DELUSIONS FROM THE PULPIT | Beware

It is sad and very unfortunate that our society has gone really haywire and that the rate of morality over the last decade has descended to an all-time low. From the regular street-gang armed robbery to the present bold and full-blown kidnapping, and even assassination in some cases; from the regular one-night-stand prostitutes to the 24/7 prostitution by female undergraduate students and desperate ladies at work places; from the normal peaceful protests and threats to the militancy and ‘boko-haramism’ which we now have; from the occasional adultery and second-wife practices to the present-day, and I daresay now-excusable, chains of mistresses and concubines our married men keep – even with their wives’ knowledge; from the frequent fornication with the opposite sex to the brave and mind-numbing acts of sodomy and lesbianism that have now become the order of the day in our society, and the list continues.

It has gotten to a point where nobody sees anything wrong with government officials embezzling public funds; instead we all envy them and wish we were in their positions so that we will take more bites than they have of the national cake. All these evil practices which were unthinkable at the start of the new millennium are now sadly the order of the day in Nigeria.

But then I have noticed another trend too.

Over the past decade, the number of churches in Nigeria has increased geometrically, and I don’t mean figuratively. Be it dioceses and churches expanding from the orthodox churches, the people breaking away from the orthodox and already-established Pentecostal churches to establish their own Pentecostal churches, or the ones that just set up Pentecostal churches because it has become a very booming business in Nigeria; the growth of churches in our country has spiraled uncontrollably to the extent that there can be five different churches occupying separate flats in one building and you can find at least three different churches in every street – there are five in the street I live in! Therefore, it’s not unexpected that the number of church worshipers has increased tremendously – after all, without the worshipers there will be no church in the first place.

So unlike the previous practice where only a mother goes to church with the smaller kids while her husband and the bigger kids sit at home because they do not like the brand of worship – music and sermon alike – in a particular church, everyone in the family now goes to church, albeit different churches with different brands of worship to meet each person’s expectations.

While it’s commendable that there are now more churches and about 90% of Christians in the society participating actively in church activities, it is particularly surprising and worrisome that the level of crime and immorality has increased significantly – when it should be decreasing since more people now go to church now than ever before. And in my opinion, there’s a particular reason this is happening – the Pulpit; that is where the ideas of most of these practices have emanated.

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Now the pulpit is simply a platform on which the preacher stands to deliver the sermon to church worshipers. But it’s not the platform I have a problem with, it’s what’s being said from there that, in my opinion, is the reason that instead of morality and transparency being the norm in our society considering the high number of ‘Christians’, it’s actually immorality and corruption dominating every fabric of the society.

I say so because when I was a kid, it was just adults that were really keen on knowing more about God and obeying Him that actually went to church, and then we children were taken along too. But nowadays, there really is a church that suits every kind of person in our society. Instead of the church being a place where people are informed and transformed, it’s now the people that come to a church that determine what the church becomes.

This is why there are specific churches for specific kinds of needs. Do you need the fruit of the womb? There’s the ‘God of Hannah Ministry’. Are you being tormented by demons? There are plenty deliverance ministries all around. Have the locusts and canker-worms been eating up your proceeds and profits? Don’t worry; just find the ‘Pursue and Recover All Ministries’. Have you been fighting a terrible illness for so long? Hallelujah! The ‘Jehovah Rapha Ministry’ just opened on the next street. Don’t tell me you've not heard of the ‘Find Your Missing Rib Ministries International’ that specializes in locating one’s destined spouse?

Do you want to get rich and you've been to a lot of native doctors and their methods haven’t worked so far? Ah! Visiting native doctors is now out of fashion-oh, there’s no need to go to shrines again because there are now churches in your neighborhood that specialize in this kind of need – the ‘Money Will Worship Me Miracle Ministries’. And if you want any of these miracles to come your way quickly, then you’ll have to visit the ‘Jehovah Sharp-Sharp Deliverance and Miracle Ministries Incorporated’.

Then of course there are the more popular churches like the Synagogue Church of All Nations – the miracle and deliverance headquarters in Nigeria, the Living Faith Incorporated – where the undiluted prosperity gospel is preached, the Mountain of Fire & Miracle Ministries – the burning furnace of demons and enemies, the Redeemed Christian Church of God that combines parts of other churches’ features, the orthodox Anglican and Catholic churches which have become powerful political forces in Nigeria, with many other churches to feed people’s greed.

