The National President of Association of Christian Theologians, Professor Olakunle Macaulay, recently came under attacks for opposing the payment of tithes in churches. But this kind of hoopla has not caught my wonderment, as much as Macaulay’s lamentation over the drift in honourable conducts among many modern-day Nigerian Christians.
The Octogenarian ACTS president is literarily swooned that many charlatans have usurped the pulpit, proclaiming themselves as pastors and yet possess no formal training in clerical duties. He demurred, saying, “Many of them are either retirees, pensioners or jobless people, who are now in Christian leadership.”
Some pastors are often approached with trepidation by their harried church members. While some prostrate, genuflect or kneel down to greet their pastors, others simply lie flat on the floor
However, a few Pentecostal churches that are usually of the big-brand name have theological colleges otherwise known as ‘Bible School’, for their clerics, such as pastors and evangelists; but a greater number of Pentecostal churches in Africa operate with clergymen that have no formal training in theology. In some worse cases, stark illiterate persons are rated as pastors based on perceived spirituality and years of experience or commitment to the cause of the church owner.
In tandem too, there seems to be no known regulation in the Body of Christ any longer, as many clerics now elevate absurd doctrines to appear as canonical sagacity.
A predilection being widely faulted among churches these days is a queer adulation of self-aggrandisement, which makes the pastor the centre of attraction in church services, and not Jesus, “who is the author and finisher of our faith.”
Some pastors, it was observed, are often approached with trepidation by their harried church members in the belief that the church leader is an unusual being and that any attempt to rate him as equal would make members incur the wrath of God. While some prostrate, genuflect or kneel down to greet their pastors, others simply lie flat on the floor, at the approach of the pastor or General Overseer. Also, in what may be likened to brain-washing or hypnotism, the average Christian does not believe that his pastor, as a human being, is prone to mistakes, as he insists that the pastor must not be criticised in whatever form. To justify this, he lapses into the Bible passage which states, “Touch not my anointed and do my prophet no harm.”
There is an extreme situation in Tanzania, for instance, where a Pentecostal pastor’s feet do not touch the ground until he is through with his church ministration. The cleric is in no way an apparition or a ghost as he still has to obey the law of gravity. As such, he rides on the back of selected church members to conduct his ministrations!
Lamenting over the situation, an author, Tim Melton, describes this fad in the Pentecostal circles as “a larger than life personality (that) shapes Christian thinking, rather than the scriptures.
“Whenever a single personality is exalted, then Christ is subtly degraded,” Melton laments.
Another problem militating against chastity in most churches nowadays is the difficulty in separating the State from the Church. Those who are called into the work of God, ordinarily, should not be involved in secular governance. But the reverse seems to be the case today in modern-day churches, as there have been poignant instances of politicisation of the church, in which politicians now see the men of God as pliable, and ever willing to operate under their whims and caprices.
A testy moment for the image of Christianity in Nigeria was when the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria accused the Christian Association of Nigeria under the leadership of Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor of leading the Christian leadership in the country into partisan politics. The CBCN took exception to the way Oritsejafor was singing the praises of the then administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, with no reservation whatsoever.
The then CAN president was a regular caller at Aso Rock, the seat of power in Abuja, where he was always photo-snapped, dining, playing or ministering. In the thick of the chummy relationship between the CAN and the Federal Government, to the extent that no single criticism was issued against those in power, the unthinkable happened. Oritsejafor was given a private jet by an anonymous donor. And shortly after the donation, which sparked wild jubilation among adherents of his church in Warri, Delta State, another unthinkable also happened. The private jet was intercepted and impounded in South Africa, caught with millions of dollars in raw cash, allegedly meant for arms purchase.
Also, the annual convergence of the Redeemed Christian Church of God or that of The Winners Chapel, called Convention and Shilo, respectively, are veritable grounds for politicians to ply their trade, apparently for the sake of the mammoth crowd controlled at the event and the arresting influence of the churches’ General Overseers on their congregation. Both President Muhammadu Buhari and his predecessor, Jonathan, had been there to launder their images during election periods.
The local churches too are not exonerated from this gale of politicisation of the gospel, as pastors openly campaign for church members contesting for political offices, with no consideration for programmes planned for execution by the contestants. Findings, have, however, shown that this practice has been taking place largely for pecuniary
reasons.
As such, the Church in Nigeria needs to purge itself of these low points or better put, launch some war against indiscipline in the household of God, for the effectual propagation of the gospel of Christ.
*Fasua is Head, Editorial Board of The Point
