Why I wished Nigerian Christianity R.I.P. (1)
WHAPPY NEW YEAR!!! elcome to 2018!! It’s a year that holds many promises for individuals, families and the nation. Many long held dreams are going to be actualised in 2018.
God has not forgotten you. You will be remembered this year for comprehensive breakthrough and you will rest in every area of life!
Like Joseph, your day of glory has come! Like Sarah, your day of laughter has come!
God’s Grace is about to produce Glory and Greatness in your life! What you have always longed for will be established in your hands in 2018!
John 16:21, 21A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.”
We see four things from this Scripture: Conception, Birth Pains, Delivery, and Joy. This outlines four steps to irreversible and outrageous success: 1. Vision/Goal setting, 2. Work, 3. Perseverance, and 4. Reward. It is almost impossible to achieve what you don’t first conceive.
Don’t Make Resolutions, Set Goals
Most people make resolutions at the beginning of the year.
In 1953, researchers at Yale University polled the graduating class and found that 3% of the graduates had a set of clearly defined written goals.
Twenty years later, in 1973, these researchers went back and visited the
Introduction: When I published my long article titled, ‘I am a Catholic priest, but I wish Nigerian Christianity dead and buried,’ on my Facebook wall on Sunday December 10, 2017, I honestly didn’t have the faintest idea that it would receive the massive publicity it got. It took me less than two hours to actually put the pieces of the article together on that Sunday morning before I went for Mass. Since then, the article has gone ‘viral’ (as Nigerians like to say) and has been effectively disseminated from Facebook platforms and Whatsapp groups to online forums and personal blogs. It has continued to startle many readers. Many have sent messages asking if I really wrote the piece. Those I never imagined would contact me have also sent messages commending the courage to delve into such a highly controversial and touchy public issue. I clearly understand the predicament of those who would want to enter the public ring on this issue, but who are unable to, for fear of getting their fingers burnt. However, I do believe that at a certain point each one of us class of ‘53 and found that the 3% of the graduates with these written goals had amassed a net worth that was greater than the other 97% combined.
This is powerful indication that goal setting is critical for success.
Your life only becomes great when you set upon a goal or goals which you really believe in, which you can really commit yourself to, which you can put your whole heart and soul into.
In the first few days of the year, millions of people from around the world sit down and try to figure out how to make the year a better year than they had the previous year.
Some will decide they need to work harder . . . even though they feel like they’re working pretty hard right now. Chances are, this decision won’t get the result they’re hoping for because working harder is almost never the answer. As Bob Proctor says, “there are literally thousands upon thousands of honest, good, hard-working people who labour diligently for their entire stay on this planet, yet never become wealthy.”
A large number of people make New Year resolutions. According to the experts, more than 90% will fail to achieve their resolutions, with most having abandoned them by the end of January.
However, there’s a very small group of people who are bound and determined that 2018 will be different. They are committed to real change in their lives . . . and real success in 2018. They are committed to a PLAN. They understand what Bobby Knight meant when he said, “The will to succeed is important, but what’s more important is the will to prepare.”
Vision/Goal setting ought to make a conscious decision to abandon the fear of public opprobrium and ego bashing and take the bull by the horn. This is one of the pains we have to bear for engaging in civil public discourse in an open society. Thus, I’m glad that I am able to make my own modest contributions to the discourse. Those who know me will concede that I do not like unnecessary controversy, but again they will be quick to agree that I also do not run away from controversy when it becomes necessary.
As would be expected, that article has generated all kinds of reactions, from public commendation to public outrage. I have been opportune to follow the heated debate on the merits and demerits of the article on a Whatsapp group to which I belong but in which I have kept a silent profile. A colleague also sent me a cropped conversation on another Whatsapp group in which a contributor accused me of approving zealotry as a way of purifying Nigerian Christianity of its corrosive elements. I have wondered whether that comment was really about my article. Still, there are very many who have called the article a welcome development in the journey of emancipation from oppressive and exploitative religious structures in Nigeria that feast on the gullibility of innocent believers to rob them of their faith and money. Everyone seems to have an opinion on the article. In the spirit of freedom of expression that is fair enough. To that extent, the article has achieved its aim: it has got people talking.
Most ideas are aborted because they are not nurtured into life. You must turn your ideas or vision into goals if they are to become reality.
Every great venture you see today began as an idea. Every life begins as a conception. The starting point of all success is vision. Every story of greatness began as a dream. MICROSOFT-the computer giant, began in a garage.
In a way, we all conceive. We conceive ideas in the womb of the mind. Genesis 13:13-17 “14And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: 15For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.”
You will see far in Jesus name! This year, God will give you as far as your eyes can see. That great vision He has planted in your mind will become reality this year. Vision Facts 1. A vision is a specific well-defined goal. A visualisation or imagination of what you really want in life.
2. You must understand the dream or vision sequence and follow it if you are to succeed. First determine what you want to BECOME. This decides what you should be DOING. And once you become, BENEFITS follow. Don’t begin with benefits in mind.
3. You have to have a dream if you must achieve anything worthwhile. You are Gifted To Be Creative! Most people have no vision beyond their present circumstances. Napoleon Hill said, “All the breaks you need in life wait within your imagination.
