By Tochukwu Ezukanma<\/p>\n
The Highlife maestro, Oliver de Coque, once sang, \u201cWherever I am, God
\ngives me good music; when I am asleep, God gives me good music; when I
\nam awake, God gives me good music\u201d. In response to a question about
\ncomposing songs, Michael Jackson replied, \u201cI don\u2019t understand this
\nthing about writing songs. I think it is spiritual. I think it is
\nheavenly\u201d. The two men talked about their musical inspirations coming
\nfrom divine, spiritual realm, from God.<\/p>\n
God\u2019s first instructions to man are, \u201cBe fruitful, and multiply, and
\nreplenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over (it)\u201d. In
\nthe rigor and drudgery of upholding these divine commands, we are,
\nsometimes, jubilant, frustrated, and flustered, and, we also, sometimes,
\nfall in love, fall out of love, and even, get heartbroken. Irrespective
\nof the moods and circumstances engendered by our determined labor to
\ncarry out these instructions of God, music comes handy: soothing,
\nencouraging, inspiring, bracing, etc.<\/p>\n
On my first job as a mortgage banker, I worked for a 35 year old
\nmillionaire. She made about two million dollars every year. Once, in a
\ndiscussion with her, I talked about, \u201cWhat people sow is what they
\nreap\u201d. She seemed a little puzzled, and asked me, \u201cDo you think
\nso\u201d? I replied yes, because the Bible says so. She asked me, \u201cFor
\nreal, the Bible says so\u201d? Evidently, this young, successful lady did
\nnot frequent the church, and barely read the Bible. The pastors and
\ntheir preaching and demands for offerings, tithe, first fruit and sowing
\nof seed had very little or no influence on her life.<\/p>\n
But, it would have been impossible for her to manage a mortgage bank,
\nemploying, training and supervising mortgage bankers to fulfill their
\nprofessional responsibilities to the public, advancing the public good,
\nwhich is the Will of God, without an education. Therefore, teachers
\nplayed more pivotal and beneficial roles in her life than pastors. In
\ndoing their work as educators; educating and enlightening humanity,
\nexorcising the beast in man, and making the world a more discipline and
\nlivable place, teachers are doing the Will of God.<\/p>\n
Just like musicians and teachers, everyone is called, inspired and
\nanointed by God to play a given role towards the divine mission to be
\nfruitful, and dominate the earth. We are individually special to God; He
\nthought about each of us in a special way. Not surprisingly, he created
\nus with individualized identities, talents and destinies; and assigned
\nus unique roles, as writers, medical doctors, architects,
\npastors\/prophets, etc. Therefore, we are all men of God.<\/p>\n
The calling of the pastor\/prophet is not superior to that of the other
\nprofessionals. In orthodox churches, pastors, educated and trained, have
\na better understanding of the word of God. As such, they respect other
\nprofessionals and restrict themselves to their duties, which are
\ngenerally ecclesiastical. They do not own their individual churches, and
\nare therefore subject to church authority, and regulated by Christian
\nethics and church cannons. Consequently, they play by the rules.<\/p>\n
The advent of new age Pentecostalism significantly altered the roles of
\npastors and the tenor of church doctrine in Nigeria. With their
\nperversion of the word of God, they acquired an exploitative,
\nmanipulative and intrusive influence on the lives of Christians. Many of
\nthe new age Pentecostal pastors lack education and training, and the
\ncalling of God to be pastors. Many of them rose from the ranks of the
\nuneducated, unemployed, and unemployable, and some, from among the
\nhungry and homeless that sought shelter in the church. Their presence in
\nthe church made them readily available to the pastors, who assigned them
\nroles within the church, and with time, made them assistants, which
\nprovided them the launching pad for takeoff on their own as pastors and
\nchurch owners.<\/p>\n
A once never-do-well that is now a pastor has an inferiority complex and
\na chip on the shoulder. In addition, because they own and control their
\nindividual churches, they are not subject to any supervisory and\/or
\ndisciplinary authority. If not strictly regulated, a pastor, with an
\ninferiority complex and a chip on the shoulder; without education and
\ntraining, and consequently, devoid of the discipline and sense of
\nresponsibility the job a pastor demands; and not subject to any
\ncorrective authority because he is the sole owner and controller of his
\nchurch; can be dangerous to the society.<\/p>\n
Many of them are misleading, manipulating and exploiting their
\ncongregants. They acquire prophetic powers, sometimes, in dalliance with
\nsatanic forces; cultivate a personality cult; and terrify their church
\nmembers into total submission to their personal will. They claim
\nexclusive access to God, and declare that the offering of sacrifices
\n(tithes, first fruit, seeds, etc) forces God to answer prayers and grant
\nblessings. They apotheosize themselves, and become the object of worship
\nto their members. Therefore, it is not uncommon for members to be
\nkneeling down before their pastors, and literally, worshipping them,
\nwhich is idolatry.<\/p>\n
In all, they establish, and continually reinforce their menacing and
\nmesmeric grip on the minds of their church members. Thus, with easy,
\nthey dispossess them of their money, in the name of offerings, tithe,
\nseeds, first fruits, etc; seduce unsuspecting women, including married
\nwomen and under-age girls; break up marriages; and indulge their weird,
\nghoulish, and even, demonic fantasies.<\/p>\n
It behooves every Christian to study the Bible. The knowledge of the
\nword of God is a sturdy bulwark against the wiles of deceitful pastors.
\nWith the knowledge of the Word, it will crystallize to you that we are
\nall men of God, with access to God; money does not buy God blessings and
\nanswers to payers; and no man but God is deserving of your worship.
\nJesus Christ came to raise believers, not pastors, and all the promises
\nof God are for believers and those that do the will of God, not
\nexclusively for pastors.<\/p>\n
Tochukwu Ezukanma writes from Lagos, Nigeria<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Tochukwu Ezukanma The Highlife maestro, Oliver de Coque, once sang, \u201cWherever I am, God gives me good music; when I am asleep, God gives me good music; when I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":78880,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n