Just at the start of the year, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God gave a scathing prophecy that there would be an increase in mockers and that some of them may not see the year through according to what was revealed to him.
By mockers, Pastor Adeboye was inadvertently referring to those who mock pastors and by extension the church.
Indeed, making jest of pastors and poking fun into their messages has become full time business for some internet users most especially bloggers.
They have taken it upon themselves to be the Church’s ombudsman. Their main preoccupation is to poke fun on what pastors say, should not say and left unsaid.
It was at the height of the online backlash that Pastor Adeboye apologised for saying non-tithers won’t make it to heaven. His apologies soon became another source of content and contention
Mockers are increasing
As I write there are so many pastors online that have become butts of joke. There is no sign an end is around for online critics of the church just as Pastor Adeboye predicted.
Last December , a young man by the name Olumide Ogunsanwo known on tiktok as Seaking took to his tiktok account to make derogatory remarks about Pastor Adeboye.
The young man threw caution to the wind and poured invectives on the RCCG General Overseer. His words were too rash and rabid. His grouse was that Pastor Adeboye called for a 100-day fast.
The seemingly irrational tiktoker got the attention of Mr. James Paul Adams who is the Convener of Concerned Christian Youth Forum who has taken it upon himself to fight for pastors.
Adams said in an online broadcast that he was behind the arrest of the tiktoker. He accused him of making uncomplimentary remarks about Adeboye and threatened that his organisation was ready for a showdown with those who mock pastors.
But then it was the tiktoker’s comment that made Pastor Adeboye explain at the last holy ghost night that he only asked his children to fast.
Adeboye said he was aware of the arrest of the tiktoker but that he had asked that he be released. He said the young man was just fulfilling his prophecy on mockers.
Basis for criticism
While the tiktoker who derided Pastor Adeboye should be roundly condemned for being irrational, the question that should agitate the minds of the average church goer and indeed preachers of the gospel is whether some of the criticisms by netizens are justified?
This is not a question that can easily be answered going by the different theological leanings in the Church and how people are disposed to them.
Usually, people criticise what they do not understand and in some cases criticism come when there is an obvious gaffe.
On the 100-day fast Pastor Adeboye had explained he was talking to his church members. This is about the second time he would call for such fast.
While many people will do the fast because it has been declared, quite a number may not even fast. The relevance of the fast is a subject for another day. But the tiktoker was unnecessarily being meddlesome. And he did it in a crude way.
Easy to know
But then for those who are discerning it does not take long to spot a gaffe in a message especially when such message goes against the grain or what is clearly revealed in the Bible.
It’s easy for preachers to get carried away while on the pulpit. There is the temptation of the crowd and the pressure to say something new. There is a growing rate of itching ears in the church which makes preachers vulnerable.
That is why every passing day we hear strange deliveries on many pulpits. Some preachers’ utterances are so disturbing that one begins to wonder where the messages are coming from. Are there some other Bibles unknown to the public that preachers have access to.?
Tithe and Job
One of the strange messages that took many people unawares is the Job and tithe message by Bishop David Oyedepo of the Winners Chapel. His son, Isaac also preached it.
Their position is that Job suffered because he was not a tither even when the Bible is unambiguous about what caused Job’s plight.
Many believe that message has no grounding in the Bible. Indeed, there is no scripture that gives us the slightest clue that Job suffered because he was not a tither.
The word tithe did not even appear in the book of Job. So one wonders where Bishop Oyedepo got his position from. Certainly not the Bible. The message must have come from his imagination. And it is one of the messages that make people drag preachers on the floor.
This one message however does not define Oyedepo. He has preached several other messages that have transformed lives and brought people out of misery. Unfortunately those who are waiting for the head of church would rather drag him on this one goof of a lifetime.
While Bishop Oyedepo has a right to his views and his messages, it’s important he refrains from extrabiblical teachings. It’s good to be silent where the Bible is silent and be loud where it is loud. The crowd and our sentiment should not define our message. Rather the word of God should.
