The Bible should be the perfect guide to the Church and all genuine Christians. It contains counsel to both great and small situations and problems of life. During His earthly ministry, Jesus Christ admonished His followers to love themselves and be as one. He also urged them to be ‘the light and salt of the world and let the light shine so that other may see it and glorify the Father in Heaven.’ But is the Church really shining, when church leaders and members drag themselves to court over matters that ordinarily should have been managed within the church? When issues arise, church leaders and members abandon Biblical parametres for settling such disputes. The list of churches that have taken their matters to court to mediate is endless. And just recently, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) is in court over election disputes. So, are Jesus words in the Bible not enough for these church leaders and members to settle their grievances? How can the trend be stopped? CHRIS IREKAMBA reports.

‘Carnality And Spiritual Immaturity Are Reasons Why Christians Take Disputes To Court’
(Most Rev. (Prof.) Adebayo Dada Akinde, Archbishop, Ecclesiastical Province of Lagos/Bishop, Diocese of Lagos Mainland, Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion)
Conflict in the Church of God is a manifestation of two major things: one is carnality and the second is spiritual immaturity. Carnality from the point of view that anything that is Christian has to be spiritual. The Holy Spirit is God’s provision to empower the Christian. Act 1:8 says, “And you shall receive power and after when the Holy Spirit comes upon you then you would be my disciples in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria and to the outermost parts of the world.’ And so, where you have conflicts and differences in the church of God, it is manifestation of carnality and spiritual immaturity.

The Bible is a very rich book. There’s hardly any human activity that does not have a precedent in the scriptures. Whatever may be the basis of the disagreement; there would be an indication as to how it should be resolved. When either or both parties involved in the conflict fail to be spiritual, then that is when they have difficulty resolving the conflict. And that is when they now want to go to court. It is very sad because if you go to court, it may be a Muslim or an animist that would be the judge and then use different standards in adjudicating over spiritual matters.
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It is very sad and Christians should be ashamed. They should bury their heads in shame because the Bible is a complete Book. It gives us counsel for almost every conceivable human activity. It is when people do not allow the Holy Spirit to lead them, when they have given in to their carnality, saying: ‘I’m not going to accept that this man is better or I’m not going to allow him go scot-free,’ that is when issues go to the law court.

How do we manage these conflicts? Every Christian must learn and be prepared to allow the Holy Spirit to overrule. The Holy Spirit of God is not the Spirit of confusion. The Holy Spirit of God cannot tell you one thing and tells me another. It is the Spirit of truth and cannot misrepresent issues to us. It is when the dramatist personae refuse to submit to the authority and leading of the Holy Spirit that they have problem resolving conflict arising within the Christendom.

So, I’m urging the CAN leadership to lay emphasis on obedience to the mind of God. I’m urging the CAN president to rule and lead by upholding the orthodoxy of the Bible, God’s Word, because that is the mind of God and if every Christian submits to it, there can be no problems.

‘This Is Prevalent Because The Church Has Become Very Wealthy, But Poor In God’s Word’

‘Paul Also Referred To Such Church As A Defeated Church’
(Pastor Mike Chuks Nwanegbo, Provincial Pastor/National Coordinator of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Mission in Belgium)
Christians taking fellow Christians to court has been as old as Christianity. In 1 Corinthians 6, Apostle Paul identified this trait in the Corinthian church. This trait, according to Paul, is found in a carnal church and this should not be so, he argued.

This trend of Christians dragging themselves to court really tells us about the present state of the church in Nigeria. The church is degenerating so fast that there is just a slim line between the church and the world. It clearly points to the fact that Satan has taken a good seat in the church in Nigeria. This has become possible because of the kind of word being preached and the kind of prayers being offered.

Christians are no longer told the bitter truth. So, we end up raising half-baked leaders, who only understand how to settle issues carnally. Also, the kind of prayers we pray these days are so vindictive and full of poison that such so-called prayer warriors end up being twice the sons of hell than they started. They quickly lose the nature of Christ and have nothing else, but to manifest their carnality in the church.

In verse 2, Paul referred to this church as an ignorant church, which does not know who they are and what the church is. They have no understanding of their position of authority even in the kingdom that is to come. If they had, they wouldn’t take one another to court. In verse 5, Paul referred to such church as a shameless church that has descended so low as to wash its dirty linen before outsiders. It tells us about the state of the church in Nigeria.
Paul also referred to such church as a defeated church. That is why they can’t speak with one voice and have been manipulated by the enemy. Such has become a powerless church.

One major problem why this is prevalent is because the church has become very wealthy, but very poor in God’s word. Wherever there is wealth without God, there is bound to be a disguised gateway to hell. Taking one another to court is a total disregard for the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a sign that some churches in Nigeria are not heaven focused. They are a backslidden church and must repent; else the Lord will punish them.

