The clash of the Pastor-Generals
Reuben Abati
Lagos, Nigeria
Sunday, November 11, 2001
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Deliverance is a very popular word among latter-day Nigerian Christians, that is those whose Christianity is defined by the extent to which they proclaim that they are born again. I mean the extent to which they are able to demonstrate their closeness to our Lord Jesus Christ.
To become born again, you have to submit yourself to a ritual of deliverance: deliverance from family demons, from inherited sins of the ancestors, from all worldly things, deliverance from evil, and after that, you are supposed to become a new person. The old passes away replaced by a new you, fortified by the blood of Jesus, sanctified in the Holy of Holies, energised to take on the lions of the world and tear them to pieces. Born anew, you are even told that you can invoke the Fire of the Holy Ghost to consume your enemies. And the man who carries out this ritual using the Bible, invoking the name of the Lord, is the Pastor, the founder and accounts manager (they usually are) of the church that you attend.
There have been many of such pastors in the last two decades. They are especially popular because they promise deliverance as defined, and they almost all claim that they are capable of bringing miracles into your life. So, every Sunday, Nigerians flock to the church in search of miracles.
The principal miracle that the Pastors promise is the miracle of wealth: they say they can turn a poor man into a rich man, they make the blind see, they give the fruit of the womb, and they bless marriages. In a country such as ours where there is so much hunger and anger, and government is constantly breaking the law, the people definitely need and want miracles in their lives. Trapped in a difficult environment, overwhelmed by the forces of injustice and ethnic discrimination, the people out of frustration take their sorrow to God. God has since become the centre of their lives. And the Pentecostal pastor is his agent.
The popularity of the Pentecostal churches meant a loss of a substantial part of the congregation that used to patronise the old, inherited churches: the Anglican mission, the Methodist, the Seventh Day Adventist and so on. All of a sudden, the younger generation no longer thought God could be encountered in the sober environment of the Anglican Church and its traditions. They no longer think the bookish catholic priest can speak to God and he would listen. The new Pastor became something of an attraction, particularly with his romantic ways and the urgency of his tone. The new Pastor is a spellbinder: he dresses well, he rides very flashy cars, he even carries a gun, just in case; he is also a part-time businessman. He doesn't need to have attended any Bible college, as long as he can quote passages from the Bible and report to a bewildered congregation about what his Daddy in Heaven told him in the night, he would get a captive audience.
Usually, he starts his business in a small shed, and then he begins to expand, and soon, he becomes very rich. A detailed study of the ways of these emergent pastors would reveal how the rise and spread of the Pentecostal church is part of the story of Nigeria: in the sense that the explosion of Christianity is one the outcomes of SAP and the wickedness of Nigerian leaders.
Indeed, it became so fashionable to be a Pastor that it further became an alternative career for anyone who has just lost a job, or whose career is failing or who is just looking for instant stardom. Many musicians found a way out in the Pentecostal churches. Ask me, I can count just like that at least six musicians who are now Pastors, and who seem to be doing well.
To know a Pastor who is doing well, don't bother about how well he speaks in tongues (they all do anyway), or how much of the Lord's spirit is in him (in any case, they all claim to be the favourite son of Daddy God), look at the cars that the man drives, check out his gold wrist-watch, check the number of big men and women and Otokotos who have sought deliverance in his church and have shown their gratitude by buying the Pastor a jet, a house, or whatever. Thanks to these Pastors, there are almost no atheists anymore in Nigeria.
Every Christian at least is taking God a bit more seriously. There are more Nigerians today speaking in tongue than there are in the Old Testament. Check the number of Pastors and prophets in the Holy Bible, Nigeria has a higher population of such Holy persons. Oh, the Lord is good.
On Sundays, the Pastors sing and dance, and beautiful girls expose some flesh here and there to let God know that they are grateful he has given them such a nice body. The Pastor looks, young men who are looking for wives also look; in many churches, there are singles sessions where the young man and the young lady are supposed to complete the job, and if that happens, the next task is to pray for the fruit of the womb, good jobs, promotion in the office, and damnation for those who are born against; those unclean, undelivered enemies who are still in the world, who do not know Jesus Christ, and who have not been saved.
I am a Christian myself, so I should like to suspend the parody at this point. But the foregoing review has become necessary as an entry point into the substance of the title of this piece. Even if you are the last atheist in town, you must have seen and heard that the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) is on the boil. The Pastors are at war. They are behaving like military Generals. They are issuing threats and curses. At least one of them has declared that if he dies in the process, the public should know who his enemies are. I don't know whether or not he has reported to the Commissioner of police yet, but the way these men of God are carrying on, there may be a shoot out, a gang war very soon.
