The present state of the church today

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Gone were those days when men of God used to preach against living flamboyant lifestyles. They are now the ones living the life. I remember when I was growing up, hardly will you find a pastor driving a car let alone flying a jet. These days, men of God own everything even some of the things they preach against.  Owning a jet is fast becoming a trend among pastors. Acquiring multimillion properties is also gaining grounds among these pastors.  There might be nothing wrong with these things as they might just be God’s call or blessings as some of these things are needed to expand God’s message and establish the church.

However, how you administer them is altogether a different issue. Although I have a high respect for men of God, I still have my reservation about some of them who tend to be living a large life at the expense of their members. I have always wondered why a church leader would invest so much money on living on the large side of life, buying properties for himself, cars, jets and wearing designer clothing when some of the church members are struggling to have a three square meal a day. A church is often regarded as charity organisation, a place for worshiping and acknowledging the Almighty. A place for encouraging others base on the word of God, a place for sharing and helping one another, a place in which the main aim of the people is spending eternity in Heaven (Acts 2 verses 44 – 47)

Please don’t get me wrong. It is absolutely OK for a God’s representative (i.e pastors, Reverends, Bishops, Evangelists, Prophets etc) to look their best but I feel they need to do more than just preaching the word to the congregation. They need to act on the word. They need to go out and do more for the society. They need to invest more on spreading the word of God and wining souls for God rather than wearing blings or owning about five private jets. One jet is enough or at most two. after all, you can't be in two jets at the same time. Recently during the second Save Nigeria Group public lecture in Lagos, Pastor of Latter Rain Assembly, Tunde Bakare said in a statement “All General overseers and religious leaders must go to prison, so they can feel the Nigerian situation... maybe if we come out we will change and put the interest of our people first. Preaching greed is sin, we have the confidence of millions of people and continue to fail them, that must change.'’( quote HERE)  I completely understand what he meant by this statement. Some church leaders need to experience life as a common man, just maybe then would they be able to cut down on their lavish expenses and set their priorities right.

Some of these churches have higher institutions of learning and they charge exuberantly. I personally haven’t been to any of these private universities but I guess they have all the necessary technology and probably conducive environment for learning but come to think of it, how many people can afford to pay? I assure you only the rich people can afford to go to such universities. Such institutions are not meant for the poor or an average person. Most students struggle to pay through their learning years at the university.  I am also very certain that there are some people among the church congregation who cannot even afford to send their children to school due to lack of finance but they give their offerings and pay tithe on a regular basis. It is from these regular givings and donations from people and organisations that churches get their finances from and this is the major reason why some churches have been able to build universities and set up other businesses but the question remains, is the church of God doing enough to assist the less privilege both within and outside of the church?

I have learnt from personal experience that often times than we know an average member always feel down and sometimes depressed and unworthy to be part of a congregation because of the way the people in that particular setting are dressed or because of their personal possessions. Even when we try to blend in and feel like “all is well”, we still find ourselves holding back from joining any department within that church due to excessive financial demands from that department or the church itself as a whole.

having said all the above, I know there some true leaders, true churches and true worshipers out there but we can not argue that the church is no longer what it used to be. It's a completely different ball game now. Materialism is fast taking over our churches and spiritualism is swept under the carpet. We yearn to look our best, own the best houses, wear the best designer clothes, shoes and drive the best cars. It is all becoming a competition even among the congregation and we wrongly use the phrase “God looks at the inward not the outward” to justify and defend ourselves. I know I might be stepping on some people’s toes but it’s the truth and “truth” they say hurts but it must be told.

We talk of politicians embezzling the nation’s money but what do we say about some of these pastors? The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Most Rev Matthew Kukah, “The acquisition of private jets by Christian leaders diminishes the moral voice of the church in the fight against corruption”. (quote HERE) Do I agree with him? To some extent, yes.  I would like to state at this point that I am absolutely not judging or condemning anyone. Who am I to do that? But in a nutshell,  I’m simply saying that church leaders need to slow down a bit. The church is not for competition. The true teachings of Christ need to be reintroduced. Brotherly love need to be rekindled. We need to refocus and redefine what the church is and only then, would we know to put first things first.

Thanks for reading. These are just my “views”. Please share yours in the comment box or email at views247@gmail.com. Don’t be obliged to agree. You can disagree and correct me if need be.

By me - R.O. E.

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