NDUBUISI FRANCIS examines the increasing division among Christians and calls for an end to the fruitless discord
“Of all the animosities which have existed among mankind, those which are caused by a difference of sentiments in religion appear to be the most inveterate and distressing, and ought to be deprecated. I was in hopes that the enlightened and liberal policy, which has marked the present age, would at least have reconciled Christians of every denomination so far that we should never again see the religious disputes carried to such a pitch as to endanger the peace of society.”
The above quote is an extract from a letter written by the first President of the United States of America, George Washington, and addressed to an Irish politician, Edward Newenham. Date was October 20, 1792.
That was about 233 odd years ago–a period spanning over two centuries.
A dissection of the excerpt from Washington’s letter to the Irish politician proves beyond any shred of doubt that his concerns had something to do with a disturbing trend among Christians at the time – dichotomy.
While the one-time American leader may have spotted this out in 1792, it rankles beyond expression that what he alluded to has assumed a more worrisome dimension among Christians, particularly in Nigeria today.
Christianity has, among some of its defining features, forbearing one another in love (Ephesians 4:2), tolerance, love for fellow beings, righteouness, heaven-mindedness and soul-winning.
Beyond any scintilla of doubt, in Nigeria today, Christianity is on trial. Regrettably, the religion is not on trial by outsiders, but by its adherents who are at war with each other.
There is a penchant to pull down each other, a seemingly demonic predilection to excoriate and judge one another. Intolerance, petty rivalry and envy among practitioners have taken hold of the church of God.
Each and every day, men of God and their churches have become topics of discussions, ridicule and vile attacks on several platforms, including the social media and broadcast stations, by supposed Christians.
The self-appointed latter-day saints, judges and critics are themselves either members of one orthodox, Pentecostal or pseudo-Christian denomination or the other.
Fault-finding finds expression in every of their actions.
Nothing lends more credence to these disturbing trends than the recent mass hysteria against The Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Revival Movement, easily one of the fastest growing churches in the world.
In the last few months, the church, its members and General Overseer have become subjects of derision, mockery, and toxic innuendos in the social media, physically and any available public space.
The only ‘sin’ of the church is that their members lay claim to certain “impossible” and “fake” testimonies.
Regrettably, many of those who excoriate and disparage the Lord’s Chosen (including supposed clergy and leaders of Christian bodies) do so out of pure mischief, ignorance, envy or outright desire to pull down.
Among the attacks was the one from a certain actor and broadcaster who prides himself as a senior pastor of one of the denominations with headquarters in Lagos.
What rankles is that the serial divorcee who is competing with his G.O in the business of divorcing, marrying and remarrying had the effrontery to grandstand and call the G.O of The Lord’s Chosen, Pastor Lazarus Muoka and his members names.
In the desperation to impugn the image of the church and its worshippers, the one that appeared to be most disappointing and unfortunate was that of the Chairman of the Lagos branch of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Bishop Stephen Adegbite.
As a leader of the umbrella body of Christians and a clergy, one expected his words to be seasoned with wisdom and laced with the grace and spirit of God.
While reacting to allegations that some Lord’s Chosen testimonies were ‘fake’, Adegbite reportedly said that they were mere ‘fabrication’.
He described the testimonies thus: “They are all blatant lies from the pit of hell.”
Coming from a clergy and leader of the umbrella body of Christians in Lagos State which perhaps hosts the largest assemblage of churches in the country is not only unfortunate but utterly disappointing..
If Bishop Adegbite is fully aware of the import of his position as CAN Chairman in Lagos State and what the Bible says about the wonders of God, he would have realised that an outright and open condemnation of a church and testimonies by its members without investigation was unapologetically unbecoming of a leader of an important association like CAN.
As the omnibus organisation, CAN is supposed to promote, project, protect and advance the interest of Christians and Christianity.
Nobody expects him to defend or cover up evil or sin of whatever colour where there is one, irrespective of who the perpetrator is.
But he is not expected to de-market any denomination or pass instant judgment on any Christian or Christian faith publicly before investigating or without recourse to facts and scriptural backing.
Regrettably, he openly condemned the Lord’s Chosen and the testimonies that were shared in the church before inviting the leaders of the church for a meeting.
His postulation that certain miracles
as testified in the Lord’s Chosen were ‘mere ‘fabrication’ and “all blatant lies from the pit of hell” clearly depict two things:
It is either a covert attempt to discredit everything inherent in the Christian belief that “with God, all things are possible” or a clear repudiation of what the Lord’s Chosen as a church stands for.
