26 May 2019
Is there anything wrong with proliferation of churches? My answer to this question is yes and no. Yes, because in Nigeria, there is no need for it since the establishment of churches has been grossly abused, with every Tom, Dick and Harry setting up a church after graduating from the Bible College.
And no, because if churches were run with the fear of God, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. If we have churches in all the nooks and crannies of Nigeria preaching holiness and preparing the citizenry for the coming of their Maker, the country will, no doubt, rank among the greatest countries in the world. But what do we have instead?
We have a situation whereby people set up churches for commercial purpose, making merchandise of gullible worshippers. It is an open secret that joblessness has compelled a number of Nigerians to seek admission into Bible colleges with the sole aim of setting up churches to defraud unsuspecting worshippers.
I want to reiterate for the umpteenth time that the essence of going to Bible College is not to establish a church but to acquire theological knowledge.
That you are in a Bible College does not mean you are automatically called into ministry. And that you are even called into ministry does not mean you should set up a church immediately. Being called into ministry and being led by the Spirit of God to start a church are two different things.
I daresay that most of the ministers in Nigeria are actually not called. Greed and inordinate ambition to acquire wealth overnight called them into ministry; hence we have this tragedy on our hands today. It is not hyperbolical to say that the body of Christ as we have in the country today is not what the Lord Jesus Christ died for.
The Church is supposed to be a body of transformed Christians. But the question is, how many Christians in Nigeria are transformed? Is the lifestyle of the ministers exemplary? Today, we have more crooks in the Church than elsewhere. Why? Our ministers have failed in their divinely ordained responsibility to preach the truth to members.
Some of these churches are cited in residential areas where the building plan of such areas have no site for a church, but due to the mischievousness of some uncalled men of God, they have turned a one-bedroom apartment into a church.
Such churches are scattered around Calabar with heavy noise hazards. Every night is a crusade or a tarry night where they shout "fire, fire and fire" until the morning hours. Sadly, members of these churches park their cars indiscriminately along the road, thereby causing traffic jam.
Residents in these areas can no longer sleep and close their eyes in peace. Their resting period after the day's hurdle is now short-cut.
A church is supposed to be cited in a comfortable area with a large parking space and less noise. The rising number of "heavy speakers" outside the church compound is alarming. These speakers are not only noisy, but contribute largely to affecting the peace of residents in the affected areas.
During the period of Donald Duke as governor, some churches were asked to relocate to other sites for the peace and convenience of residents in the state.
In view of this, Gov. Ben Ayade should set up a committee to regulate some of this churches by revoking their C of O. Some churches that operates in a two-bedroom apartment should be shut down, they have no requirement to operate a church.
People worship their creator in their quiet mood in their homes, not only in churches.