I do agree that there are churches that are bent on obeying God’s Word and will not go to court for any reason, but only very few belong in this category.

To ensure that conflict within the church is properly managed according to biblical standard, the leadership of churches should insist on obeying God and should be ready to suffer loss and trust in the righteous judgment of God. One may argue that in today’s world, you have to fight your way through to survive. It sounds logical, but negates God’s word. It must be the word or nothing. I might have sounded very harsh and extreme in this write up, but this is the heart of the Spirit. If this will lead somebody to rethink, then I have made a point.

‘It’s A Coup Against The Church By Satan’
Prophet (Dr.) Samuel Kayode Abiara, General Evangelist, Christ Apostolic Church, CAC, Worldwide)
The word of God will never put us in darkness as to what to do whenever we are in doubt or whenever there is problem within the Christian-fold. It is true the Bible says that if anybody has any matter against the other, they must call the church elders and that it is a shame for the church to take their grievances to outsiders to deliberate on such matters. But Satan has always waged war against the church of God and it is also signs of the second coming of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ. So, we must continue to pray and look unto God, for Satan wants to destroy the church. He’s also the one that is always leading people astray and if we are sincerely children of God, we will not go to the extent of taking one another to court.

The counsel of the Lord is that we must remain faithful to the One Who has called us. What we are experiencing today is in every church and the devil is using that to destabilise the church of the living God. But our Lord Jesus Christ has prayed for us that the gates of hell, the power of darkness will not prevail against His Church. What you are talking about now is not about CAC alone; it is a matter that affects almost every church in the world, just that I don’t want to mention names. So, it is a coup against the church by Satan.
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2 Timothy 3 says, ‘But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient …’ and Jesus Christ also said in Matthew 24:11 that sin will multiply. Really, it is disobedience to God by going to court to challenge and abuse ourselves. It is an abuse of the church and it is also not biblical, but nevertheless, the church will stand. What I’m saying in essence is that Satan is inducing these things and when he is using somebody to do evil, he will never listen to God’s word. The person is so blindfolded that he cannot listen until he’s done with that evil intention.

In 2 Corinthians the Bible says, it’s a shame that we should go to court, but thank God for the courts. God also instituted the courts, and it is also the last hope for the common people, but we must thank God because Christ Jesus has prayed for the church. So, no matter what Satan is doing, he has lost the battle. He is the originator of disaster and chaos. There’s no doubt that those who are involved in this matter are outside the Bible, but solutions are in the Bible. We should go back to the Bible and obey what is in there. But I must be frank with you, this matter can never stop until Christ Jesus comes and that is the truth. Satan will continue to use it to tarnish the image of the church. So, while we’re still waiting for Christ to manifest, Satan will not stop to use leaders and church members against one another.

‘When Christians Are After Their Own Interests, They Are Ready To Sacrifice God’s Word And Authority’
(Pastor Sunday Adelaja, Senior Pastor, The Embassy of God, Ukraine)
Take, for example, the Bible says, “Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?” 1 Corinthians. 6:1-2.

Despite the fact that the Bible tells us not to take our case before the ungodly to be judged by them, we also must concede to the fact that we are living in the real world and this world has its own structures, systems, rules and guidelines as well.

The reason why Paul wrote that to the Corinthians is because even the Christians in the days of Paul had that problem. This whole situation points to the low level of Christian truth among believers. Christians, who have made God their supreme authority, are satisfied with abiding by what the Bible says. But when Christians are after their own interest, they are ready to sacrifice God’s word and his authority to pursue their own selfish interest.

On one hand, thank God that there is the infrastructure of police, court and the judiciary in our world today. If that were not so, things would have gotten much worse. Unfortunately, there is no amount of preaching or human edification that will stop this practice. It is never going to stop. There will always be canal Christians, selfish Christians and self-seeking Christians. And as long as we have them in the church, they will keep on seeking for justice in the wrong places.

To say that a time will come, when Christians will not drag themselves to court, is equal to saying that there will come a time, when all Christians will be grown up, matured and Christ-centred. That is most unlikely to happen, because Christianity and the Christian experience is an ongoing process that demands that people grow all the time. Some will be matured, while others will still be in the process of maturing.

My advice is that we should firstly, get used to it. Secondly, we should try to work on our members and enjoin them to continually live by the truth in the word of God. But as things are now, that might only happen, when Jesus returns to take over the headship of the church.

