The Church and I
A very odd and probably ridiculous topic, I agree, nevertheless it begs much to be discussed.
As a corps member, shanghaied into the service of my nation by a rather obnoxious edict, I have had to travel to a terrain of my country that I am rather unfamiliar with. Although where I’m coming from, churches abound in numbers, this new milieu seems to take it to a whole new level; every corner in every street harbours a house of worship.
My concern or argument is not against the multiplicity of the church (the more the merrier, I always say) rather with the essence, psyche and sensibility which the churches effuse. A fellow corps member friend told me that if the number of churches we have in Nigeria were equivalent to the amount of higher institutions we have, every Nigerian will be a graduate.
The bill boards, the posters, the flyers… all come together these days to paint a picture of a pious society deeply entrenched in a thirst and quest for supernatural wholeness and spiritual sanctification. It is however painful to say that this is not the case.
The Christianity which find practiced in my country is rather ‘faithless’. Pecuniary dividend for both the shepherd and the flock has come to be the central theme of the brand of religion in my country. Recently, I honored the invitation of a friend to come to her church. The church’s services were held in the banquet hall of a hotel; an arrangement which, as a conservative, I found incongruous but was willing to overlook.
The highlight of my surprise came when the preacher or ‘pastor’ while talking about his sermon on wealth creation said “yes, we know of the glory bye the bye but we need the glory now and now” this were not his exact words but this is what I could reconstruct. Simply put, this was the message he was trying to pass across “Christianity and faith is a catalyst to earthly glory and upliftment”. Faith, I think, should be the hope for and believe in substance unseen, a belief in the empirically unproven
While I am not an advocate of ascetic or austere faith as a prerequisite for serving God, I do not think that the church is the appropriate place to talk about money making either. If I wanted to hear that, I know the appropriate seminars and symposiums to attend.
It seems to me that what we are in effect promoting is that profit and gain is the only incentive to follow the way of God. Thus, the stickers and banners continue to read “MY YEAR OF FINANCIAL FULFILMENT” “MY YEAR OF UNCOMMON FAVOUR” “THE GOD OF WEALTH AND ABUNDANCE’. Christ and Christianity have become a fast selling blue chip company in the religion stock exchange which a believer must buy into and watch his stock soar.
The believer pays his offerings and tithes, not because it is an obligation, duty or requirement of his faith but because he is expecting a double blessing or miracle for the ‘gift of giving’ that he has displayed. Therefore, the bible verses “give and it will come back to you, ” and “my lord will supply all your needs…” have become hackneyed offering time chants and rotes.
From the foregoing, some will be quick to conclude that a conservative prig who is averse to change is just reeling off and spewing out his poison against new ways and trends. Yes, I am a conservative, this I do not deny, but I am a liberal conservative. One who believes that change should be measured: advancement should come but should be built on existing civilizations, we cannot decide to sweep aside what has been in one fell swoop of madness because we want to dance to the tunes of the world. The church is a symbol of our faith and belief; we cannot incorporate it into the sensibilities of the world, NO! It will be trying to make two parallel lines meet. We cannot serve Mammon and God. I believe Christ made this clear enough, although modern preachers continue to obfuscate his teachings to suit their own selfish ends of showing the people what is not. So they justify bribery and corruption with verses like “give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and give unto God what is God’s” amongst other atrocious things.
Religion and faith are age long institutions. This is not to say that they should not be subject to changes. If they were not, they would be dead. However let the change be examined before it is adopted, let it come but let it be gradual and well scrutinized so that as the modern world takes over all aspect of human endeavour, let us still be left with this little sanity of yesterday; we should not just erode our institutions in our crazy drive to evolution lest we find that our triumph in human advancement was pyrrhic if not, ferocious.
Religion and faith are not matters of convenience, it should not be when it suits us, this why Christ said, to the man who wanted to bury his father before becoming a disciple, that “let the dead bury their dead” I translate this to mean; leave the affairs of the world to the world. On the issue of comfort that whoever wants to follow him must be willing to “carry his cross”
Finally, on the issue of using the church as a media for financial upliftment, thereby forsaking the spiritual matters (our connection with God, our faith in Christ, the tenets and requirements of Christianity) I have this few words by Christ himself to give “lay not for yourself earthly treasures…but lay up for yourself treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust consume and where thieves do not break in and steal.”
The important phenomenon in Christianity, to borrow the words of J.F. Kennedy, is not what faith can do for you but what the believer must do with, in and sometimes for faith. The good things that come from having faith should never be seen as profits or dividends that must proceed from a bargain rather they should be seen as bonuses or dashes. They are not the essence of faith rather they are just by the way happenstances.
E.A.G. 2011

