It is always worrisome
and sometimes funny and annoying when as a Christian I read submissions from Christian
Association of Nigeria (CAN) and from renowned Christian
leaders in Nigeria about the ‘Islamization’ of Nigeria and other related issues
There are few questions
I will love to post for the leaders in Christendom in Nigeria:
1. What efforts are Christian leaders making to Christianize Nigeria while
the other religion is Islamizing with food, money, hospitality and all that
they have?
Muslims now go on
hospital evangelism; while we sit in our Churches and give lame excuses of some
people trying to Islamize Nigeria. There are records that they now go to visit
prisons, donate things to the orphans, and these are the fundamentals taught by
our LORD, Jesus Christ. Many of us Christians love to spend our money alone and
take pleasure in arguing whether we should pay tithes or not and still give
stupid excuses that some people have ‘Islamic Agenda’for Nigeria. Are you not
expected to have ‘Christian agenda’ for Nigeria?
2. There is the cry
about Islamic banking based on Sharia law. May
I ask, is there anything stopping the establishment of an interest free Christian
bank that is rooted in the tenets of the Holy Bible? Do we have Christian
banks that are interest free which can be an alternative for the Federal
Government? If there had been such, don’t you think that this will empower the
teeming impoverished Christians around? I believe that the coming together of at
least four top Pentecostal Churches in Nigeria alone can establish a mega bank?
Ironically, the priorities
in the heart of Christian leaders today are private jets, mega cathedrals, exotic
cars and palatial domains; forgetting that these are only material and temporal
things of the world that will fade away with this present world.
Muslims open Islamic
banks while rich Christians open personal banks as entrepreneurs or keep all
their money in their own bank accounts.
We cry foul when The Federal Government approaches Islamic banks for
bond issuance. Please where are suppose ‘Christian
banks’?
3. From the wealth of the Churches, is there any law preventing the Church
from establishing industries or farms where the great number of unemployed
youths in the Church could work? Instead, our youths are asked to go for
deliverance from the demon of unemployment. While they are busy with that,
employment opportunities will come from those organizations being controlled by
the religion the Church is complaining of.
4. What is the wealth of the Church used for? The wealth in the Church
in Nigeria can float a mega chain of industries 10 times the size of Transcorp
and can compete favourably with Microsoft that employs over 120,000 people
world-wide, or bigger than Dangote Groups with its chain of industries. But
rather than coming together, some of our spiritual fathers are involved in
criticising themselves while some others are fanning the flames of disunity.
5. What has the Church been taught about politics? For ages, the vast
majority of Christians in Nigeria see politics as evil. The other religion sees
politics as a tool to propagate their religion and they took advantage of the
situation. I believe Christians in general needs reorientation in this light.
6. What is stopping you from Christianizing Nigeria with your Christian
Schools, by making it free or less expensive? You cry of Islamization of
Nigeria while the supposed Christian schools that are opened which was expected
to be used to propagate the gospel and ‘Christianize Nigeria’ is so expensive that
the common man cannot afford it. You forgot that it was not supposed to be money
but mission-driven, like the missionary schools we had in Nigeria, years ago. Christians
build schools that even the faithful members paying tithes and offerings cannot
afford to send their children to and yet someone will tell me that CAN is
organising fasting and prayers against the establishment of an Islamic
University with scholarship in Enugu state. I will rather fast and pray for
something else.
7. Why do you instil fear instead of faith in the body of Christ? Instead
of reaching out for souls and populating God's Kingdom, starting from our own
Jerusalem, we keep exercising unfounded fears that, very soon there will be no
more Churches in Nigeria. Maybe your own
Church that is not evangelizing will be the one to go into extinction. Christ has said no gate of hell can prevail
against His Church (not yours) and that is a statement of certainty.
8. Don’t you think that you have left your first love? We have left
our first love and Muslims are doing it better. Instead of us to repent and learn
from our mistakes, we kept on seeing the invisible Islamic agendas. We have turned to a lazy bunch of people only
looking for how we can use God to satisfy our greed.
My
Submission as a Christian
1. We
should mind the kingdom business of spreading the gospel to every corner of
Nigeria and forget about another man’s business (Islamic agenda).
2. In
a time like this, let CAN, PFN and other Christian groups stop the belly aching
and formulate a new strategyof taking the land for Christ.
3. We
the followers should also stop spreading hatred and fear, and let us stop
calling for ill-informed prayers if we are not ready to change. That is another
definition of irresponsibility.
4. We
should back our prayers with concrete actions including self development, hard
work, honesty, integrity and productivity.
5. We
should be out on evangelism mission and show the light through our character
rather than just holding Church programmes with the same set of people in
attendance every year.
6. Let's
go to the edges and get people through evangelism to come in so His house can
be full.
7. Christian
leaders should teach sound doctrines, rather than building a team of
Pastor-dependent and “amen Christians”. They should also point the Church to
Jesus Christ instead of themselves.
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