Lately, a lot of disconcerting activities are happening in the Church in Nigeria, which has resulted in the Church’s image receiving heavy bashing from the public. Daily, the people are inundated with stories of 419er pastors, who are involved in rituals and such appalling things. While it may rightly be argued that such occurrences are not unusual and have been going on long before now, it should bother concerned authorities that they are on the increase and getting worse by the day. Foremost of these is the issue of fake pastors, who parade themselves as real men of God, but whose nefarious activities are causing serious damage to the system. The fear in some quarters is that if nothing is done to checkmate these bad elements within the system, they will continue to water down the Gospel and drag the church in the mud, as is being experienced. The pertinent questions are: What is the procedure for registering churches in Nigeria? Isn’t it the responsibility of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) to regulate affairs and sanitise the system? What can the body do to ensure that it is not an all-comers’ affair? What can be done to arrest the ugly development? CHRIS IREKAMBA reports.
‘Sanitising Church In Nigeria Is Not An Easy Task, But We Have To Pedal Softly’
(Rev. Dr. Musa Asake, Christian Association of Nigeria, National General Secretary)
I agree with your observation that “The image of the church in Nigeria has received serious bashing from the public simply because of the bad elements/fake pastors, who parade themselves as real men of God, but whose nefarious activities have caused serious damage to the system.”
Really, every right thinking Christian in the country is worried and disturbed with the antics and menace of those wolves parading our towns and cities as servants of God. However, they appear powerless as to what to do about them since in Nigeria, at least on paper, the State and Religion are separate. We are a multi-religious State, and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria gives room for Freedom of Association and Religion, and to compound the problem, some of these pastors would tell you God has called them. So, who are you to question God’s calling on someone, even when you do not see him or her exhibiting the character of a called minister?
It would interest you to note that the Bible is not ignorant of these satanic agents amidst us and there are several Biblical passages about them, which include, but not limited to their activities and how to recognise them. Jesus spoke at length about them in Matthew 7: 15-23 (cc Matthew 12:33-35) and Paul the apostle explained the ministries or gifts that Jesus gave to the church and the importance (see Timothy 3:16-17).
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Our Lord Jesus Christ clearly stated in the Bible that by their fruits we shall know them, and this goes beyond physical appearances, because some of them engage in acts of kindness and charity. They use unscriptural methods to perform deeds, which suggest miraculous power under the pretext of being done by God’s power and to His glory (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).
On how to identify them, the first category of the fruits of the false prophet is their doctrine. False prophets speak from their own delusion, not by divine command (Jeremiah 23:16,21,25; Ezekiel 13:2; Jeremiah 6:14; 8:11; 28:17; Ezek 13:10, I Kings 22:8,13; 2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 4:2-3). The second category is the effect of their teaching in the lives of men. Invariably, it leads to a rejection of God’s word, a rejection of biblical authority, a division among the saints (Jeremiah 23:2,14; 2 Peter 2:2; Acts 13:8; Mark 13:22; 1 Tim. 4:6; 2 Tim. 4:3; Tit. 1:9; 2:1). The third is evidenced in their own moral character (2 Peter 2:10; Jeremiah 8:10; Titus 1:11; 2 Peter 2:3, 14; Jeremiah 23:11,14; 2 Peter 2:14; 2 Peter 2:10,12; 3:3; 2 Timothy 3:6-7; 2 Peter 2:14,13.
Some of their churches are registered by CAC, but the pertinent question is: “What can the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) do to sanitise churches and their pastors just to ensure that they conform to standard and preach the gospel in a manner it should be preached? CAN is not directly involved in issuing licence for these pastors to operate, but is there anything that “can be done to checkmate these people who call themselves pastors/men of God?’
The answer is yes. Not only by CAN, but also by every genuine servants of God. Some of them include: preaching and teaching the sound doctrine in our churches. The Bible says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.’ Until you know the truth, you are not free from falsehood or misinformation. Since CAN operate by blocs, CAN leadership should encourage the blocs to organise periodical workshops and retreats for their members to promote sound teaching of the Word. Churches should be encouraged to teach their members about self-empowerment, with a view to reducing poverty and unemployment, which make many people preys to the antics of these false pastors and prophets. Christian writers should be encouraged to produce more books that can address this menace. Churches should intensify effort by enforcing discipline on any pastor that misbehaves or engages in unscriptural practices. CAN may consider having an Ombudsman, whereby Christians, who are victims of these false pastors, could be investigated, with a view to reporting them to the appropriate security operatives. CAN, through the various blocs, may consider having a postal/telephone directory of all pastors that are associated with our blocs, with a view to identifying those not with us, because we have no power over those who are not with us. Since the presence of these pastors/men of God is a sign of the end of the Age, we cannot stop it, but with prayers and proper teaching of the Word of God, we could reduce their numbers and atrocities in the country.
To sanitise the church in Nigeria, which is not an easy task, we have to pedal softly, so as not to fall into the trap of those wanting the Church of God to become an appendage of government in Nigeria.
