Calling and your area of calling
It was in one of the buses in 1978 that I actually got born again. And over the years, I have passed through different levels. I passed through poverty, I passed through suffering. Even in secondary school, most people didn't know that I did conductor work to go to school. I come from a very poor background such that my parents were not involved in my academics. God has really helped me.
These experiences gave rise to my kind of ministry, which restores hope to people. There is nowhere I speak the word, no matter your background and situation, you have to pick up.
The church today
Yes, everything has fake and adulterated versions. When I got into the ministry, there was no money in it and no rich pastor. Personally, I wasn't into it for money. Right now, I am not one of the rich pastors, but I thank God I do not beg on the streets. I think these dubious pastors abound because the ministry has become a very, very rich venture.
A lot of people are going into it even when they do not have the call. Neither do they have the salvation of the people at heart. They just want to be rich. However, this is not to say that every rich pastor is fake. I know that there are a few genuine men of God.
Honestly, it's amusing. People are just rushing into church work because it has become big business. Now, church is like pure water business in which a lot of the operators do not care about hygiene. Inside some of them, you see a lot of particles. Whereas, those who started it originally, had the vision to make pure drinkable water readily available and cheap for the people. Now, the case is different. In the night, some of these operators fetch well water, package it and sell as pure water. It's a shame. In effect, this is the same situation with the church today. Indeed, we have a lot of fakes, and it is because of money.
Pastors building empires
Well, it could be right though, I will not judge anyone. But certainly, God will judge the hearts of men. Yes, people are building empires in the name of church headquarters. You know, whatever a man sows, that he shall reap. So, whatever any man builds, if it is for personal gains, time will tell. I know that time will come when such a man will stand before God and say, ‘O Lord, don't you know me? I was at this and that church healing the sick and all that. But God will say, I do not know you.
Why will God say I do not know you? He will say it in the context of what He had sent each man to do and what he actually did. Take for example, God says pastor this 100 members. And you say how can I pastor only 100 people? How much will I make from it? Then, you go professional, you begin to involve yourself in all sorts of things, go on air for more people to come. Then, you forget the original message God has given you.
So many times, some of these empires are not of God, though some are. I think it's only when we stand before God that we will know who God sent. Nigerians are highly materialistic. I was in some Asian countries including India. There, when a rich man enters the church, you hardly know. I have been in a church that seats 10,000 people and the pastor came in bare-footed.
Not because of the doctrine but due to reverence for God. They believe when they were Hindu, they go bare-footed. So, how can they serve the big God now and go before Him in shoes? There, they are not flamboyant; they just tie the Lungi (wrapper) and sit on the mats. But here, pastors are after the best houses, cars, after all kinds of material wealth. So many of them do not care about the crowd that follows them. They just use them to get rich.
Recipe for good Christian life
All men should live by the word, which is the Bible, the Christian manual. For instance, like every profession has a work code, so it is the same with Christian lifestyle. I believe the Bible is our manual, the code of conduct for good living. If we can live by what the Bible says, that is, thou shall not steal, and man resolves not to steal and relies on God's help then there will be no strife nor struggles.
But the problem with man is that there is too much pursuit of the wrong things. People should be simple. Even among the pastors, it is often the question of what make of car does he drive? There must be a car at every given point before things get done. For me, I don't care if my car is fixed or not. I just get on the okada and off I go for my ministration.
What I care about is my name and to guard my ministry jealously. So that by the time you call the name, Chris Matthews in a place like Lagos, somebody will say, Oh! I know that man and people will say something nice. Unfortunately, many people no longer care about name. Today in Nigeria, if you are rich, people bow down for you. It does not matter if you stole the money or killed someone for rituals. And this is because there is too much poverty even among people in the churches.
Look at Reverend King, for example. The fact that he killed somebody is enough but some people were still wearing his pictures on their necks. That's poverty. Maybe these kinds of followers are getting some little change from him. I think they have sold their conscience. This is wrong. I believe we should just live by the Bible.
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