The CAN Chairman did not only openly make disparaging remarks and cast aspersions on the church and its members, he betrayed one of the cardinal ethos of the Christian faith and belief that with God, all things are possible.
By virtue of his title, Bishop Adegbite is believed to be versed in the scriptures more than mere mortals like us. Is he oblivious of several Bible passages on the omnipotence of God at all times?
The book of John 14:12-13 says:
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
“And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
Does this bible passage suggest that God is no longer in the business of doing signs and wonders or doesn’t he believe in the limitless power of God even in modern day?
One of the testimonies in the Lord’s Chosen that incensed Bishop Adegbite was the one concerning armed robbers who shot at a church member but the bullets refused to penetrate and cause any bodily harm.
His response to this was:
“”Anybody that wants to prove such a thing should bring a gun to the church. Let the person stand and let us release the bullets. We will see whether the bullets will enter or not. They are all blatant lies from the pit of hell.”
This is a brazen display of canality, a sad commentary from a leader and “believer” who preaches the word of God.
The question here is what does he think about unbelievers who ‘fortify’ themselves with charms from witch doctors against bullets?
If he believes or knows that such charms work for those who patronise them, are the witch doctors now more powerful than the Amighty God such that He cannot neutralise the potency of bullets on believers who diligently/fervently seek and serve him?
I want to respectfully remind Bishop Adegbite that ministers of God do not have powers to perform miracles. Miracles manifest through their ministration as released by God. Mocking them is like backing up a wrong tree.
Like the old hymn says – “God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform. He plants His footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm.”
God’s ways are not man’s ways so it is a matter of presumptuousness to appraise the works of God with human contemplations.
Literally speaking, as the sky and heavens are far away from man, so are the ways of God superior to human ways.
Many are today suffused with an unexplainable disdain for certain denominations, particularly the Lord’s Chosen. I hope Bishop Adegbite is not
one of them because he leads the foremost Christian body—CAN, besides being a preacher of the gospel.
If his recent outburst against the Lord’s Chosen testimonies was driven by a prejudiced loathsome disposition towards the church, then it tantamounts to cutting the nose to spite one’s face.
After the crucifixion and death of Christ, a certain pharisee named Gamaliel rose up in defence of the disciples, as they faced vicious persecution with the aim of exterminating them and the Gospel.
Gamaliel said in Acts 5:38-39: “Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought.
“But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it, lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.”
At no other time has this message become apt for the modern day persecutors of the Lord’s Chosen, its members and other Christian faith whose mode of worship or doctrine have become the subject of attacks.
Judgment is of God. If they are actually called, no amount of bad blood or mudslinging will stop them.
When the church started over 22 years ago, naysayers never gave them a dog’s chance of surviving even for six months.
Despite relentless vile attacks and vicious campaigns from some fellow Christian denominations and their members, the church has marched on, nesting in almost every country of the world including hard-to-penetrate countries and regions of the world.
This is clearly the finger of God.
As a senior journalist of over 30 years and a proud member of the Lord’s Chosen for over two decades now who interviews people before they are permitted to share their testimonies of what God did in their lives.
There are strong checks and balances to ensure that testimonies given are authentic.
To further ensure that testimonies given are verifiable by doubting Thomases and non-members of the church, phone numbers and contact addresses of testifiers are necessary requirements for any testifier to be allowed to testify.
If any member of the public is in doubt, of àny miracle, all they need do is to approach the church, collect the phone number and contact address of the testifier and do an independent investigation.
For instance, if someone claims that he had a hunchback before and that it disappeared when he/she went to the Lord’s Chosen and prayers were made, all that is needed is for anyone in doubt to approach the church for such a miracle to be verified independently.
At least, such a testifier has neighbours who can confirm or deny if such an individual who claimed to have hunchback actually had one before God intervened.
It’s only in our clime that even journalists join the fray to label miracles as ‘fake’ without doing any investigation.
Today, you see members of orthodox churches write, broadcast, castigate and make sweeping statements against those of Pentecostal persuasion and verse versa. Yet, they all claim to be Christians and serving the same God. Regrettably, such open attacks are not seen among Muslims despite the fact that there are also different sects in the religion– Sunni Muslims and Shiites
How can the body of Christ be so divided when the centrepoint of their faith—Jesus Christ embodies peace, love and unity?
It’s indeed high time Christians desisted from judging and pulling down one another, driven largely by petty jealousy, ignorance and temporary gains (if any). Let only God be the judge of everyone.
Ndubuisi is a staff of THISDAY Newspaper
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