Two things I think Nigerians hate the most, reproof and
accountability. We want to do want we want to do when and how we want to do it,
never mind its legality/morality or lack of it.
Granted, no one really like criticisms nor negative comments,
I don’t suppose if you said you hated my brown locs, I’d respond with a smile. But these things will be said and some of them will have some truths.
Over the weekend, the church with the highest seating
capacity in the world, was opened in Abuja, Nigeria. Yes, Nigeria.
Interestingly, only a few months ago, Nigeria was rated as the poverty capital
of the world. Nigeria, host to the largest church in the world. Nigeria, also
host to the poorest people in the world. There is a likelihood that some of
these poor people might have contributed to this very elaborate building; The
new wave Pentecostal pastors can take your last dime from you in the name of
the father. ‘What’s that you’ve got in your hands, is it your phone, is it your
watch, bring it to the Lord, the Lord needs it so that he can bless you,’ they
would say. And the people, semi educated, hungry and desperate for a miracle
will rush to the pulpit to drop their widow’s mite.
Religion, they say is the opium of the masses. No place is
this saying truer than in Nigeria. The Nigerian has got it quite bad, the
leaders he voted to serve him do no such thing instead they seek to destroy him
and the pastors called to feed the flock feed from the flock. Everyone takes
advantage of the vulnerability of the hapless Nigerian.
While I have no problems with the message of giving, I don’t
suppose that when God asked us to give to the church, the money was to be used for
private jets and tall buildings particularly in a nation where many cannot
afford decent meals.
The 100k church has come under a lot of criticism but many have
also risen to defend it. The critics say the money could have been put to
better use; build hospitals or at least donate equipment, fund schools, build
welfare centres etc but the defenders say this is not the work of the job but
of the Government. So what then is the work of the church if it cannot positively
affect society? Are Christians not called to be the light of the world? I believe
there is a correlation between the decadence in the society today and the absence of truth in the church. Heck, our thieving leaders sit in front rows in church and receive blessings
from the pastor, no thanks to a very healthy tithe envelope. Our sons are not
left out; when you’ve conned some white man, why don’t you bring ten percent of
your earnings, after all, the Lord loves a cheerful giver. And our daughters,
let’s not even go there.
We can no longer differentiate between sinners and saints,
perhaps because there are no more saints. The lines have completely blurred.
Let us remember that a church that should be preaching
restitution once refused to give back tithes paid by a thief. Who remembers
that story?
Let us remember also that a church was holding seminars for
MMM.
People don’t always mean harm when they criticize. We must
be open to it; the message of the church today leaves a lot to be desired. ‘Let’s
get all we can, can all we get and sit on the can.’ What happened to helping
the poor, what happened to preaching about love and kindness and holiness. Messages
that would make a corrupt politician rethink his ways and a kidnapper repent
but instead the church has made sinners comfortable in their sin as long as they bring their tithes and offerings. The church needs to listen and fix the holes before they
become too large.
I’ll leave you with a story. I recently found that one of my
coolest friends is a Cross Bearer. I’ve known him for years but never knew his
faith till it came up in a recent conversation. Immediately he told me, it all
made sense. He’s one of the kindest, most decent, principled beings I know. He won’t
take a pin from work if he didn’t have the right to. There are not many Pentecostals
that I can say that of. Sadly. Because the church is too busy building structures, it's forgotten about building character.
It’s human nature to defend ‘our’ own, love can be blinding
but think about it, are Pentecostals really representing Christianity in
Nigeria? When I think about early Christianity in Nigeria, I remember
missionaries, I remember hospitals, I remember schools. But what do we have today?
A race to build the tallest building. We now rate our faith not by fruits of the
holy spirit by the seating capacity of our churches.
Recently a colleague told me about a good experience he had
at a hospital run by a church, highly subsidized. I knew before he mentioned it
that it wasn’t a Pentecostal church, I was right.
I’m not sure what the purpose of this 100k seater church is but I
remember Jesus asking ‘What man is there of you, if the son asks him for a loaf
of bread will hand him a stone?’
The defenders of the church say the people saying the money should have been used to build hospitals should themselves build the
hospitals. Perhaps they would, if the church didn’t take their money from them.
The Church and the State have taken so much from the people and given so little
in return.
They say that success is measured by how much good you do
for others, but hey, This is Nigeria. Here, we measure it by the size of our pockets and churches, the poor can go to hell.
