The evangelist and his ‘heresies’

SIR: A famous Nigerian clergyman and televangelist has become the man of the moment in Nigeria, Africa, and around the world. The preacher openly and remorsefully admitted to having practised manipulative and fraudulent preaching over the years for pecuniary and egoistic benefits from the vulnerable congregation, which he called the transactional gospel. This has been shaking the Christendom to which he belongs.

His boldness is unprecedented and distinctive as over the years, preachers always hide under a scripture in 1 Chronicles 16:22 to engage in all manner of immoralities and iniquities, and manipulatively put the congregation into fear of God’s wrath if they question the atrocities of their pastors or general overseers. The scripture says “Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophet no harm.” As expected, his fellow preachers see his new teachings as a titanic blow to their livelihoods, puncturing their protracted fraudulent practices in the pulpit.  

Among his new teachings that are intensely shaking Christendom is the doctrine that mandates the congregation to part ten per cent of their earnings to the pastor and his church as a tithe. The other one is against ‘First-fruits’ that began a few years ago which demands total earnings in January every year to be surrendered to the pastor and his church.

Another one is on ‘Widows mite’ which requires a congregation member to give all in his possession as a poor widow in the Bible that gave all she possessed. Another is a sacrificial offering that requires giving something very valuable in worth and painful enough to attract heavenly blessings. Next is the seeds-sowing which requires congregations to sow as expected in return (he who sows sparingly will reap sparingly and he who sows bountifully will reap bountifully). After the seed-sowing, comes the ‘Seed-watering’ (in perpetuity) to water the seeds to germinate for the expected harvests.

For every members’ needs; marriage, job, healing, car, promotion at work, et cetera, there is a seed to follow. And even when there is no need, ‘sowing in and out of season follows, alongside the prophet’s multidimensional offerings. Outside the above fund-raising schemes, the partnership arms in most of these ‘prosperity’ churches are countless; all for Machiavellian fund-raisings using all manner of tactics and nomenclatures.
Carl Umegboro, a lawyer and social policy analyst, wrote from Abuja.

The most agonising thing is that even facilities such as schools, universities, bakeries, and others established with the members’ raised funds are not available for the benefit of the congregations that contributed the funds but for outsiders; politicians, and non-members who can afford the outrageous prices. Even the poor members who may not have money to contribute to the buildings may be tasked to render physical services such as carrying sand, cement, planks, and other building materials as their seed for a heavenly reward.

In the olden days before the prosperity preaching and tithe-mongering era, all schools, assets, and properties owned by churches were for congregations and society at large unlike these present days where those things are for the edification of the founding pastors, whose ultimate target is to upgrade their lives, live big, have the best of everything, acquire private jets at the detriment of the poor vulnerable members that enrich them out of pains and naivety. Still, these flamboyant pastors will gang up against the government for exemption from paying taxes to the government like other business organisations and non-government organisations.

Arguably, the revivalist-preacher was God-sent to liberate vulnerable people from protracted religious bondages against manipulative and fraudulent preachings.  Women are in the majority of victims. People have for years been living in silence and fear of speaking out to avoid attracting God’s wrath as they were made to believe until an anointed man of God like them stepped in to address the nuisances having been part of it in the pulpits. This revival, without a doubt, will change the face of Christendom in no distant time.
Carl Umegboro, a lawyer and social policy analyst, wrote from Abuja.