The Bishop of Ife, of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Rt. Rev. Olubunmi Akinlade, has called on Christians to beware of being noisy in their activities contrary to the instructions of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He said this while delivering his address at the 2nd Session of the 12th Synod of the Diocese of Ife with the theme: “The Essential Secrets In A Noisy World” which took place at the Cathedral of St. Philips, Ayetoro, Ile-Ife, Osun State.
Lamenting how many Church leaders now publicise their activities to project self and for other reasons known to them, contrary to the instructions of the founder and owner of the Church, he said: “Our Lord Jesus Christ spoke about the way we should give, what we should do when we give to God and others. He spoke about what we should do when we pray and how we should pray. He also spoke about what we should do when we are fasting.
“When you look at these three areas, it is like He had seen far into the future because when we look at our world today, many local Churches are doing contrary to those things.
Jesus Christ instructed that if we are to give alms that the left hand should not know what the right hand is doing, but today, people make noise of what they give and if they are not acknowledged, they get very upset and even throw tantrums.
Akinlade further said that many Churches today invite CNN to broadcast their giving to the world, adding that many pray to show off how well they can use beautiful grammar and also pray in the open contrary to the instruction that prayer should be said in the closet.
The Bishop also called on government to adopt the virtue of ‘live and let’s live’ by channeling the resources God has endowed the nation to the right places for the betterment of all citizens.
He urged Nigerian government to take cue from the government of Botswana that sponsors their citizens from nursery school to the university and still give them stipends, adding that intelligent students are awarded scholarship to study abroad with all expenses paid.