OP, be prepared for the onslaught from the prosperity vendors and buyers, It is all about what the "sower" can "reap" these days and getting your "blessings" in the here and now, God help his Children.

bros, you see what i see, God save us all indeed

@ jaygiant

jaygiant:

While I am not an advocate of ascetic or austere faith as a prerequisite for serving God, I do not think that the church is the appropriate place to talk about money making either. If I wanted to hear that, I know the appropriate seminars and symposiums to attend.

The church is the ground and pillar of truth. The church is suposed to teach the whole counsel of God. And money and its handling is inclusive. Anything that is taught in the bible should be taught in the church. That is a balance church. Business ,attitude,character,family. All these things are addressed in the bible and by the apostles .

It seems to me that what we are in effect promoting is that profit and gain is the only incentive to follow the way of God. Thus, the stickers and banners continue to read “MY YEAR OF FINANCIAL FULFILMENT” “MY YEAR OF UNCOMMON FAVOUR” “THE GOD OF WEALTH AND ABUNDANCE’. Christ and Christianity have become a fast selling blue chip company in the religion stock exchange which a believer must buy into and watch his stock soar.

I am not aware a church will have for a year such slogan as  "MY YEAR OF FINANCIAL FULFILMENT"  but "MY YEAR OF UNCOMMON FAVOUR”.   Is possible , favour is a general thing, favour is a grace.

The believer pays his offerings and tithes, not because it is an obligation, duty or requirement of his faith but because he is expecting a double blessing or miracle for the ‘gift of giving’ that he has displayed. Therefore, the bible verses “give and it will come back to you, ” and “my lord will supply all your needs…” have become hackneyed offering time chants and rotes.

That has to do with an individual . Not the church. I give my tithe in appreciation and worship. Everyone speaks for himself. Of course some ministers may not be so sound in teaching on some topics based on their own level of understanding. It is not in financial matters alone.  Even in dealing with sin and other issues. Some people will teach "IF YOU COMMIT SIN,YOU HAVE LOST YOUR SALVATION"  "where is sister Agnes "? she has stop coming to church, she  has backlided ,she has perished"

From the foregoing, some will be quick to conclude that a conservative prig who is averse to change is just reeling off and spewing out his poison against new ways and trends. Yes, I am a conservative, this I do not deny, but I am a liberal conservative. One who believes that change should be measured:

I don't know what you mean by conservative, it is relative. The world is changing . We have to change obas to make impact in an ever changing world. The future is mobile  Internet and technology.

jaygiant:

The good things that come from having faith should never be seen as profits or dividends that must proceed from a bargain rather they should be seen as bonuses or dashes. They are not the essence of faith rather they are just by the way happenstances.

Tell them Prosperity gospel lovers like Jo will never agree with you on this

Joagbaje:

That has to do with an individual . Not the church. I give my tithe in appreciation and worship.

How can you say this So if the individual burn in hell for doing the wrong thing, it's his fault abi what is the role of the church then Now you see why i keep saying pastors have failed in their responsibilities. The individual see the tithe as an obligation with double profit returns, cos that what the pastor taught him. Pastors like oyaks preach that tithe is an obligation. CEC people on NL believes tithing, sowing e.t.c is the key to personal and national prosperity, who taught them It's an individual thing abi

Trust joagbaje to bit the bait, he can't resist any topic that criticises his source of and doctrine of filthy lucre.

@joagbaje
And please stop giving us that bull that you pay tithe. We know for a fact on this forum that you are a notorious tithe collector and NOT payer as you try to mislead those who are not regulars on this forum.

oga Joe. i do not think it is a personal thing, we entrust our guidance in faith to this people, just as we live our shares in the hands of the stock brokers and our kids in the hands of the teachers. we should be able to mandate them to do the right thing, it is eternity we are dealing with here oooooo ,