‘Some Of These Church Leaders Are Not Christ’s Followers In Reality’
(Rev. Gabriel Agbo is of the Assemblies of God Nigeria/author, Power of Midnight Prayer)
These crises can only be prevented or reduced by having or electing true Christians, who are filled with the Holy Spirit, as leaders of the church. Once you allow unbelievers or worldly people to take over the leadership, you will continue to have all this mess. Go close to most of the people doing these things, and you will discover that they have left the Lord long ago. Yes, they may be going by big titles, but they have actually gone back to the world. What we are seeing today is simply the symptoms of the great decay inside. Some of these people you call church leaders are not even followers of Christ in reality. They have come for business, materialism. We must pray back the church to God’s will.

Churches’ internal disputes are taken to the law courts because we now have Christians and church leaders, who don’t respect God’s word. Most of these people now have and pursue their personal inordinate ambitions. They want power, position, influence and money to the detriment of the gospel and the wellbeing of the flock. They want it by all means possible. And shockingly, some are not even called by God to the positions in the first place. They forced and manipulated themselves to those positions in the church.

So, what do you expect? They struggle to keep themselves in power like worldly politicians. They try to destroy anybody that questions their authority and operations. They are, in fact, the ones that don’t see any difference between the church and the world. So, we actually need strong Christian bodies that are focused on the progress of the gospel and the church. We need strong and depoliticised CAN, PFN and what have you. We must stop all these shows and shame in the name of prosperity gospel. What I am seeing today does not impress me at all. And I know that God is not impressed also. However, all hope is not lost because God said that He will build His church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. He is still in control and He knows how best to clean up the mess, especially the materialism. May God help us!

‘We Must Not Hurry To Condemn Them’
(Bishop Emmanuel Badejo, Catholic Diocese of Oyo)
I think we might not be doing enough justice to the Christian Churches or groups that go to court over various litigations at the moment. We must not hurry to condemn them. Were it possible to know how much effort must have been made internally to find solutions, we would perhaps give them credit for trying so hard. Indeed, conflicts will always be part of human existence, wherever people have to relate with one another over time. Conflicts, of course, do not necessarily have to result in court cases, especially for Christians, who are admonished not to drag each other before unbelievers to sort out their differences. The Apostle Paul in 1Cor 6:1-8 is very detailed on such matters. However, it is not always that all parties in litigation can agree on church settlement. We must take into account, as well that people today disagree on and contest many matters that even Paul in his time would never have imagined, talk less of addressed and so the law might need to be applied. By the way, courts and the process of law are not necessarily evil and the Bible does not condemn the law. It only offers something above it, charity. Many judges and adjudicators today are themselves Christians and believers in God, so the clause about being dragged before unbelievers is somewhat mitigated. Note that Christians too are subject to and therefore, can be beneficiaries of the law.
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We live in times, when power, property and resources are often at the centre of differences between individuals and there are more precise laws about these things than there were in Biblical times.  We must not also forget that there are other areas of Scripture that we read, understand, but do not seem to follow literally. This does not diminish the power of Scripture, but show the Bible as a dynamic document made for all time and seasons. Do the Scriptures not ask us to pluck out our eyes, if we have committed sin with it? Do we not read that we should cut off the offending arm, if we sin with our hand? Christians do not do that today because we know another part of the Bible that teaches us to tear our hearts, not our clothes to show repentance, thereby, prioritising the inner disposition over the outward sign (Mt. 5:23-26,).

In reality, the interpretation and actualisation of what the Bible says often depend on the type of Ecclesiology, which informs the life of any church community or group. Often, it seems easier to resolve conflicts out of court in Churches, which have an established centralised spiritual leadership structure than for those with a more decentralised administrative format. Is this not responsible for the chaotic splintering of some Churches, which we experience today? In other words, the ideal situation is to be able to resolve all conflicts internally in the Churches (Matt. 18:15-17), but then even a divine-human institution is not free of that human element. Some of this also comes with experience in the sense that older Churches tend to have historical references, which help to douse the fire of such conflicts.

The ownership of property and needs of the family by the leaders of any particular community might also be a factor. The fact that Catholic priests do not marry and are not allowed to accumulate property helps to minimise the sources of such conflicts in the Catholic Church. Churches that do not have such disciplinary provisions might have an extra problem to cope with among their membership and leadership. The same can be said for churches, which do not have clearly documented or clearly established laws or practices for the process of succession. Power is like an aphrodisiac and is attractive, even to people who do not qualify for it and this can result in litigations. I think that one of the solutions will be to preempt damaging conflicts in the body of Christ and take proactive measures about them. This may entail documenting, well ahead, issues that relate to property, power and money. The second is perhaps to continue to raise the level of fraternity and spirituality among Christians. Clearly, the more we become spirit-oriented, the less the things of the world will cause irresolvable conflicts in the body of Christ.