By SEGUN SHOWUNMI
I have often wondered how we would control and protect our citizens from the madness going on in the churches, especially the speaking factories that have taken greater hold of the minds of the people under the guise of Pentecostal Churches. Individuals would just wake up, claim they were called by God knows who and would go on to get registered as organisations allowed to operate in our country as churches.
Men and women of God now begin to run riot on the premise of Christianity, a faith made popular by the ardent followers of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, an ascetic preacher who is said to have lived in and around Jerusalem in the present day country of Israel!
The teachings and way of life of his followers, especially the Apostles, have grown to become the dominant faith of humanity and a greater number of his sayings, teachings and acts can be found in the New Testament, a set of books of the Bible. And, depending on the level of your understanding, it is sometimes also suggested that books of the Old Testament also refer to him, even though it is generally seen as works of other teachers and masters of different eras.
The complete works of the books of the Bible are the instruments of trade these so-called men and women of God apply, given the arresting nature of all things heavenly. But we have got to a point now where we must ask: what is going on? And who will put a stop to this madness? When you are not reading of extremely deadly consequences of actions of these criminals, who disguise as true men of God (take the case of a preacher who asked people to drink Jik bleach for God knows why with fatal outcomes), you read and watch as innocent gullible members of the society are fleeced of their money under the most skillful con the world has had to endure.
Is it the level of sexual bestiary that takes place with impunity that is not annoying? Or the non-stop noise pollution, all over the place, all day, all hours, without concern for the comfort or sensitivity to others who must occupy the space with them? If it is not vigil, it is mid week service, or special programs, or healing classes, or conventions that cause a mess for other road users.
Shall we talk about the non-Christlike lives these fellows live, from private jets, to luxury cars, flamboyant clothes and all the trappings that show them off as the quacks that they mostly are? I wonder why they do not draw a cue from the prefect master Jesus, at whose expense they profit and in whose name they commit the numerous atrocities! It would have been tolerable had one observed a commensurate increase in morals and values of the citizens that they are meant to preach to. But the reverse is the case; in spite of being the Number One praying nation of the world, we are still rated almost the most corrupt and clearly morally bankrupt in the world!
What then is the reason to allow this mess to continue? The worst is that one can begin to ask where these people were when their predecessors from Europe brought in Christianity with loads of benefits for the host communities – free schools, free health services, proper moral order and good examples to the people. One can still observe that the orthodox churches seem to still apply acceptable standards in conduct and comportment, but not these so-called Pentecostal one man and his wife joke that we have refused to control.
Now that we can clearly see that they have become a source of concern, is it not time for us to look at a sort of regulation to manage how they operate? I am talking of an ombudsman to look into the mess going on there. How are they regulated in saner climes? Are they charities? What are the rules of regulations for charities, beyond the financial issues? Can the fact that they have mostly sold their souls to the devil (wherever that fellow may be) be tolerated?
It is in the ideas they feed the citizens with that I have the greatest concern; it is with the criminal conducts under the guise of touch not my anointed that I have a problem. Who anointed these ones? Can the wise not see that they are a bunch of charlatans who are clearly committing crime under the smokescreen of the mighty name of Jesus? Right now, it is incontestable that we must build our nation anew; we, therefore, cannot leave these crooks unchallenged. I think it would help to call the leaders of the church to come up with a self correcting organ that government will look into, which can be justiciable, for we clearly cannot allow this to continue.
Something radical must now be put in place to save the future generation as this present one may be a lost case. And before anyone would come with some holier than thou position on these thoughts, I need to remind us all that even in the days of the lord Jesus, Caesar was king and law, and as such, the intention of heaven is that government must ensure that the earthly welfare of the sheep is guaranteed. As it is in heaven, so it must be on earth.
I do not think that the Almighty God will be happy with what is going on in the Church in His name and the name of His son Jesus Christ, after all, the Lord allowed a prophet, Elijah to slay 144 false and corrupt prophets in the time of old.
The time has come that judgement must begin from the house of God, so say the scriptures according to 1 Peter 4:17.