Beyond the article, I went ahead to start a social media campaign on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, with hash tags such as #DecoloniseReligionNow, #SayNoToExploitation, #SaveChristianityNow and #SayNoToProsperityGospel. My aim was to generate intense public discussion on the abuses in the practise of Christianity today. Someone accused me on Facebook of seeking cheap popularity. I anticipated that charge well ahead when one of my earliest posts on Facebook said: “Don’t get us wrong. We are not in this campaign for fame or popularity. Far from it! We want a return to ‘old time religion,’ to a Christianity that is based on the values and ethos that Jesus Christ stood for. Not a religion of exploitation.” As I noted in that article, I have published quite a number of essays over the last two years on the phenomenon of religion in Nigeria, in at least three Nigerian newspapers. I am currently studying religion and global politics. I am also a Catholic priest, so I have some good knowledge of what I am talking about. No one can accuse me of ignorance. Besides, the issues I am raising are all in the public domain. Why we must speak out Those who try to silence the discussion by arguing that the Bible says, ‘touch not my anointed’ (1 Chronicles 16:22; Psalm 105:15) must be looking at an old snapshot of biblical religion because, even from the Bible, we have ample evidence that the anointed did not always escape public and divine scrutiny. As the German philosopher of modernity Immanuel Imagination is the workshop of your mind, capable of turning mind energy into accomplishment and wealth.”
4. God does not come into your life to speak to you about where you are but where you are going. As far as your eyes can see; I will give to you.
5. Physical sight is the ability to see things as they are. Vision is the capacity to see things as they could be. God gave us vision so we would not have to live by what we see. God gave us the gift of imagination to keep us from focusing only on our present conditions.
6. In imagination, there’s no limitation. So dream very big; so big you have no idea how you are going to accomplish it.
7. Without vision, you drift aimlessly. He gave us vision to prevent us from drifting aimlessly.
8. Without vision, there is no hope. Sight without vision is dangerous because it has no hope. The poorest person in the world is a person without a dream-Myles Munroe.
9. Anything that impairs your vision will limit your mobility and speed. Try running with your eyes closed; it is almost impossible.
10. The bigger your vision the bigger your achievement is likely to be. Big thinking precedes great achievement.
Pamela Vaull Starr said, “Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.”
Rene Descartes said, “It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well.”
Here are eight crucial steps in achieving your goals:
1. The first step is to prayerfully determine what you want; your goal. Kant (1724-1804) averred in his book, The Critique of Practical Reason, we are now living in an age of criticism from which nothing can escape. When Religion tries to hide behind its sanctity and Law tries to hide behind its majesty, they both lose all claims to respect which human reason yields only to that which has been able to bear the test of its free and open scrutiny. In other words, respect for religion is not purchased on the altar of silence. Religion earns its respect if we are able to discuss it openly. If religion is truly about the worship of God it should be transparent; there should be nothing to hide. Thus, anyone trying to silence this discourse must know that he is standing against freedom of thought.
Interestingly, as I finished writing this article, a friend sent me a link to a YouTube video by Dr Sunday Adelaja, founder and senior pastor of the Embassy of the Blessed Kingdom of God for All Nations, an evangelicalcharismatic mega-church in Kiev, Ukraine. The title of the video is ‘15 reasons why we must change messages that we are preaching.’ In the video, Dr Adelaja railed against instant gratification, prosperity gospel, the glorification of riches, and the celebration of the wealthy amongst others, which have become part and parcel of today’s Nigerian Christianity. That such a message could come from a renowned pastor means that some Christian leaders are increasingly coming to terms with the havoc wreaked by today’s warped version of Christianity practised in Nigeria.
The fundamental problematic
2. Document it. Write it down. This makes it tangible for the first time. The Bible says, “Write the vision down and make it plain that he may run that readeth it.” (Habakkuk 2:2). An unwritten goal is but a mere wish and will soon be lost.
3. Pray about it committing it to the Lord and asking the Holy Spirit to guide and help you.
4. Believe you can achieve it though you know not how. The Bible says all things are possible to him who believes.
5. Confess it every day until it becomes a part of you.
6. Be prepared to do whatever it takes (as long as it is scriptural and legal) to achieve your goal. Start immediately to implement your plans. The proof of desire is pursuit. Procrastination can abort your dream.
7. Persevere. Be determined to see it through. Obstacles will naturally arise but you must be determined to make it work. Once labour starts, the process is irreversible. If you want results, put your hand on the plough and don’t look back. You may need to adjust your plan or strategy but never drop your goal.
8. Evaluate your performance periodically and make changes in your strategies where necessary.
God is getting ready to throw a party for you!
In 2018 you will celebrate! You will sing, and you will dance!!
Stop limiting yourself. Move forward!!!
This nation will rise again!!! with Nigerian Christianity: My intention in this essay is to address the core issues why I wanted the Nigerian version of Christianity to rest in peace. I believe that a Christian’s first allegiance should be to truth and not to tradition. Tradition is respected to the extent that is approximates truth, incarnates it, or measures up to it. Hence, I try to see issues from a dispassionate perspective, analyse them in the light of existing information, and make informed commentary on them. I do not imagine that my views would sit down well with everyone. Moreover, that is not my wish. My only desire is to generate informed public discourse on issues that collectively affect us as religious citizens and to see how we can resolve them. Let me therefore state that my use of the word ‘religion’ here would be limited to Christianity, and my use of the word ‘pastor’ covers all manner of leaders with religious titles across all Christian denominations: general overseers, bishops, pastors, priests, apostles, evangelists, prophets, reverends, venerables, and deacons.
From research and from observation, I have come to the conclusion that many things are fundamentally wrong with Christianity in Nigeria. There is a certain kind of epilepsy that has infested the practise of Christian faith in our country. It seems to me that much of what we call religion in Nigeria is Christ-less Christianity. Jesus Christ seems to be really absent from it. All the noise making, the charade, and the commercialisation of faith have nothing to do with Jesus.