Hypocrisy cloaked in the garb of ‘anointing’ – Lest we perish for lack of knowledge, it is time to probe: Let me say it again, I have no right of condemnation, but I have a right to factual observation – a right to probe and will offer unsolicited sermon, too. As I probe, a word for those who comfortably complain about other leaders in society, but keep quiet about their pastors. ‘Morality is not a buffet’ to pick and choose. Its standards must endure the test of time – so, allow this probing or spare me the righteous BS… To the anointed prosperity preachers of Nigeria, whose tongues now cleave to the roof of their mouth, who have chosen silence in face of hunger, poverty, bloodshed, massacres, and impunity as experienced in today’s Nigeria, I urge you to examine your ways and align them to the way of Jesus Christ. Otherwise, spare me (us) the righteous BS.
Hypocrisy cloaked in the garb of ‘anointing’
By Elsie-Bernadette Onubogu
In the first part of this discourse on the lack of outrage from expected voices – Time to spare me the righteous BS – I wrote about the weight of hypocrisy and manipulation amidst the ‘anointed.’ I expressed that viewpoint because it’s clear that where Jeremiah, Moses, Elijah, Paul, etc., found their voices to speak against injustice, against Pharoah, King Ahab, many of the ‘anointed’ in Nigeria have either lost the voice to speak, refused to speak, and or their tongues are now cleaved to the roof of their mouth!
By their lifestyles, and silence in the face of impunity, we can safely translate their sermons as: “Do as I say, not as I do.” Yet, the Jesus that I know, lived what He preached. Jesus did not ride in chariots while widows begged at the gate. But the pastors fly and drive around in the luxury of private jets and exotic bullet proof cars. This I called hypocrisy.
That hypocrisy can be exposed further as the same ‘anointed’ are quick to quote the scripture: “My people perish for lack of knowledge,” or the earlier quote about ‘touch not my anointed.’ These are quotes that we must begin to probe deeply.
Let me say it again, I have no right of condemnation, but I have a right to factual observation – a right to probe and will offer unsolicited sermon, too.
As I probe, a word for those who comfortably complain about other leaders in society, but keep quiet about their pastors. ‘Morality is not a buffet’ to pick and choose. Its standards must endure the test of time – so, allow this probing or spare me the righteous BS!
Presently, I see pastors who offer us ‘Psalm 91’ as God’s security and refuge, but strut around in bullet proof cars protected by heavily armed bodyguards.
I thought the Lord’s promise in Zechariah 2 vs 5 “For I, saith the LORD, will be unto her a wall of fire round about…” ought to have been ample assurance? If that was sufficient, why do these pastors need armed bodyguards? And if not sufficient, why do they leave the people to Psalm 91?
Have they no faith in God? If not, why ask that of the people? Are we perishing for not seeing through this deceit? Is that the knowledge they refer to, or is it the knowledge of knowing what Jesus taught and did and yet not live by it? These questions got me thinking!
What sort of churches and pastors should we be looking for?
From my probing, here is what I know for sure. If we are looking for places to worship, we should look for real shepherds – men and women who not only preach the gospel, but live its essence, in particular, taking care of their flock. We should look for pastors who preach with courage, humility and live like Christ did.
Currently, Nigeria is that nation that has lost its sense of probe. Either of frustration, resignation or plain gullibility, many have become ‘numpties.’
As a Nation, we have subdued and erased the agency of “probing, verification, and investigation” – thus, anything goes! Otherwise, given the proliferation of anointed pastors, prophets and absurd claims made by some of them (some cited below), should we not be asking: Where is the evidence of their anointing? Where is the proof of divine authority in their lifestyle or message? Where is the prophetic courage in the face of injustice?
But no, all we have is silence and gullibility. And I am not surprised, ‘the people died.’ Yet, I wonder – why is the silence so widespread? It is so because of the impunity that has taken over the land. It is so because the Pharoah of the land has ‘invested’ even in the vineyards of those who claim to be God’s mouthpiece. It is so because only in Nigeria can a monkey wake up and declare itself a snake — and people will applaud – no questions asked. No one seeks proof – no probes.
