MODERN NIGERIAN CHURCHES SYNONYMOUS WITH BABA-IJEBU

Rev. Br. Kenneth Chigozie, Alamezie, BSS
08068397124

“Set me on fire Lord and cause the world to come watch me burn,” was the prayer request (heart yearning) of the infamous charismatic preacher cum revivalist of his time, John Wesley, as was written in one of the books that chronicled his memoirs. it seems strange for one to make such a request, right? Of course we can tell this fellow wasn’t just praying that God should cause him to become a vain celebrity, or, literally speaking lit him up in flames. At least one could figure this out from the kind of life we’re told he led. For Paul the apostle, it wasn’t a different heart yearning, either; hear him: “cursed be me if I preach not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” ( ).
These men, I believe, ought to have been of somewhat great influence to us in today’s muddled world/christianity. But it appears this is not so, the reason ours today, vis-à-vis preaching of the gospel truth, is at best nothing but sheer spiritual charlatanry; a development quite deserving of public outcry, and consequent condemnation by those at the helm.
Ordinarily, this kind of prayer/zeal is what one expects to be central, a kind of burning desire in the heart of every Gospel minister. You know, to be aflame for the Lord and the Word, consumed with thirst for souls and the consequent fulfillment of that part of the lord’s prayer that says, “ thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” I consider this to go down well with the supposed primary assignment of those called to the ministry, now I mean the ministry of reconciliation, that’s reconciling men back to God.
But how antiquated and crazy of a prayer such has suddenly and evidently become to our modern-day moneybag ministers, slimy lots (please no denomination is singled out here), who have brazenly thought out for themselves a crafty way of milking dry the sheep entrusted to their care. And, having discovered what St. Paul calls ‘another gospel’, they are now hell-bent on seeing that the sheep are not only milked dry, but skinned alive also. Let it not seem like I am trying to play the judge here, or point accusing finger to anyone. But going by their messages/actions both on and outside the pulpit, one call easily deduce what prayer is hanging very bare on their whale-like mouths and serpent-like tongues; something synonymous to this: “set me on money, afire with fame without tame, o lord, and cause the world to know that I belong to the aristocratic class of ministers cum preachers of my time---the big boys in the ministry; and to hell with those ill-fated impoverished leggy sheep who think I have a thing about their wellbeing in mind.”
Suffer me to recall this wise saying from someone who’s never a Christian, he said: "But the chief thing in all public administration and public service is to avoid even the slightest suspicion of self-seeking." That was Cicero, a great Roman statesman who died a few years before the birth of Christ. Now, if this is true of public servants, just how much more do you think it should apply to God's servants? Scripture has more to say on this.
The Bible gives a list of qualifications for those who would seek the pastoral office (this does not exclude the other offices in the five fold ministry). First Timothy 3:2 and 3 says, "A presbyter [pastor, priest, in all, all those called to minister to souls] then must be blameless… vigilant,
sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre [money]; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous." Oh, did I just hear the word covetous! The Amplified Bible makes the point even stronger. First Timothy 3:3 says, ". . . not a lover of money [insatiable for wealth and ready to obtain it by questionable means]." Does this sound like it applies to us in today’s church, even with all these scams and baba-ijebu dealings going on now in the Body of Christ? Or perhaps it concerns only Bishop Tim and those of that era, isn’t it?!
In one of his lectures quite a few years ago, Chris Delvan had this to say, ““Muslims leave their shoes at the doors of mosques, while Christians leave our minds at the doors of churches.” You know, I bet this to be true, although it sounds pretty funny, or doesn’t it? Yet I doubt if anyone could fault this thought-provoking statement.
Perhaps phony liberalism or sheer ignorance, both of Scripture--of which St. Jerome says it is as good as ignorance of Christ--and the power and true nature of God, could likely be the possible cause of this uncalled–for tolerance cum appraisal of these funny bunch of WINDY CREATURES, crooks, religious charlatans and their tar-like messages prevailing now in the Body of Christ. Or could it be that we—Christians—indeed scarcely carry our minds past church doors as suggested by that blunt fellow? Honestly, considering this a major option may not be unlikely.
