“HOW EVERYTHING HAS GONE SPIRITUAL IN NIGERIA”

Isaiah 9:16 KJV

For the leaders of this people cause them to err, and they that are led of them are destroyed

Thanks for this articulate and thought provoking write up dear Man of God. The theme of this write up is one of my core teachings in our own small parish here where I superintend. I am so delighted that you have articulated it in a more scholarly way that will make for easier propagation of these critical “kingdom disorder” of our “today’s church” particularly in Nigeria. 

Everything rises and falls on Leadership, and the

message you are sending here should be viewed and acted upon seriously by all, most especially “church leaders” of which I am the least.

In this matter, the pente “rascals” in Nigeria are most gullible and needs reorientation. Here they teach their followers they can get everything by faith. It’s all faith, faith, faith. The average Nigerian Christian claims everything by faith even when they have not worked for it leading people to the erroneous belief that they can get something for nothing. 

Everything is spiritualized. You can get it all, all you need is to fast and pray. The things you don’t need, you just need to “reject it” in Jesus Name. Statements of ‘faith” like it’s not my portion are potent enough to drive disaster away. And people are taught that prosperity comes by “giving”, “giving” and more “giving”, it is called sowing. Most pastors understand the doctrine of “Sacrificial giving”, tithes and 2nd tithes, first fruits more than the central gospel theme of Salvation.

Even the largely innocent (though sometimes gullible) church goers have been so mis-gospelised that when they go to church or Christian programmes, what they are looking for is solution to problems ( financial, health, marital, academic, etc.) hence they are seeking for the problem solving God and not the God of salvation. Their pastors don’t sell the redemption package to them, what they offer them is piecemeal “man (flesh) induced quick-fix solution packages, instead of the “full-gospel” message (package) of Salvation that can grow the believers to spiritual maturity and multiplying the army of Christ. 

Rather, the pastors have become chief consultants in all aspects of life and since everything has gone spiritual, the people have to depend on them for everything including simple matters of everyday living that can be handled using common sense. Talking about industrialization is like writing a computer programme in HLL (high level language) for the church leaders. 

It’s only in Nigeria that I see people going to church when they should be at work or in their places of business. When big church programmes are holding businesses shut down and many people rob their employers of man-hours in order to attend.

The church needs re-direction and this well thought out article of Pastor Sunday Adelaja is a reference material, thoroughly researched and brilliantly presented in a manner that even the simple can understand. 

May God help our church leaders to “understand thou what thou readest” (Acts 8:30) like the Ethiopian eunuch who was reading a material but did not get the import until Philip came to his rescue. 

PASTOR SUNDAY ADELAJA