“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be
born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter
into the kingdom of God. That which is born of
the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the
spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye
must be born again” (John 3:1-7).
Pastors are supposed to be the conscience of the
society. They are supposed to be God’s
representatives here on earth. Like Elisha in the
Bible, they are supposed to warn the people
about the dangers of disobeying God and guide
them to the path of righteousness. Read more after the cut
They are
supposed to lead by example.
Today, some pastors are the problems of the
society. The lifestyle of some pastors is
contradictory to what they preach. It has got so
bad that when a man introduces himself as a
pastor, he attracts immediate suspicion. Scandals
and controversies have eaten too deep into the
church like an incurable cancer.
Like electric poles, churches are springing up all
over the country and their general overseers or
CEOs are fast emerging as the richest men in the
country. Some Nigerian pastors represent their
stomach instead of Christ. Churches have been
turned into banks and business centres with
branch pastors given targets for increased
turnover by headquarters. Most of these new
breed churches only preach prosperity because
preaching salvation will impact negatively on the
church’s GDP. Some of today’s pastors, after
their failed attempts at finding a means of
livelihood, hire a classroom and start a church.
Most Nigerians have been brainwashed to see
their pastors as angels of light instead of the men
of lies and hypocrisy they truly are. When I hear
some of our so-called men of God talking, I hear
a well rehearsed speech delivered with
sugarcoated tongue. I see feigned sympathy and
fake listening ears trying to milk their unfortunate
audience. I see people being washed, rinsed,
dried and ironed with rehearsed miracles wooing
gullible Nigerians to their churches.
To some pastors, the church is no longer the
stairway to heaven. It is more like the Lagos-
Ibadan expressway to wealth. No trick is too dirty
to enslave their followers. While many in their
congregation cannot afford three decent meals in
a day, pastors convey offerings to their banks in
bullion vans. They use offerings to build schools
their congregation cannot afford to send their
wards to. They cruise about town in their exotic
cars, and jet off to spend vacations in the most
exotic tourist destinations across the world.
Jesus Christ fed the multitude with five loaves of
bread and two fishes (Matthew 14: 13-21). He
could have auctioned it to the wealthy and more
privileged amongst the multitude but he asked
his disciples to share to all without
discrimination. Except for a few, the majority of
pastors will not lift a finger to ease the sufferings
of the poor in their congregation.
It was in the news how two girls from an Abuja
church openly accused their pastor of having
sexual intercourse with them and his followers
said, “Touch not my anointed and do my
prophets no harm.” A popular Lagos pastor has
married and divorced more times than the randy
king of Swaziland and his followers said, “Touch
not my anointed and do my prophets no harm.” I
wonder what a pastor who cannot keep his
marriage has to tell his members during their
marriage counselling classes. A popular UK
based Nigerian pastor who was to be arrested for
tax evasion in the UK, fled to Nigeria to escape
the authorities and his followers said, “Touch not
my anointed and do my prophets no harm.” A
flamboyant pastor in Warri bought a jet when
people in his community were displaced as a
result of one of the worst flood disasters to hit
this country. And his followers said, “Touch not
my anointed and do my prophets no harm.”
Rev. King the self-acclaimed “god” and “Jesus of
our time” was arrested and charged to court for
using a girl for human barbecue. And the 69-
year-old grief stricken father of the victim
lamented that he went to the church to see his
daughter, and followers of Rev. King denied
knowing her. But one follower later told him that
she was Rev. King’s wife and was in the hospital.
Getting to the hospital, he found his daughter
Anna Uzoh on the hospital bed roasted. After a
long inquiry, she revealed that Rev. King set her
on fire. And Rev. King’s followers said, “Touch
not my anointed and do my prophets no harm.”
Apparently, Justice Joseph Oyewole of the Ikeja
High Court thought otherwise and sentenced Rev.
King to death.
It was in the news sometime ago how a man
stole money and confessed to giving it as offering
to a church. When asked, the pastor said the
money was given to God and can’t be returned.
Things like this can only happen in a society like
Nigeria.
Pastors should be judged by their words as well
as their actions. This is a country where a pastor
organises a healing crusade for his members but
jets off to the United Kingdom the next morning
for a medical check-up. In Nigeria, pastors pray
and ask God to protect their members but employ
the services of bodyguards. It won’t be a surprise
when Nigerian churches get enlisted in the
Nigerian Stock Exchange for the public to buy
shares. It is a fact that when you scare people
badly enough, you can get them to do anything.
I wasn’t surprised to hear that a South African
pastor ordered his congregation to eat grass, that
it would bring them closer to God and of course,
the members obeyed and ate to their fill. We
heard of how a Kenyan pastor ordered all female
members of his church to attend church services
without bras and panties for Christ to enter their
lives. My brothers and sisters in the Lord, do not
be deceived by these pastors. Seek God’s face,
pray and read the scriptures and ask for the Holy
Spirit’s guidance and interpretation. The Bible
says you should study to show yourself
approved. As I end this article, my prayer is that
rapture takes place on a Sunday during first
service so that all fake pastors will be caught
pants down. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment