The Business of Religion

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, kill and to destroy: I am come that they might have life and they might have it more abundantly” John 10:10 The exponential growth of churches in recent years has left questions on whether we have true place of worship. Many speculate that religious explosions have come to steal and not to save and give life. Religion in any given society is a sensitive issue. Arguably, Religion is believed to build or break any nation. It can unite or create division among a given society. With this in mind, we expect that for any religious group to be established, the leader must have focus, a goal and a purpose for establishing one.

It is no longer news that Nigeria is a hub of various religious practices with Christianity leading the pack. But long gone are the days where churches are worthy of their roles as havens and sanctuaries because many are being established for other reasons. We have situations whereby people set up churches for commercial purpose, making merchandise of gullible worshippers. In the biblical days, about 3,000 people became new believers when Peter preached the good news about Christ. These Christians were united with the other believers, taught by the apostles, and included in prayer meetings and fellowship. In the early years, churches were seen as places where spirit can be lifted, fellowship with other brethrens and a sanctuary of praise and worship in Nigeria. They were held in high esteem, as people believed that the churches were secret places of the Most High. But in our modern day society in Nigeria, many of these apostles of Christ gather the multitude for their own benefits. These multitudes are lead astray with various doctrines that contradict one another. Several of these churches under the helm of Pentecostal churches are no longer preaching or professing a spirit filled life but money filled life. They are glorified centers of mammon worship and apostasy. Most of these so-called anointed men on the pulpit of the self-christened ‘altar of God’ brainwash most of their congregational members to give the church the best of their time and service as they fleece them in the name of God. It is an open secret that joblessness has compelled a number of Nigerians to seek admission into Bible colleges with the sole aim of setting up churches to defraud unsuspecting worshippers.

Being called into ministry and being led by the Spirit of God to start a church are two different things. Greed and inordinate ambition to acquire wealth overnight now call many into ministry; hence most of these preachers have tainted the image of the church. In Lagos that is considered as the commercial and business hub of the nation, it is not a surprise to see several of these churches. They have become source of commercial activities with her populace patronizing them. Some call themselves new generation church. That is, they are modernized and practice the current trend of religion; are up to date with technological advancement. Others are called Pentecostals, the older generation church. Most of these churches have extremely hilarious names like Jehovah Sharp Sharp (Lagos), Hurricane Miracle Ministry, Healing Tsunami Ministry, Satan in Trouble Ministry, Fire for Fire Ministry, Go and tell Ahab that Elijah is here Ministry (Benin), God is Real Ministry, Strong Hand Of God Ministry, Best Spot In The Land of God church (Apapa), Jesus Of God Mission (Imo), Jesus In The New Global Ministry, Happy Go Lucky church of God Almighty (Abeokuta), Kasabubu Church of God (Ibadan), Face to face Ministry, Power pass Power church of the mountain ministry incorporated. Other includes: Liquid Fire Ministries (Suleja, Niger state), David kill Goliath Ministry (Kaduna), Moving Mountain Gospel church, Holy Ghost on Fire Ministry (Abuja), Devil Go Hear am Jesus Ministry, Accredited Church of God, Ministry of the unclad wire (Bayelsa state), Chukwudi & Son Evangelical Ministry (Aba), High Tension Ministry, Power Foundation Ministries (Aba), God in action Ministry, Angel of Fire Chapel of peace, Perfect Christianity Ministry, Elshaddai shall not Die ministries, Seven Thunder of Jesus, Jesus Living Wonders, God’s Mennonite Church, Guided Missiles church (Lagos), Jesus knows his children ministry (Benin) etc. the list is endless. One common feature of most of these churches is the building. Most are located in slums, uncompleted building, shambles etc. others look for open field and erect a shaky structure where they gather and fellowship. It is a common sight in Lagos to see at least two churches on the same street. On Sunday, when they hold services, it becomes competition of who is louder.

In the 1900’s, churches were seen as a sacred institution as such, only men that are spiritually inclined and are led after several conviction establish churches. These churches were based on truth and laid down doctrines. But in recent years, these have changes especially in the 21st century as Christianity has been proliferated in Nigeria. Churches are now seen as business venture as such, it is what the people want to hear, they preach. Some of these churches talk about success, prosperity, how to make money and other forms of earthly gratification that has no bearing on the spirituality of the faithful Christian. They ask for several offerings and tithes all in the name of God’s work should prosper. They are afraid to preach the truth because they don’t want to get into trouble with the “members” that are paying their bills. Some of the founders of these churches drive expensive cars, their children attend expensive schools and they travel out of the country anytime they want from money emanating from the church. The poor and the needy members of the society are not included in their plans. In some cases, if the pastor wants to build a church or undertake a special project, he calls for 10 people in the congregation. About 50 eventually get up so they don’t miss the ‘blessing’ of ‘giving to God’s cause’. But the irony of the issue is that some members of the congregation of this same church go hungry while their pastor enjoy a fulfilled life. A story was told recently of an Isolo, Lagos-based minister who buys an exotic car after every crusade the church organizes.

In most of these churches, members compete with one another especially in churches that are attended by rich people church. Most of these founders don’t care about what the people who patronise their churches do for a living. As long as tithes and offerings are paid regularly, they are fine. Most of them, the acclaimed Pentecostal churches, are silent on the role of Christians in the society. Apart from the church serving as a source of livehood, some of these churches run schools with them. It is now a common sight to behold that church premises also run a school ventures. They run day care, crèche, nursery and primary schools. Most of the members are coarse into bringing their children into these schools and they pay some exorbitant fees. Some school of thought wonder if the church is being finance by people, they ought to benefit from them. There are more churches in Nigeria than any other nation in the world. Most of these churches practice voodoo and hid under the guise of being a living church. Several of the church owners embark on these acts to gather multitude. They claim to perform miracles, thus enticing unsuspecting worshippers. Many of the unsuspecting members fall for the web of crafted lies and plans before they realize that they have derailed from the real Christian faith. Most of these fake churches capitalize on endless problems that people are facing and they promise to provide solution to them. One recent case of one of cruelty of these churches and it leaders was the death of a teenager who was taken for special prayers to pass her Senior School Certificate Exam (SSCE). The pastor told her mother that the girl needs to stay in the church for a period of seven days, fasting and praying. The unsuspecting mother left her child only to come return seven days later to meet the decomposing body of her child with signs of having been raped severally. To compound her woes, that was her only child.

According to a Pastor of a new generation church in Lagos, Pastor David Bamidele of Gospel Truth International, some of these pastors are not real. They don’t have the anointing of Christ, as they are signs of false prophets, which signify that the end time is near. He said people ought to be cautious of where they go to in search of miracles and blessings. Many of these pastors feed on the ignorance and pains of their congregational members and lead them astray through their preaching and works. Some schools of thought wonder if there are no laws that monitor the formation of churches in Nigeria. But in reality, most of these churches are not registered under the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). Most of the founders just build their congregational members from million of ignorance publics. Despite all of these, there are true Bible believing and living church that adhere to moral discipline and integrity. There are still those churches that don’t care about the money or fame but on what the Bible says and stand for. The church says, they want to spread the gospel in our nation. If that is the reason why they set up branches around the world, no one should find fault in them. But when they now become ventures and have to remit some significant amount of money to their headquarter, they are force to join the race of business making church. I believe that a Christian has to be the light of the world. The church is an avenue to achieve this. The church should contribute to nation building. But the critical question is, are churches in Nigeria performing these roles? Are they building the family and the nation? Are they pacesetters in laying credible foundations for others to follow? When will they take the gospel beyond the phase of being a mere religion in my backyard?

http://www.ventures-africa.com/2012/03/the-business-of-religion-in-my-backyard/