Disparity of roles between ecclesiastics and politicians are generally expected to translate to differences in values, lifestyles and creeds, but this pattern has been disrupted and bridged in Nigeria by materialism. Moral disconnects, lust and insatiability for money, wealth, fame, influence and power have conspired to bring the men of God to the level of politicians. This is evident in the Pentecostal ministries where some founding pastors and general overseers {GOs} no longer exhibit ascetic disposition and restraints from material allures.
Men of God are ordained servants positioned to constantly communicate God’s values and work of Jesus Christ for redemption of mankind with humility and sacrifice, not as businessmen and women with devotion of brewed capitalists, displaying affluence like politicians. Politicians are elected political office holders with responsibility of running government to primarily provide welfare and security of lives and properties for the people, but opt to make politics a career and business for generating wealth for themselves.
With similarities in affluence and avarice, both pastors and politicians now operate in same frequencies. They buy private jets, lodge in diplomatic suits in 5-star hotels during local and foreign travels, send their children to expensive schools abroad, buy houses abroad, procure citizenship of foreign countries for themselves and immediate families, live in highbrow areas, enjoy retinue of domestic staff, and site projects funded with church or government money in their villages and home towns.
Besides, they also drive expensive exotic cars and SUVs with convoy of security escorts for protection. Use of escorts by politicians is understandable because they are vulnerable to public attacks owing to lifestyle of lies and deceit. But where men of God who preach truth and regularly assure members of divine protection, fail to invoke celestial powers on themselves, but rely on security agencies for defence, leaves much to be desired.
church growth. Rather than encourage congregates to acquire skills to enable them offer services and products, they organize prayer programmes where they are asked to sow seed, which only enriches the pastors but deplete the poor. They know wealth cannot be created through prayers, yet, members are advised to exercise faith.
Unfortunately, donations, levies and other revenues contributed by members of the church are not fully used for kingdom expansion, but diverted and invested in private family commercial businesses registered in family names. Returns from these investments are also not fully ploughed into the church, but partly reinvested into other businesses, including real estate, stocks, manufacturing, and even aviation where underutilized private jets are leased for commercial purposes.
Implicitly, there are now obvious blurred lines between spiritual and temporal dimensions fueled by material pursuit involving Pentecostal pastors and politicians. Existential gaps between them have continued to be narrowed by shared values, exacerbated by materialism. Underpinning motive behind these seeming convergence, is prosperity, covertly wrapped under the guise of bringing succour to the people, which is currently posing serious reputation threat to the Pentecostal movement, and reshaping it to conjure an image of hypocrisy. It is indeed, an unhelpful development.
Sadly, the affluence associated with pastoral office is also currently having a ring on the minds of church members who are enrolled in Bible Colleges. Most of them now look forward to establishing their own church upon graduation. They also want to “blow” like their pastors who project their stupendous wealth as product of divine favour, prompting them to want to set aside divine ordinances and protocols to commence their ministries, rather than wait to be called by the Lord.
•Mike Owhoko, Ph.D, Lagos-based public policy analyst, author, and journalist, can be reached at www.mikeowhoko.com, and followed on X {formerly Twitter} @michaelowhoko.