‘CAN Can Develop A Guide Containing Disciplinary Measures’
(The Rt. Revd. Dr. Isaac C. Nwaobia, Bishop of Isiala Ngwa South (Anglican Communion)
The Church, in the first instance, belongs to God. It is a spiritual entity and the battles of the church are not and cannot be fought with bows, arrows or pen, but with the armour of righteousness.
This challenge the church is facing now never began today and may not end with this generation, so, the matter is beyond CAN. However, it is my belief that CAN, as a coordinating body, can develop a guide regulating who joins it and who does not. Such guide should also contain disciplinary measures that will checkmate the actions of member Churches and instill discipline, where necessary.
If CAN must succeed, it must be futuristic in its thought and know that we, as Christians in this nation, are fighting a serious spiritual battle. The enemy has infiltrated our camp. Therefore, we must be more defensive than ever. To this end, before anyone is allowed to head CAN at any level, such person’s Christian foundation should be scripturally screened, religiously considered and devoid of political influence. This is because, if the leadership of CAN is polluted, it will be almost impossible to win the war.
Beyond the four walls of CAN, this problem calls the attention of the Church on the need for true national Revival, the Christians, as individual and as a body must go back to the Altar of prayer, pursue righteousness, get the members properly disciplined in the rudiments of the Christian faith, so that they can discern between right and wrong, good and evil and between light and darkness.
We plead with CAN and all Christian bodies to rise to this challenge of sanitising the Church in Nigeria
‘The Power To Register/De-Register Churches Is Not With CAN And Should Never Be Vested In CAN’
(Dr. Francis Bola Akin-John, Church Growth Consultant)
Thank you very much for bringing this issue to light for discussion and for allowing me to participate. It is an open secret that much is wrong with the church in our nation. Unscriptural practices and ungodly men and women have somehow found their way into sacred altars and doing what brings shame to the name of Christ.
Firstly, there is freedom of worship and association in our nation, so anybody can gather together and call it church. That is their inalienable and constitutional right. So, we cannot stop people or anyone from starting a church or fellowship.
Secondly, CAN is an umbrella body for Christians, for those who want to join or not. The power to register or de-register churches is not with CAN and should never be vested in CAN. It’s only a body that can bring Christians together and advise the Church on what to do and what not to do. Yes, CAN should be able to discipline erring church member and call erroneous pastors to order, if they would listen. CAN and its affiliate bodies, such as, PFN should also first set their houses in order, lead by example and run the church in Biblical ways.
Thirdly, it is only the LORD that can really sanitise His church. He alone is the One that can deal with ungodly pastors and strange practices in His church. The Bible says that judgment will begin from the House of God in 1Peter 4:17,18.
Fourthly, godly, genuine and bible believing leaders should not keep quiet, but keep on teaching, writing and speaking against these ungodly practices; who knows, some might change.
Finally, church leaders must begin to take extra care about whom they choose or ordain as pastors. Believe me, the rot in the church starts from this singular mistake. Once we ordain every Ade, Ada and Aminu as pastors without proper training, godly character and proof of genuine call of God upon their lives, the churches will continue to flounder and reel from shame to shame by their untoward practices.
CAN And PFN Can Sanitise The Church, But That Needs Extra Caution’
(Rev. Uba Joshua Nnamdi, Head Pastor/Area ‘B’ Coordinator, Christian Pentecostal Mission Int’l, Egbe, Ikotun, Lagos)
It’s important this sanitisation takes place, because what we are seeing these days, we don’t understand where they are coming from. Many of them don’t have background. Many of these pastors don’t have any church, where they are coming from or pastors they can refer to as their mentors or the church, where they got born again. We don’t have their testimony, we don’t know who they are. If you take time to check, you would discover that we don’t have signboards of herbalists any more. Many of these herbalists now wear suits and carry Bible. Many things are happening and so, we need to sanitise the church. Some of these churches and pastors just preach, ‘come in the way you are, and go the way you are,’ which is why nobody tells a naked lady that it is wrong or the man who dressed shabbily to church, that what he was wearing was not acceptable. They have forgotten that the church environment is sacred and not a market place. And if we lose that aspect of sanity in the church, then the church is in trouble.
Whether the Christian Association of Nigeria can sanitise the system, we also have a body called Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, which has a way of checkmating its members and calling them to order. PFN has a standard and can tell erring members, ‘this is what our standard, and if you can’t meet up to that, then you stand the risk of losing your membership with the organisation.’ Those who err should be made to understand that their names would be published and the whole world would know about their misconduct. And non-members of PFN should tell Nigerians where they belong. I know there are other groups, but theirs is one recognised by the government, which must have a standard to accommodate others and if you can’t meet up to that standard then you don’t belong. And we should be able to tell the government that we don’t know such.
On the other side, it becomes dicey, because when one is diagnosed spiritually, you have to be very careful. The Bible says that in the latter days ‘let the tares and the wheat grow together’ and to harvest it will be dangerous. The Bible also says God has experts, who will select the bad from the good, and that is the truth about it. So, both umbrella bodies — CAN and PFN can do it, but it’s something that needs extra carefulness, if it must be done and very well, too. Going to the issue of prosperity preaching, I want to say that many pastors have killed many of their members. There is nobody that is against prosperity. I preach prosperity, but let it be according to God’s word. I don’t believe that because you are born again, you should be poor, but when all focus is on prosperity, and how you make it is not important, but as long as you make it, there must be a standard of how you make it. How can you be hailing a church member, who is a 419er? You don’t have to go and dupe government in order to give money to the church. Or dupe the public of their fund to become a wealthy person. If you are faithful to God, He will surely bless the pastor. That is why we encourage pastors to be bold enough to tell their members the truth. So that in making money, they also will make heaven.