Otherwise why would folks continue wasting their hard earned money on those who obviously are super-rich wizards, roller-coaster characters, walking money spillers (human ATMS) plying their unholy trades with reckless severity cum apathy devoid of even the minutest traces of human empathy, in the name of religion or whatever! I bet these guys no longer operate with human hearts, but one made of steel. The more reason why amid inconceivable poverty in the country almost scraping the hairs off the skulls of their more or less bald-headed members, they still have guts to compete, among themselves and before their bony sheep, with witches to fly with jetty wings, Cruise in the most deluxe Porsche, even with sophisticated entourage more than what you would find among looters in government, reckless looters though, and this with gross impunity.
Indeed it’s an era of entertainment, deceit, and impunity in the body of Christ; and I can’t help recalling the words of this man of astute character and effervescence spirit, C.H. Sturgeon, he once said: "A time will come when instead of Shepherds feeding the sheep; the church will have clowns entertaining the goats." Isn’t this true of the church of the time in which we live? Haven’t we now in abounding proportion active jokers and callous swindlers as shepherds? And what about the sheep, have majority not become nearly dim-witted and dumb like goats, considering how unperturbed and glad they would appear, when being swindled of their hard earned money? Really, if St. Paul were to be here, or say pay the Church in Nigeria (especially) a courtesy visit today, I strongly believe he wouldn’t spare us those strong words he used when addressing the Church in Galatia: “O foolish Galatians,[some Nigerian Christians could fit in just properly] who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth…”
You know, it’s out-rightly bizarre and out of place the kind of mix up we get around now in Churches. In the area of scriptural teachings, some of us given to this gospel booming business have really got a lot of things mixed up so badly. We mix up some Old Testament laws/teachings with the New Testament teachings of grace and truth, to get ourselves what we want—a fat purse. This is so obvious in the area of offerings, particularly concerning the issue of tithe and first fruits. Well, we’ll spare this for another day. But let’s not forget that the issue of tithing should not be made a dogma to believers, as it belongs to the OT law which Christ redeemed us from its curse.
“The lord told me that 7 persons here will give #100,000 each to support… (one insignificant project or the other) and these people will become millionaires within one month.” Eeeh! So God has suddenly become a money doubler, and Christianity a religion of multiplication of loaves?
These and more were the words as was echoed by one of these hazy characters, very recently, in one of these their prevailing carefully organized pay per views often dubbed…crusades, power nights or whatever! Don’t forget this is not restricted to any particular denominations. This menace has become incontestably visible in many a church today! This and more razzmatazz that hardly get people take that introspective journey capable of birthing repentance and consequently self discovery, cleverly knitted manipulative ways of extortion (I call it Fund Raising without DUST RAISING), more or less an act of witchcraft operation, have increasingly dominated the ‘circus’ stage show paradigm, leaving our darling charlatans of ministers a little or no place near the word ‘Christian’, let alone ‘pastor.’
I still recall, although not without nostalgia, how-precisely during the immediate past administration, these gospel merchants with their wicked prodigious mercantile knacks almost turned the helmsman in that chaotic blind ship that nearly wrecked the entity called Nigeria into a confused wretch. The scars of the damage wrought by these Hophines and Phinehas in that administration may take a century or more to heal, if ever it will.
It’s time we come back to our senses. Christians in Nigeria should please get back to the radar; we really have strayed way too much. It behooves on us to make it our sole priority to always employ Scripture with view to finding out whether or not what these lazy scoundrels are selling us as gospel message is really what they claim it to be. Folks should please ask questions in matters of the Christian faith, especially where they’re confused. This is one of the surest ways of exposing these doctrines of deceit as being paraded by these wicked servants of hell. Again, folks should not hesitate to ditch any minister, no matter his denomination, or whatever title he may have attached to his name, whose emphasis is always on prosperity, tithing, giving and receiving. Some of them claim that Christians aren’t created to be poor, and that poverty belongs to unbelievers. These are all lies; red hot lies from the pit of hell. That’s not the central in the gospel message of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
And this broom government should also, as a matter of urgency, seriously consider bringing up a policy that would assuage and possibly forever nip in the bud the excesses of these baba-ijabus parading themselves as God’s ministers, and I repeat, this is not minding who or what status or denomination they may belong to. This to me is part of WAC [WAR AGAINST CORRUPTION]. God bless you!