The principal characters in the saga include one Pastor Solomon Ozi-David (I don't know the name of his church, but what does it matter, all the churches are either talking about the Holy Ghost or deliverance or the fire that will consume the enemy), then there is Pastor Kris Okotie, the student turned musician, musician turned pastor, pastor turned witch-catcher of the Household of God Ministries - significantly the only Pentecostal church that does not have a branch anywhere else. Then, there is Pastor Chris Oyakhilome of the Christ Embassy, and 38-year old Pastor Temitope Joshua of the Synagogue. The name of Bishop Mike Okonkwo of TREM, President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria has also been dragged into the matter. The name of Olumba Olumba Obu has also been mentioned. Other pastors who have not been directly tied to the melodrama would no doubt also have their own opinions on it. The gladiators have appeared on television. Newspapers are milking the story.
Today, as the churches settle down to business, many of the Pentecostal pastors would have no option but to help the congregation understand what is going on. The way it is, even the congregation is troubled. Each Christian is defending his church and his pastor. Two days ago, a friend who attends Pastor Okotie's church made the mistake of condemning the other quarrelling Pastor Chris, obviously out of solidarity with his pastor. He didn't realise that a member of the Christ Embassy was within earshot. The thing nearly degenerated into a fight of the born again Christians. Others joined the debate. Nobody mentioned the name of Jesus Christ. This is not the first time that there would be disagreements in the Church of Nigeria, if I may use that sacred description, but clearly what is going is the height of it all: the Pentecostal church of Nigeria has never been this politicised. I don't want to say that it is shameful. I want to say that it is illuminating.
But first, at issue is Pastor Chris Okotie's claim that his Brother Pastor, Temitope Joshua of the Synagogue is a Satanist, an apostle of the cult of the beast or the cult of the anti-Christ. His contention is that Pastor Joshua worships demons and spirits and that he is not born again. To convince his public, he has been describing almost hysterically, how Joshua does not mention the name of Jesus Christ, how he uses the finger of God (only God knows what that means), how the miracles he claims to perform are a hoax, and how Joshua is so rich that he is even buying up other pastors and using all kinds of tricks to legitimise himself.
In his self-appointed role of Senator McCarthy of the Pentecostal faith, Pastor Okotie is also saying that Temitope Joshua has initiated his colleague Pastor Chris Oyakhilome of the Christ Embassy into the cult of the beast. He has dragged the name of Bishop Okonkwo of TREM into it. His main supporter is Solomon Ozi-David, a former Joshua ally, who is further claiming that Pastor Oyakhilome actually came to the Synagogue to receive powers from Joshua, and that Joshua himself exchanged some powers with Eddy Nawgu, the other powerful pastor in the East whose life was terminated by the Bakassi boys. Ozi-David seems to know so much: he even alleges that his former boss is into Ifa divination and that he had something to do with Clifford Orji. Pastor Chris Oyakhilome has denied all the allegations. The man at the Synagogue of Ikotun-Egbe is also insisting that all that Okotie-talk about symbols, paintings, the swamp and the finger of god is nothing but evangelical nonsense. His critics, he says are envious and ignorant.
What intrigues me is that in the midst of all this, nobody is talking about Jesus Christ. There has been so much talk about money and land and cars and houses. These MEN OF GOD (!) are also talking about Satan and occultism and divination and disappearing acts. I believe that it is instructive that the fight is taking place in Lagos. It is not impossible that there are some pastors in the country even in Lagos, who are more interested in true worship and the capacity of the church as a transformative social force.
I tell you: I do not know how this clash of the Pastors will end, but we can speak already in terms of lessons. What we are seeing and hearing simply prove the point that pastors are human beings after all. They are like the rest of us interested in land and houses and they have a big ego. They are greedy and petty and envious. They may also not be the Son of God that they claim they are; they may in fact not know Jesus Christ at all. Look at the content and style of their quarrel. They all sound like men who have never known Jesus.
I believe that the Lord enjoins us not to condemn. These pastors are condemning each other. They are trading insults. Our Lord drove traders and merchants from His Father's House. If what we hear is to be believed, the Pentecostal church has become one big trading post, where pastors enjoy the sponsorship of the highest bidder. Jesus Christ did not set up branches either, nor did he invoke spirits.
Jesus Christ came to save souls, he brought many closer to God, he died so that we may live. Our pastors are preaching so that they may live. They are driving people out of the churches with their bad example. There is a lesson here for persons who go to the church to worship pastors. I know persons who cannot go to the toilet unless they consult their pastor. If they sleep and they have a bad dream, they would immediately call the pastor. If someone talks to them roughly in the office, they will summon the pastor. Now, that there is GSM, the pastor's phone is always ringing. But now we have a fair idea: the Pastor is just like the rest of us. He is not God. He may not necessarily provide the route to deliverance and salvation. The Godhead is in each and every one of us. If we listen hard enough, we would hear His voice.
In the meantime, I am tired of the noise from the Household of God, the Christ Embassy and the Synagogue. Pastor Chris Okotie has been particularly voluble since his wife left him. He has every right to be worried about the cult of the beast and the rise of Satan. But who can fight God's fight. Let him leave everything to God and time: time after all, takes care of everything. If he doesn't believe this, let him read his Bible. May the Good Lord be with us all and guide us aright. May our Lord Jesus Christ save us from false gospels and grant us the wisdom to survive this Sunday and the next and the next...life without end.
