When the Church excites rather than breaks the sinner, by Charles Kaye Okoye

I lived in Lagos, and I had some friends who were yahoo boys. I lived with one as roommate, and had helped him draft a few letters and formats sometime, I must confess. That was about 12 years ago.

Even as at then when money hadn’t completely taken over the Church as it has today, those guys were the all in all in the church. There was this new groovy Pentecostal church at Okota then; that was where many of the yahoo guys around Isolo, Ilasa and Okota attended. The young charismatic pastor couldn’t have failed to notice their ostentatious and flamboyant lifestyles, which should naturally have raised the question as to their means of livelihood. But no one asked any questions. Did it mean anything to the pastor and others like him? No! Those guys gave the fattest offerings and paid their tithes regularly. Besides, they always consulted the Lord’s anointed for counseling and prayers, and they were usually generous in appreciation.

You need to see when my roommate prayed. He would pray for hours non-stop, in groans and in tongues. He never ceased to fast, nor missed any midweek service. As long as those guys were concerned, their victims were simply those God sent to bless them in answer to their ceaseless fasting and prayers. So, there was never any feeling of guilt in them whenever they approached God in prayer. Satan, the accuser of the brethren, could never accuse them before the Lord; their hearts were so seared. So, they would give their testimonies in church and would drop big seed offerings.

Have you wondered why Nigeria is bedeviled with all kinds of crimes and criminality despite being arguably the most religious nation on earth, and despite the sprawling population of churches in the nation? It’s because holiness has somehow left many of our churches. The emphasis on prosperity and success as evidence of God’s love has done so much damage to this nation and her people. In the past, churches concentrated more on preaching holiness and revival of the soul. As a sinner, when you walked into the church and sit under the permissive sombre atmosphere of holiness teaching, your filth and rottenness would stare you in the face.

My first ever encounter with the Pentecostal Church was as an undergraduate. It was in Owerri, Winner’s Chapel precisely, where I had followed my other friends to, after I had joined a campus ministry. Brethren, from the beginning of that service to the end, I wept through out. I made futile attempts to stop my friends from noticing how broken I had become. The message was so touching, and for the first time in my life, I worshipped from about 8am till 2pm without remembering that I didn’t eat before coming to church. Sadly, most of the messages from the pulpits today only excite and never break members of the congregation.

Today, ritualistists, armed robbers, kidnappers, prostitutes, cultists, and all manners of evil doers would sit through a supposed explosive service, dance and shout excitedly from the beginning of service to the end, and would leave church so excited and feeling highly blessed. No repentance, no remorse for their evil acts.

Like a pernicious ulcer, evil has eaten out the very soul of our society, as vane and empty religiosity flows while true Godliness ebbs. All moral values can only be remembered when history is told by a generation of failed clergymen, parents and teachers.

It’s time our churches rose to the responsibility of character molding and salvation of the lost souls.

Sadly, most of our pastors today dissipate so much energy preparing their robust responses to social media criticisms that trail their lifestyles and many of their questionable actions.  The implication is that less attention is devoted to studying the bible and preparing life-transforming and soul-searching messages that could see followers examining their consciences.

The Bible tells us in Acts how Peter’s message tore the hearts of his listeners and brought them to repentance.

“When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’ Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off–for all whom the Lord our God will call.’ With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.’ Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day (Acts 2:37-41).

Let the teaching from the pulpit bring us to repentance, and impact our society by reducing crime and criminality as well.

*Okoye wrote in from Lagos.  Reach him via his email: charlesokoye8@gmail.com