Ask yourself this question: is there much difference between a business, like Access Bank, First Bank, or UBA, and the average Nigerian Pentecostal/evangelical church?.
These banks have branches; those churches have branches. The branches collect money from the public and funnel it to their headquarters. These churches absorb money from their congregations and send it to their headquarters.
If you enter a bank branch and you don’t deposit money, you become an immediate suspect. If you enter a local church and you don’t tithe or give an offering, in many cases, you are shamed, sometimes even ostracised.
Tithers are asked to stand up. Put their tithes above their heads. None of that is Scriptural or necessary. It is psychology. To subliminally validate them and invalidate non-tithers.
The bank branch collects money deposits from the public with the latest financial technology.
These church branches are the same. No difference. They have POS and direct deposit, and they can even give you change.
So, tell me, how do Nigerian Pentecostal churches, with few exceptions, differ from banks? Both of them operate under the same models.
Banks sell monetisation and make profits. These churches sell salvation and make profits. Banks have a chairman.
They have their Daddy GO. Pentecostal Christianity is the most commercialised Christian denomination, and the Nigerian variant is just through the roof.
In terms of corporate governance structure, these banks have a far better structure than many of these churches, which GOs run with sometimes a dictatorial iron fist.
Some people may criticise me for making this statement. But I challenge you to attend a Nigerian Pentecostal church and count the number of times you hear the words Yeshua, Jesus, sin and character development, and the frequency with which you hear words like money, finances, or anything associated with funding.
Then, take account and ask yourself which words are used more frequently. If we don’t talk, who will speak? Muslims? Traditional African adherents? It is only your friend who can tell you your mouth smells.
In many of these churches, it is tough to know where the founder’s opinion ends and where scriptural doctrine begins. Many Nigerians will lose their taste for this brand of Christianity if they can experience pure orthodox Christianity.
