[size=16pt]Contemporary Christianity and the ethics of vanity fair (3)
Written by Douglas Anele
Sunday, 03 May 2009
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Reposted from: http://www.vanguardngr.com/content/view/34914/71/


NOW, even if the “facts” presented by Isiekwene were true, it does not follow that flying around in an expensive aircraft by “the man of God” is in harmony with the example of true leadership which Jesus showed to his disciples.

Mr. Isiekwene should go back and read very carefully Jesus’attitude to material wealth and worldly comfort as recorded in the gospels. He would realize that, indeed, on the issue of the appropriate attitude of a genuine spiritual leader to worldly comfort, contemporary church leaders in Nigeria have derailed considerably from the examples of Jesus.

Interestingly, Pastor Adeboye has off-handedly brushed off his critics by saying that he is indifferent to both praise and criticism. Now, whether a human being can truly be totally indifferent to criticism, especially when such criticism is persuasive, I am not competent to judge.

But Pastor Adeboye can be rest assured that he does no need to defend himself against reasonable criticism; his impressive battalions of foot soldiers are doing the job for him, most times to the ridiculous extent of bigotry and blind adulation.

Yet, he should remember that all humans, no matter how highly exalted, can err. An essential trait of a well cultivated and enlightened spiritual leader is the ability to humbly accept responsibility for his mistakes, not pachydermatous snobbishness towards valid criticism.

Those who believe that because somebody is the pastor of a big, popular and materially successful church and that, therefore, he or she must never be criticized are spiritually immature and intellectually lazy.

If Jesus was criticized, and on several occasions responded to criticisms, I do not see why a pastor should not be criticized whenever the need arises, or why she or he should not respond to criticisms. Now back to the question of what should be, in the light of Jesus’ example, the appropriate attitude of pastors to material possessions.

I believe that the best bequest of a genuine spiritual leader should be: “I leave no property.” The late Pope John Paul II followed the example of Jesus in this regard. But most of our pastors have a philistine, capitalistic and immature conception of spirituality.

They tend to think that the more spiritually developed a person is, the more materially “blessed” the person would be. Nothing can be farther from the truth, going by what is known about the greatest and most profound spiritual leaders the world has produced.


We have already shown that Jesus, in his sermons and conduct, unreservedly condemned material wealth and its tendency to detract from genuine spiritual development. Classic Buddhism stresses the crucial importance of eschewing the craving for riches and material comfort.

According to Buddha himself, the path to nirvana or spiritual enlightenment is the Eightfold Path, of which cessation of craving for anything is a key component. Meister Eckhart, a Christian mystic of the Dominican order espoused views on craving and materialism which bear a close resemblance to Buddha’s thoughts on the same subject.

He maintained that the fundamental causes of human suffering are greed, craving for things and for one’s own ego. He speaks of freedom in the sense of being unfettered or free from the craving for holding unto things and one’s ego, which is the condition for love and productive living.

Unlike our pastors who are full of themselves, who constantly delude themselves and their congregation that material prosperity signifies spiritual progress, Eckhart argued that our aim should be to get rid of the chain of egocentricity and acquisitiveness in order to arrive at full being.

Fromm, whose book To Have or To Be?, celebrates Eckhart’s philosophy of life, believes that while the basic material objects we need in the quotidian details of our existence are not intrinsically bad, they become really destructive when we hold on to them, when they become encumbrances that interfere with our freedom and the quest for self-realization.

Whenever I watch pastors preach on television, I feel it in my bones that they have derailed by making themselves the centre of attraction and worshipful adoration by members of their churches. Some of them are so egocentric that they create the impression of being totally immune from the concrete existential reminders of our frailty and limitations in this chequered world - sicknesses, disappointments, failures, anxieties and, ultimately, death.

Some pastors arrogate to themselves superhuman powers of churning out miracles which, on closer inspection, are hocus pocus or legerdemain.

The dapper expensive clothes, shoes and other fashion accessories, intimidating worship centres, hollow demagoguery, soap-box histrionics and irrational adulation by church members give them a feeling of pseudo-omnipotence. Consequently, instead of drawing attention to the kingdom of God which Jesus said was within all of us, our pastors try to fill up the existential vacuum in their egos by drawing undue attention to themselves whenever they preach.

Most of the wealthy people who spend millions to “boost the work of God” use it as a form of psychotherapy, as a means of buying their way into heaven. Many of them are wicked hypocrites, shylock businessmen and businesswomen, profiteers and others whose sources of wealth are immoral.

They naively believe that by spending a lot of money on pastors and their families, building churches and financing all sorts of projects “in the vineyard of the Lord” - all of which are disguised forms of Indulgences - they are contributing to the work of God on earth.

Yet, how can a wicked person or someone who made money through immoral methods genuinely serve God with filthy wealth? Surely, the person might deceive others and enjoy praise and admiration for his “philanthropy”.

But deep down, he knows that his “contributions” are spiritually worthless, because they are based on greed, fraud and, sometimes, ritual murders. In this connection, no one should be surprised that big men and thick madams are investing heavily in churches nowadays.

For the pastors and other church workers, church is business, whereas for the “cheerful givers”, giving to the church is a back-door bribe for divine protection, prosperity and, eventually, heaven. With time all these will evaporate because no condition is permanent.

To any objective observer, contemporary Christianity is gradually losing its spiritual raison d’etre, because unlike Jesus who stressed pursuit of spiritual goals, contemporary Christians have embraced primitive accommodation of wealth lock, stock, and barrel. Jesus said: “By their fruits we shall know them.”

While I acknowledge that there are genuine Christian clergy who are truly interested in the spiritual growth of their flock, the fact remains that Christianity as a whole, especially its Pentecostal variants, are no longer credible routes to spiritual rebirth. It has capitulated to the delicious but life-destroying ethics of vanity fair by shamelessly distorting the spiritual content of Jesus’ teachings for material gain. Too bad!

this is so true,,,,i mean the write up,,,but huxley,,that does not change the fact of the existence of God!