In Festac, we
could hardly hear each other talk as two gatherings of people using residential
flats converted to churches on either side attempted to drown each other with loud preaching
and praise worship. They are all operating outside areas designated for
religious activities by the government. Residents who are not happy with
the development are reluctant to report the activities to Federal Housing
Authority lest they are branded persecutors of the Gospel.
But why do they
all turn up the volume of their public address systems so dangerously and then
proceed to yell as though there was none? This happens even if it is a lock-up
shop that accommodates no more than 10. The reason for this would be an
interesting study subject for social behaviour scientists.
The unfortunate
truth was revealed by a Nigerian cleric who openly lamented recently that the
work of God had been infiltrated by charlatans. There is a fast growing tribe
of men and women who see ministerial work as an avenue to personal riches and
aggrandisement. And with no formal entry barrier, hundreds of such men and women,
some with no scruples at all, are turning into ministerial work to lead the
good life. They lay claim to a right to have astounding wealth on account of
working for God, because, well, of course, God is not poor. They have no time
for rural evangelism.
The missionaries
of old left the comfort of their homes for rural environments without
electricity, pipe borne water, boreholes, decent toilet, etc to win souls
for Christ. But our modern day preachers are only called to evangelise urban,
Blackberry and iPad-hugging souls. Everyone is hunting for souls that can sow a
seed of a Hummer or Bentley into the life of a ‘Man of God’. Suddenly, the House
of God is a place that poor people are blamed for their plight. They are made
to believe they are poor because they have not learnt to sow very well. Many
end up giving up the little they have to enable the Man of God to buy and fly a
private jet. This cannot be the will of God.
This verse in
the Holy Bible speaks to many ‘Men of God’ today. Mathew 21:13. ‘He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house
shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”
Certainly, there is a principle of sowing and reaping. But the ministers of God
using this principle unscrupulously to take from the poor in order to lead a
life of obscene wealth should listen to Jesus Christ rebuking them in Mathew
21:13.
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