CAN can checkmate what churches are doing through the blocs that make up the Association. If Nigerians are interested in sanitising the system, then Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) shouldn’t just be registering whosoever that comes for registration, but if they believe they can register anybody, then if things go wrong later, they don’t have any right to blame the church or ask us to sanitise the church. Why didn’t you contact us before registering them? After registration, you have given them the licence and empowerment and so, we cannot stop them. But if they go through us, then we will be able to say, ‘these ones we know.’ So, personally, I think what CAC should do in this regard is to go through CAN, which is the umbrella body government recognises. It should be done in such a way that, if anybody wants to register his/her church, the person should go through CAN, which should be able to say, ‘we have checked this church and we are satisfied.’
But CAN has no right to say, ‘you don’t have the calling.’ It should, however, check the standard to ensure that the individual is not going to destroy the church’s name, dupe people and things like that. There must be a standard required before you can belong to a group or association. So, if you don’t have such requirement, then you are out. But if CAC or government will go on to register whosoever that comes to them, then the government does not have the right to tell the church, “you people are not doing well.” The activities of these people are terrible. Do you know they’ve tried to impersonate Papa Ayo Oritsejafor? One of the fake pastors didn’t even know he was talking to Pastor Ayo himself, as popular as Papa is. That is the problem we have, when the public, I mean Nigerians begin to measure the church by the kind of cars their pastor drives. Your achievement in the gospel is not by the material things you acquire.
‘A Massive Biblical Literacy Programme By CAN Would Help’
(Rev. Francis Ejiroghene Waive, General Overseer, Fresh Anointing Missionary Ministries Inc./Senior Pastor, Church of The Anointing, Warri, Delta)
These, indeed, are the last days. The Lord Jesus told us that one of the signs of the end times would be false prophets, rising across the land. Our situation in Nigeria is worsened by the lawlessness, poverty and ignorance that pervade our land. One is always saddened, whenever these charlatans bring shame to the body of Christ. The question of how to sanitise the church of these evil characters is timely and I commend The Guardian newspapers for their efforts in this regard.
The universally accepted norm of freedom of worship is the loophole these persons exploit to ply their nefarious trade. Someone has suggested that the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) insists on approval by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) before registration of churches is done. But then, thousands of churches operate in this country without any form of registration. The Nigerian Baptist Convention, for instance, mandates all their churches to indicate membership of (NBC) on their signposts, yet many so-called Baptist churches operate without NBC approval. In countries, where approved training and certification of church ministers is required, there have been abuses, in terms of religious discrimination, persecution and deprivation.
This, however, does not permit the apex Christian body in the country to sit helplessly over the situation. Something must be done and seen to be done. A massive biblical literacy programme by CAN would help. Exemplary leadership is another positive factor. A situation, where otherwise sane leaders begin to indulge in sharp practices, as “if you can’t beat them, you join them” does not help the situation. We must de-emphasis materialism in the church and publicly denounce satanic elements posing as Disciples of Christ.
The words of our Lord Jesus Christ in Matt.13: 13 is our consolation. At the harvest of the world, the Lord promised to separate the tares from the wheat. How we look forward to that day!
‘CAN Is Not A Super Church That Ordains And Sacks’
(Rev. Fr. Ralph Madu, General Secretary, Catholic Secretariat, Abuja)
You have to first of all understand what CAN is. It is an association and even though it is an umbrella body of Christians, it is not like Catholic or Assemblies, or Winners. So, in that way, it becomes difficult for it to be able to do this type of thing, except by way of, if you like, normal admonition, which the pastors give to their people. The forum can be of help in the sense of advising pastors and Christians on the proper way of doing things. But it is not that CAN have any police or army that can enforce any such thing. It is also handicapped from that perspective. If it were one domination or one church, one pastor or two, you can control and suspend any erring member.
What CAN can do is to give advice, make recommendation, plead and all that, which is also forceful enough. So, it would be wrong to think that CAN can’t do anything. What we are saying is worth doing, but the way to go about it is the problem and the way I see it could be done is through a kind of admonition. Consider also the fact that CAN is made up of blocs, which are not like Catholic that is only one bloc. That is part of the problem. The way CAN is arranged and for what it is, is already a problem. And every denomination also has problems with its own internal members, not to talk of when you bring the whole of Christian churches together. It is a challenge.
CAN is not a super church, it is not even a church. If it were a super church that ordains and sacks, it doesn’t have that type of character and it may not be able to have it, because that is not what it is. It is an association, which anybody can even decide to disengage from. But they can use the forum to counsel preachers and pastors to do the correct thing. But because it is an association, people may choose to belong or not belong. One very important thing is to have a clear understanding of CAN and its powers. It’s like a family.