Citizens simply follow, hook, line, and sinker. It is so because as a people, we have traded critical thinking with gullibility and spectacle. It is so because, the people are perishing for lack of knowledge.
Personally, I seek God’s grace to, not perish for lack of knowledge. Your probing will assist you to ‘choose for yourself which God you will serve.’
Back to the faith question. I ask, where is their faith? Faith is ‘trust’ not certainty. Faith is said to be that, which, if we had as little as a mustard seed, we could move mountains. If they had faith in Psalm 91, why do they need armed bodyguards? With faith, they could move mountains?
For a minute, if you doubt that mountains could be moved, please read the story of the miracle of Mokattam Mountain (Muqattam) with the Coptic Christians in Egypt – who, led by a one-eyed shoemaker moved a mountain that saved the extermination of a people as planned by Caliph al-Muizz. That praying shoemaker is Saint Simon the Tanner. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_the_Tanner
Sadly, it is clear that, by their actions, our pastors do not live by faith. Didn’t the Bible say, ‘the just person (man) shall live by faith’? Here, the Bible equates faith as righteousness!
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So, their preference for bodyguards over God’s Psalm of refuge and security in the face of Nigeria’s insecurity says it all. It is clear that where armed robbers operate at will and without challenge as in most of our communities, ‘Psalm 91’ may not provide them security – bodyguards will. And, if the above narrative and analysis is not sufficient, or they present you with alternative facts, then, I ask, “whose report should we believe?”
It is pertinent to note however, that, a few pastors speak out in courage. A shout out to Pastors: Isa El Buba, Paul Enenche, Abel Dramina, Sarah Omakwu, and the intermittent ranter – Tunde Bakare. More recently, taking a different route is the Catholic Evangelist Ebuka Obi, who is standing in where the government has failed – using raised funds to provide free health care services for millions of people rather than a lavish lifestyle.
For me, these truly embody the spirit of service, sacrifice and compassion as recorded in the Biblical parables of the Good Samaritan, Lazarus and the Rich man, the courage of Moses, Elijah, Jeremiah and Paul. For the records, this is not an award of heavenly crown but mere human observation.
Still, the silence and the affluence of other pastors amid suffering and impunity is not just cowardice, complicity or duplicity. It is hypocrisy that deserves to be dressed in the royal robes of shame.
This attitude is worse with a certain group, where churches have transformed into commercial franchises with the people serving as money-minting machines. Once holy grounds are now places where the gospel is sold to the highest bidder! Offerings and tithes are tools used to exploit and manipulate. I say manipulate because, not too long ago, a General Overseer told his congregation that anyone who does not tithe will not make heaven. It was not just ludicrous, it was absurd.
In yet another spectacle, a Pastor offers ‘divine’ night gowns that gets women pregnant, handkerchief and special miracle water’ that will get his congregation to heaven.
When you think you have seen or heard it all, ‘their giving somersaults to new heights! Such was the case, when another ‘anointed’ asked the congregation to raise their phones. He prayed and invoked ‘miracle money alerts’ into GTBank, Zenith, Diamond/Access Bank accounts of those who were there. To say I was thunderstruck or gob-smacked is an understatement!
Wow! To deliver these kinds of sermons in the face of the story of Ananias and Sapphira leaves me wondering if Access or Zenith Bank had opened branches in heaven perhaps with a special request for BVN and NIN. No, said a friend, if there was a bank up there, she was sure it would be the United Bank for Africa. I didn’t dare to ask her why she thought so. This is not Christ-like. This is not righteousness. It is straight-up spiritual fraud. It is akin to obtaining by false pretense – aka 419. At some moments of candour, I have wondered why the EFCC (as inept and manipulated as it is) focuses only on ‘Yahoo People.”
