria, particularly the Pentecostal variant, delivering on this promise of righteousness in the nation? The answer is a huge NO! This is what makes it clear that the Church needs a CHANGE. Things are not adding up. If Christianity is indeed growing in leaps and bounds in Nigeria, shouldn’t the society be noticing a corresponding shift towards righteousness in the land? Of course, this is not to insinuate that Christians will transform the nation overnight. But in Nigeria, should the growth of the Gospel (if it is truly growing) not yield the types of widely acclaimed fruits we read in Romans 16:19, “For your obedience is known to all (in Rome)…” Similar testimonies are also recorded in Romans 1:8, 1 Thessalonians 1:8, etc? So, wherever the Gospel flourishes, the society sees the change in the conduct of followers of Christ. Why is Nigeria different? Let’s ask ourselves these challenging questions: How many of the well known men of God are nationally known to be decrying lack of righteousness in the nation, particularly in the Church? How many of them break down in public as they mourn our waywardness as a people and as a nation? How many of them are shouting themselves hoarse in calling us to repentance? A negligible number, in my opinion. And this should really make us think! Are these men really promoting the Jesus of the Bible, or a personal agenda? For till today, in spite of the wickedness in the Church, and in the land, they continue to promise us unending supply of blessings! 2015 is our ‘Year of Unhindered Breakthrough’ or our ‘Year of Double-Double Blessings’, etc. And, once again, our faith has been whipped up into a state of HOPE that will be shattered at the end of the year as we take stock. And then they will renew the cycle of deceit at the cross-over service into 2016, and call it our ‘Year of Rapid Multiplication’ or similar nonsense! When will all this stop??? Within the Church, why are we not questioning ourselves about the genuineness of the Gospel that our fathers in the Lord are teaching today? If the Jesus in the Bible is radically different from the Jesus that is preached on our pulpits, why are we not pausing to think? Why do we keep rushing out to unending miracle services in camps and mountaintops? Finally, why are we not thirsty, hungry, and agitated for CHANGE IN THE CHURCH as the larger society is clamouring for CHANGE IN THE POLITICAL SPHERE? Have we become blind to the truth of the Gospel? Or have we been bewitched by the prevalent false teaching in the Church? “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth….” (Galatians 3:1) Brothers and sisters, there may not be too many things we can do about the rot in the Church, but this one thing we can do – P R A Y!!! We can begin to pray earnestly that God should please CHANGE us in the Church, for He is the ONLY One that can truly change the Church. And when the church changes, the nation will indeed change. God is just waiting for us to ask… Friends, please get on your knees and pray for the Church – day and night. Thanks for reading, God bless.
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 13:18:10 +0000
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