Even as I write some will be wondering how dare you correct Bishop Oyedepo? What is your pedigree? Well I have got to credential near him. But I have got eyes to read the Bible The issue is so simple and it’s not intended to join the bandwagon of critics but to stir a discussion for us to reason together.
In what way did Job suffer for not paying tithe? Perhaps Bishop Oyedepo need to look at this message and offer a biblical explanation of how Job’s suffering was linked to tithe. What the Bible makes us to know is that God had a conversation with Satan during which he bragged about Job which led to the trial.
But then, let’s agree that he suffered because he did not pay tithe. Did he now pay tithe for him to recover from the trial and God blessed him more than ever before?
While preachers are at liberty to preach and tell their congregation what they think is God’s mind, they should always be careful not to preach their minds and their sentiments
Joshua Selman
If Oyedepo’s claim about tithe does not amuse you then you need to listen to Apostle Joshua Selman. His is known for the refrain “are we together’ and then he goes on to unleash a bit of poison in his message.
In fairness to Selman he is one man whose heart is sold to God. He has paid his dues in the kingdom and has sacrificed a lot. I once heard him talk about living in a room apartment for many years while he was paying rents of flats for people . It shows how selfless he is. I also find many of his messages right on the spot. I have been blessed by them.
But the day I heard him say the name of Jesus is too heavy only money can lift it, I had to check again and again if I needed a hearing aid.
Pray, what has money got to do with the name of Jesus? The same Selman once said John the Baptist was beheaded because he did not stay in his calling. Selman has said many uncomplimentary things about Apostle Paul and a couple of other weird messages bordering on portals and dimensions.
Korede Komaya
And then you talk of Korede Komaiya the maverick preacher with a whistle face countenance. He is the Presiding Pastor of The Master’s Place International Church, an upwardly mobile ministry headquartered in the city of Warri, Delta State,
This is the preacher who said the poor have no place in the fulfilment of some Biblical prophecies. And went on to say poverty is an indication of sin. Komaiya and a number of other pastors who brandish the prosperity gospel have become a subjection of derision online.
Komaiya’s position on the poor is so strange that it seems he has a unique anointing to put the poor down. He said emphatically that the holiness of the poor should not be trusted. That sounds sensible. He perhaps wanted to say you can’t be sure a man is holy until money comes into his hands. Good one.
But do we then trust the holiness of the rich. It really does not add up. He went to the point of saying women should not marry poor men. Is this not asking people to be desperate for wealth?
Abel Damina
Abel Damina on his part has succeeded in winning many to his side with his anti prosperity message which is highly commendable.
But he is a preacher that throws caution to the wind in the name of exegesis. While he should be praised for his Christocentric messages, he should know that he is doing a lot of damage to the church by his off the cuff utterances.
His problem is the attention drawing openings of many of his messages. He preaches like a journalist who is obsessed with eye catching headlines.
Those who follow him must have heard his outlandish claim that Mary did not give birth to Jesus? Or that there is nothing like, at the mention of the name of Jesus in the Bible. And that what the Bible says is, at the name of Jesus. Wondering at the difference. He picks hole in communion and makes fun of it. He tells you baptism is swimming exercise.
Damina looks like a preacher who enjoys the spotlight. One wonders if those controversial messages have transformed lives.
No doubt many of these preachers are fantastic and they have helped to expand the frontiers of the kingdom whether positively or negatively. But the point is, some of them need to watch it.
A little leaven leavens the whole lump. No matter how brilliant a pastor is, a line of utterance that has no basis in scripture will draw the ire of people.
Sometimes those utterances come out of excitement. That is why after every message it’s good to reflect and get feedbacks. In what way has the message been a blessing. We must ask, has the scripture been misquoted.
I also think there is need to refrain from trying to sound different. The Bible is plain and simple. The bottomline of every fellowship is to transform lives. If at the end of the day our messages cause undue controversy and argument, of what use is such message.
As it is, mockers will keep growing as long as pastors fail to have regard for God’s word. People will keep making fun as long as we place undue emphasis on the mundane.
Many people know the truth even if they won’t embrace it. We should not drive them farther away from God by our indiscretion.
By Gbenga Osinaike
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