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Why are there no Holiness and Righteousness Ministries where God’s foundational truth can be taught to His worshipers? Or why can’t our present churches teach God’s unblemished truth from the Bible? Which church still emphasizes Matthew 6:33 where Jesus Christ Himself prescribed the God-certified means of receiving all these blessings and miracles? Because if Godliness – seeking God’s kingdom and His righteousness – were made the focus of all these sermons that come from the pulpit today, then we wouldn't need to be changing church like we do clothes all in search of one deliverance or miracle, which actually translate to “all these other things.”

Who still talks about fulfilling the conditions stated in Deuteronomy 4:1 to 28:1 in order to obtain the blessings recorded in Deuteronomy 28:2-13? Which of our preachers have warned or pointed out to their church members that there are thrice more curses for disobedience than blessings for obedience in that same chapter? Or is it just about telling them to always proclaim “I am the head and not the tail” (ironically, the condition of obedience is even repeated in that same verse) and “I am blessed in everything I do” and “I shall lend to many nations and not borrow from them” without showing them the right steps to receive such beautiful blessings from God?

And who even came up with this popular but erroneous “I am a child of God, therefore I CANNOT suffer lack, sickness, grief and setbacks” statement? Isn't it contradictory to Peter’s words of advice in his epistle in 1st Peter 4:1, 16 and 19, or even to Job’s predicament recorded in Job 1:13-21 and 2:4-8? Or wasn't Job a child of God, whom God even boasted to Satan about and still permitted Satan to torment him?

What about the great apostle Paul whom, in spite of his holiness, righteousness and very close relationship with God (which unfortunately, most of our pastors today don’t even have)? God allowed Satan’s messenger to inflict him with a thorn in his flesh; and even though Paul cried out to God for healing at different times, His answer remained the same each time, “… I am with you; that is all you need. My power shows up best in weak people.” You can see things for yourself in 2nd Corinthians 12:9. So are we more righteous people than Peter, Job, Paul or even Stephen, John, James and other Christians who suffered for the cause of Christ? Or are we more loved and favored by God which make us immune to lack, sickness, bereavement and other setbacks?

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I make bold to say that most of our present day Pastors, General Overseers, Prophets, Apostles, Deacons and the like do not know God’s foundational truth and have not recognized Him as Saviour, let alone Lord, of their lives. Even the ones who have, have (on purpose) taken advantage of men’s greed to, instead of pointing out the ONLY right way that leads to eternal life – and even the earthly riches – to their church members, lead them further into the broad way that leads to destruction. They pick out specific portions of the Scripture and use it to preach and excite the congregation instead of telling them the whole truth.

What is the basis of preaching from one of Malachi 3:10-12, 2nd Corinthians 9:7, Philippians 4:19, Romans 8:28, 31-32, Ephesians 3:20, 2nd Peter 5:7, Isaiah 54:17, Matthew 7:7 and Psalms 91:7-13 every Sunday in the church and getting church members excited and very willing to part with huge offerings, seeds of faith and tithes in order to “claim their blessings” without ever mentioning those other parts of the Scripture that announce the unchangeable requirements of God? Or aren’t those ignored ones important enough to have been included in the Bible? Even when our pastors mention them, they find a way to twist the words to suit the wishes of their congregations – exactly what Paul was referring to in 2nd Timothy 4:3&4 and in Philippians 3:18-19!

But can we actually claim to have a share in someone’s inheritance when we don’t have a relationship with (and are not related to) that person? So how come we are ascribing God’s blessings to ourselves when we haven’t come yet to Him to cleanse us of our sins and save us from our sinful nature while giving us His new heart? Eventually, we end up piercing ourselves with many sorrows (1st Timothy 6:9-10) all in a bid to gain the whole world in order to look blessed in the eyes of the world, while losing our souls to eternal damnation.

Paul’s advice to young Timothy in 1st Timothy 6:6-8 still remains very relevant today. And the only way we can achieve it is following Jesus’ instruction in Matthew 6:33. If the preachers who mount our pulpits can emphasize the “one thing which is needed” (Luke 14:41-42) to the worshipers who throng their churches every Sunday morning while urging them to set their hearts and minds squarely on things above (Colossians 3:2-3), only then will the current trend in corruption and immorality be reversed in our society.

I rest my case.

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Written by 

Chimalume Atuchukwu