Nigerian Christianity…

Woke up this morning with this great emptiness inside; its December again and every one is going to one camp or the other, making resolutions, going to night vigils, just to make sure they get to see the New Year.

But what is the purpose of all this; I honestly do not think the bible wanted us to practice religion, but have Christianity as a way of life. It honestly freaks me out that Nigeria is one of the most religious countries in the world yet we have bountiful problems.

We pray hard, worship hard, go to church regularly, pay tithes…hold on; does that sound familiar, a little Pharisee and Sadducee ring to it.

Honestly, even though our great vice president, Sambo, shared laptops and LCD TVs as souvenirs on his daughters wedding, I think the church is a major part of this problem. You may ask why I didn’t say mosque; I am not a Muslim so I would not be able to write from their perspective, even though they too are part of the problem.

I was reading a paper on how much covenant university pay for school fees and I honestly was shocked; N 640,000, WHAT! I got angry in my spirit, Winners Chapel has a congregation of way over 1,000,000 members, how many can go to a school that pay that much with the current poverty status of Nigeria? Bishop, himself, went to a missionary school and missionary schools then didn’t pay feess or they were heavily subsidized. How come his schools are one of the most expensive in the country? Is Covenant University not a missionary school?

Every Sunday, they will listen to preaching on sowing seed as a divine upliftment to enjoy ‘Abrahamic’ blessings, but even though I am not against sowing seeds, how many of the people are living like Abraham.

Bishop Oyedepo is the richest pastor in Nigeria, a british mag dubbed him a Pastorpreneur. He owns four private jets, a rolls Royce, two private universities, an airline company, to mention but a few and he is worth $150,000,000; do not forget that it is in dollars.

For God’s sake, if he could have that much, how come people around in Nigeria still suffer, the early apostles sold things to give to the poor, Judas got angry with Mary when she poured oil on Jesus leg because they could have sold such an expensive oil to give to the poor.

Bishop is not the only one guilty of these things, a lot of other pastors as well. Pastor Tunde Bakare said maybe if the could lock up all the pastors, including him; in prison for a while maybe they would understand what the people are going through.

Pastors now acquire so much wealth from the tithes and the offerings people pay,yet with so much riches they claim to be humble. It would have been a lot better if they were always giving to the community. At least with so much worth, every town that there is winners, redeem or any other church should feel the impact of that church in their surroundings. People complain that they pay tax and see no dividends; shouldn’t you see some changes when you pay tithes and give sacrificially?

You see government officials in their long convoys and we shake our heads; saying they are corrupt. But our pastors also have long convoys and fierce looking body guards, what are they afraid of. Jesus walked through crowds; they don’t even want to be touched, maybe except during the service. They drive the best of cars, Jesus trekked, He didn’t even have a horse or a donkey

Our community is dying, people are hungry, there are little or no youth empowerment programs, yet they live rich, advice people to pay tithes and quote Malachi 3:10 every Sunday. Fela Anikulapokuti said ‘Pastors house n aim dey fine pass, ma people never see where to sleep, pastors dress na im dey clean pass, ma people never see money to buy soap…and dem go dey bad bad bad bad things, through Jesus Christ our Lord’

I wasn’t born when Fela sang that song, but isn’t it what is happening now?

I feel the pastors, should engage in youth empowerment programs, they shouldn’t wait for government infrastructure before they do anything, they should collaborate with the government for infrastructure, the church can’t give every body money, but they can help make a change in the society, moving Nigeria up in from being a broke ass third world country.

If any pastor would be reading this, ask youself one question… if Jesus was born in our time, do you think he would drive a hummer jeep, have a Rolls Royce, a fleet of planes, wear the most expensive suits and write so many books on prosperity?

Woke up this morning with this great emptiness inside; its December again and every one is going to one camp or the other, making resolutions, going to night vigils, just to make sure they get to see the New Year.

But what is the purpose of all this; I honestly do not think the bible wanted us to practice religion, but have Christianity as a way of life. It honestly freaks me out that Nigeria is one of the most religious countries in the world yet we have bountiful problems.

We pray hard, worship hard, go to church regularly, pay tithes…hold on; does that sound familiar, a little Pharisee and Sadducee ring to it.

Honestly, even though our great vice president, Sambo, shared laptops and LCD TVs as souvenirs on his daughters wedding, I think the church is a major part of this problem. You may ask why I didn’t say mosque; I am not a Muslim so I would not be able to write from their perspective, even though they too are part of the problem.

I was reading a paper on how much covenant university pay for school fees and I honestly was shocked; N 640,000, WHAT! I got angry in my spirit, Winners Chapel has a congregation of way over 1,000,000 members, how many can go to a school that pay that much with the current poverty status of Nigeria? Bishop, himself, went to a missionary school and missionary schools then didn’t pay feess or they were heavily subsidized. How come his schools are one of the most expensive in the country? Is Covenant University not a missionary school?

Every Sunday, they will listen to preaching on sowing seed as a divine upliftment to enjoy ‘Abrahamic’ blessings, but even though I am not against sowing seeds, how many of the people are living like Abraham.

Bishop Oyedepo is the richest pastor in Nigeria, a british mag dubbed him a Pastorpreneur. He owns four private jets, a rolls Royce, two private universities, an airline company, to mention but a few and he is worth $150,000,000; do not forget that it is in dollars.

For God’s sake, if he could have that much, how come people around in Nigeria still suffer, the early apostles sold things to give to the poor, Judas got angry with Mary when she poured oil on Jesus leg because they could have sold such an expensive oil to give to the poor.

Bishop is not the only one guilty of these things, a lot of other pastors as well. Pastor Tunde Bakare said maybe if the could lock up all the pastors, including him; in prison for a while maybe they would understand what the people are going through.

Pastors now acquire so much wealth from the tithes and the offerings people pay,yet with so much riches they claim to be humble. It would have been a lot better if they were always giving to the community. At least with so much worth, every town that there is winners, redeem or any other church should feel the impact of that church in their surroundings. People complain that they pay tax and see no dividends; shouldn’t you see some changes when you pay tithes and give sacrificially?

You see government officials in their long convoys and we shake our heads; saying they are corrupt. But our pastors also have long convoys and fierce looking body guards, what are they afraid of. Jesus walked through crowds; they don’t even want to be touched, maybe except during the service. They drive the best of cars, Jesus trekked, He didn’t even have a horse or a donkey

Our community is dying, people are hungry, there are little or no youth empowerment programs, yet they live rich, advice people to pay tithes and quote Malachi 3:10 every Sunday. Fela Anikulapokuti said ‘Pastors house n aim dey fine pass, ma people never see where to sleep, pastors dress na im dey clean pass, ma people never see money to buy soap…and dem go dey bad bad bad bad things, through Jesus Christ our Lord’

I wasn’t born when Fela sang that song, but isn’t it what is happening now?

I feel the pastors, should engage in youth empowerment programs, they shouldn’t wait for government infrastructure before they do anything, they should collaborate with the government for infrastructure, the church can’t give every body money, but they can help make a change in the society, moving Nigeria up in from being a broke ass third world country.

If any pastor would be reading this, ask youself one question… if Jesus was born in our time, do you think he would drive a hummer jeep, have a Rolls Royce, a fleet of planes, wear the most expensive suits and write so many books on prosperity?