Etcetera writes open letter to Christ Embassy
head pastor Chris Oyakhilome. Read below
Greetings in the name of the lord. I hope
this letter finds you in the best of spirit and
health.
I write to you, in the same form that
Paul wrote to the Ephesians expressing his
advice and counsel to the followers of
Jesus Christ. If I had 1,000 tongues, I could
not thank God enough for your role in
winning souls for the kingdom. I bless God
for revealing through you the divine plans of
Jesus Christ for us. Through you, a lot of
people have experienced Jesus in person.
I write to you as a Christian who is saddened by
the series of troubling news emanating from your
church, Christ Embassy. I am worried that the
seeds you have planted in us through your
teachings may no longer germinate as a result of
the numerous scandals coming out of the
church.
The roots of your messages, spiritual
guidance and leadership that once brought
deeper understanding of the workings of God
needs a little more reassuring with the church
toeing this ungodly path of collecting a thousand
naira gate-fee from believers coming to hear you
teach God’s word every New Year’s Eve. Your
church has opened a new chapter in what we all
know today in Nigeria as church business. Over
the years, this must have turned out to be a very
profitable innovation.
I have to admit that the
economic implications of this ingenuity are
mouth-watering. If some of the Christian
outreaches on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway
adopt this modus-operandi, they can make
hundreds of millions of naira in just one night of
devotion to God.
This is surely the smartest
innovation so far in the history of church
business in Nigeria.
Are we allowed to peddle the
Word of God for profit? No pastor.
We are not.
The scriptures forbid charging for ministry
(worship, preaching and teaching of God’s Word,
evangelism, fellowship of the church, psalms/
hymns or spiritual songs, discipleship) in any
circumstance or situation. It is stated clearly in
black and white.
Matthew 10:8-9,
“Heal the sick, raise the dead,
cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received
without paying; give without pay. Acquire no gold
nor silver nor copper for your belts.”
2 Corinthians 2:15-17,
“For we are the aroma of
Christ to God among those who are being saved
and among those who are perishing. To one, a
fragrance from death to death, to the other a
fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for
these things? For we are not, like so many,
peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity,
as commissioned by God, in the sight of God, we
speak in Christ.”
It is true that God’s people through faithful
giving are to supply the financial support for the
ministry. But issuing a mandate for people to pay
to have access to God’s word is ungodly. A
genuine ministry for the Lord cannot have an
advanced price tag to pay before the ministry is
given. Why? Because then it is no longer
ministry, but commerce, employ, trade or
entertainment. You are in the ministry of
rendering services to God; and with Christ as
example, you are to give all that you are for all
that He is. It is even wrong to charge
honorariums and tickets to religious concerts.
The Lord deeply warned us through his Word
that there is no justification for every charging
for the work of the gospel. Think of what you are
doing: charging people to pay a ticket to come
to a church or civic venue to hear that which is
eternal, is wrong. After all you take offerings
from the same congregation.
Matthew 21:12 “
Jesus entered into the temple of
God, and drove out all of those who sold and
bought in the temple, and overthrew the money
changers’ tables and the seats of those who sold
the doves.
21:13 He said to them, “
It is written,
‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but
you have made it a den of robbers!”
The greatest proof-text your followers will
misuse out of the Bible to try to “justify”
charging for the ministry of the Lord is this
familiar phrase: “the workman is worthy of his
hire.” Yes, I fully agree with that phrase for it is
God’s Word; but they are wrongly applied when
trying to condone treating ministry like a
business, trade, or entertainment. It doesn’t
mean we have the right to charge for “hire.”
More appropriately, it means those “who
proclaim the gospel should receive their living by
the gospel”
(1 Cor. 9:14b)
and do so in a
manner commensurate with the gospel. Aren’t
you glad that the Lord didn’t charge you to hear
about the good news of the gospel unto
salvation? Aren’t you glad that the Holy Spirit
doesn’t charge any of us for the spiritual gifts He
gives to the church? Money, beloved, should not
be a prerequisite for ministry.
My Christian brothers and sisters, let us continue
to pray for our pastors, gospel artists, authors,
speakers, and evangelical leaders who are still
trapped by the allure of a market-driven ministry;
parroting worldly techniques rather than
emulating the humility and servant-hood of
Christ. This principle should even affect Christian
retail bookstore outlets and how they “sell” their
items; but that debate is for another time. Amen.
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