While the ‘flock’ struggle to get on a “Molue,” the pastors/shepherds drive around in bullet-proof exotic cars, fly around in private jets, adorned in designer clothes, and protected by AK-47 wielding bodyguards – forgetting for one moment that Jesus rebuked Peter for attempting to defend him with a sword.
Indeed, Jesus not only healed the aggressor/enemy’s ear that Peter cut off, but, chastised Peter with the words, ‘those who live by the sword – die by the sword.’ To further buttress how absurd some of these sermons are, allow me to present a ‘then and now’ – ‘Then’ – representing the time of the Biblical prophets, and the ‘now’ – for the present Nigeria.
Then and now
- Psalm 91 is our mark of refuge and safety in God – they replace with AK-47 wielding guards and bulletproof convoys.
- Deuteronomy 8 vs 18’s call to create wealth and Malachi 3/10 they manipulate and exploit the faithful under the guise of ‘offerings and tithes.’
- Jesus’ message of salvation is replaced with prosperity for ‘Daddy and Mummy.’ One of them justified the prosperity gospel thus, ‘My God is not a poor God.’
- Isaiah 58’s call for true fasting – helping the widow, orphan, etc., is seen in lavish feasting, luxuriating in lavish lifestyles, and flamboyant birthday celebrations with crooners like King Sunny Ade and Flavour serenading the tithers!
- Christ’ mission to the poor on salvation is replaced with offshore accounts, pomp and pageantry.
These do not mirror the life of Jesus Christ. At best, it is a representation of the lavish pride of Nebuchadnezzar, and the anointed of Baal.
Again, I ask, “whose report” should we believe – the Bible or theirs? I urge you, choose for yourself which God to serve!
In conclusion, I believe it is time to pull aside the curtain that shields this shameful hypocrisy and duplicity. In doing so, I suggest we find true places of worship, real shepherds – men and women who preach the gospel and live its essence. Not pastors cruising around in bullet proof exotic cars, collecting tithes from poor people who cannot afford to send their children to the school the pastor established.
We should look for pastors who preach with courage, humility and live like Christ did. We should look for pastors who will make plain the mountain of poverty, injustice, impunity in this land! We should look for pastors who believe in ‘spiritus mundi.’ Those, whose voices are heard in the face of injustice, who remain uncowed, unbowed, and certainly not cash in on 10% tithing on an N8 billion contract.
Since we are in the season of sermons, here is my unsolicited sermon to contemporaries, pastors and the people!
To my contemporaries and friends, particularly those close to the GOs, Mummies and Daddies who complain about others in leadership, yet, keep quiet about their pastors, I say, it is time to speak ‘Truth to Power.’ Remember, ‘Morality is not a choice buffet.’
It is time to expose the hoodwink masquerading as “anointing” and lay it bare. It is time to replace the designer robes of these self-avowed prophets with the garb of shame earned through their silence, duplicity, complicity and spiritual fraud.
Yes, I know for sure that, I have no right of condemnation, but, I have a right to factual observation. So, I will say it again, I am not judging, rather, I am speaking truth to power. I am not rebelling, I am only expressing my outrage. Maybe I am wrong, but I sincerely believe it is ‘righteous’ indignation. And yes, it gives me plain shame.
To the anointed prosperity preachers of Nigeria, whose tongues now cleave to the roof of their mouth, who have chosen silence in face of hunger, poverty, bloodshed, massacres, and impunity as experienced in today’s Nigeria, I urge you to examine your ways and align them to the way of Jesus Christ. Otherwise, spare me (us) the righteous BS.
To the people, it is time to ‘shine your eyes,’ and open your probing minds to search and decide. Look for the Jeremiah and Elijah who speak and fight for the poor. Look for who will make the great mountain – plain before you. As Joshua, decide for yourself and family which God you will serve! Lest we perish for lack of knowledge, it is time to ask, whose or what knowledge, and whose report or action should we believe?
