In a hard truth telling venture like this, going straight to the definition of concept is one thing I traditionally dislike doing. This is because I always see it as a way of wasting the precious time with which I could have shared with my audience for something more contributing to the story at hand. But in this case, I will not dwell in my normal culture as I shall first of all define what commercialization is, in this context.
Commercialization in this context is making anything a marketed product, commodity or goods. It is of essence to note that, before a product is made, there must be a manufacturer. The manufacturer in a normal circumstance is the only one who knows the right application of the product which he has produced. He must also be acquainted with marketing styles or his whole effort will be in vain. This is the way of a product manufacturer for you, he does not dream loses!
But churches are not one of those businesses opened by business muguls out there to make profit, they are spiritual sanctuary. A holy place ordained by God down through ages for the worship of His holy name. this is why you see even the worse of men in church on Sunday or any other church services behaving themselves because they have the knowledge of where they are.
As many people would say: “There is no state in Nigeria as religious as Akwa Ibom State”. As the assumption goes, pastors in Uyo are not lagging behind in terms of religion, in fact, they are very religious, fashioned after God’s heart. Personally, I have respect and honour for pastors, especially those in Uyo. This is not because I am from Uyo, but because from my observation, it appears as though there are so many zealous for God. One evidence to prove this fact is the widespread of bill boards and flexes advertising church programmes in Uyo and countless church programmes in Uyo over the radio and television stations.
I decided to be a part of what God is doing in Uyo when I made up my mind to worship with one church different from my church. The atmosphere was extraordinarily conducive. It was at Oron Road, one Jubilee Christian Centre (a.k.a The Eagles Centre). The first thing that invited me to the place was music; their kind of music was as though heaven came down, then I said to myself, “why not experience this kind of worship live, when I’m done with first service in my church?” However, I did as my spirit bided me by stopping by on my way back home from my church to join the church service since it is close to where I am living.
Immediately I arrived at the church main entrance, the first thing that happened which gladdened my heart to an underestimated height was the kind of person who ushered me into the church. It was a fair young woman of about 27 or 29 years of age, slim with beautifully plaited hair. She possessed the kind of beauty that is beyond description. This sister quietly walked down to me with smile on her face and handed two white envelopes to me. She led me to the front seats which were reserved for visitors of certain class, I pleaded with her to allow me sit at the back seat or in the middle but she refused, telling me with a smile still smeared on her countenance that, the seats in front were reserved for people like me. I then decided to resolve the argument by going with her to the front seat.
As the service proceeded, the sister came forth from the choir and led in “hot praises”, we all danced and jumped. She sang one popular song that I like so much though I do not know the meaning of the song in English Language or my dialect. We were instructed by her to respond baa…baa…, while she sang babababababa and pointed the microphone towards the congregation.
Amidst the worship, a well dressed handsome young man, dark in complexion came out from the seat which I think was reserved for deacon and stood straight behind the alter in a grand style that I admired cheerfully. With less circumlocution, precisely in two or three minutes, the hot praise leader walked up to the man and handed the microphone to him while the worshippers still stood on their feet and waved their hands, some speak in tongues and prayed.
The man’s administration was exciting, his kind of spoken English sincerely, is rare. At first, I thought that he was faking it but in the process of time, I realized that it was typically his manner of speaking. The congregation followed suit in enjoying the way he constructed his grammar, however, they were absolutely held captive by his grammatical forle. To portray this openly, some of them shouted “ride on!” One man who sat beside me yelled “IKO ABASI!” I was amazed at the gesture and enjoyed it at the same time.
After a brief exhortation, he offered his own portion of worship which everyone in the church stood on their feet without a specific order to join him in the worship, it then escalated to another anointed moment which forced out the man in the house from his office. The man stepped out from the alter at the arrival of the host pastor while the congregation remained standing. The host pastor then walked up to the podium with his special microphone grabbed in his right hand. Dressed as a true man of God, with a large golden necklace which had Cross pendant measuring about 1 pound weight hung on his neck. His suit was a designers’ suit mixed with his designers’ shirt and English black shoe, not common in the society.
He also took his turn of worship as he mounted the podium. One thing was different, the worshippers seemed to scream intensely when he said a word, instrumentalists changed their style to soloing where they soloed almost every word and song sponsored by the apostle in medium tone. However, he ended the session abruptly and ordered the congregation to remain on their feet and started ministration in the spirit. As he started to minister to people, the first person he prophesied to was me. He prophesied to me that in the space of four months, people who knew me before will not recognize me again because of what the Lord will do in my life. After telling me a lot of things in the spirit, he instructed me to meet him after the service. Moreover, what followed next, I’m still surprised at it.
I obeyed the instruction and decided to meet the man of God after service. He pointed his hand to his office toilet door which was not yet fixed and asked me how much I earn per month, after telling him, he then asked me to donate N15,000 immediately for the door to be fixed after which the Lord will tell me more secrets about my family. He went ahead and told me that if I give the money on that Sunday, he will tell me what God has told him about my family on Monday.
However, I still went back to this church another Sunday to witness things for myself, this time the host pastor did not preach, he only introduced the guest speaker to the congregation. The man of God said he is one of this close pastor friends whom he loves and believes so much because of what God has been doing through him. The pastor was a tall man, about 6.1 feet in height. A fair-complexioned man of about 35 or 37 in age. He spoke lavishly to the pleasure of the unceasing cheering congregation. One thing thrilled me in the man’s elaborate ministration – he did not hesitate to tell the people about God’s blessing and how it comes.
I also had a surprise, throughout the ministration, the man of God did not quote the Bible nor open any portion of the Bible. The sermon was rich because he handled it with stirring illustrations. In one instance, he talked of how God can use the action of a believer and shower His blessings upon him. He illustrated it using his car bomber which he said was destroyed on his way to the church by a keke driver. The man of God then said that God wants someone to donate N20,000 for repairing of the bomber.
In fact, it came to an extent where every part of the message was money, then money being what it is, I was quacking in my spirit, considering my level of finance at the moment. The pastor was a careful man indeed, though I escaped the first snare, this time I was surely trapped. As a sieving expert, he strategized ways of draining every worshipper of his last kobo. At first, he mentioned a particular amount each worshipper should give and receive a special gift that contains anointing for financial prosperity. Here, many people jumped out from the congregation and donated the amount and collected the special gift that carries anointing for prosperity which was hankerchief.
When the pastor observed that the response by the congregation had declined, he then reduced the amount to N15,000.00. He kept on reducing it because he said that he did not want anyone to miss the blessing, but even at that, few stiff-necked worshippers remained in the congregation, may be, it was because they did not have the money to donate or were adamant, I do not know.
The man of God staged his final drama before he ended his compulsory fund raising – it was with me and dew other congregants who still stood in the congregation without yielding to the “blessing” call. When his attempts to conjure few of us to succumb to him failed, he ordered the ushers to place chairs on the altar in accordance with our numbers. When the ushers accomplished the task, he orders us to walk up to the altar because God wanted to honour us. Without delay, we all walked up to the altar, on getting there, he ordered the usher who stood by him then to go out to the church frontage and pick up sand for him.
When the usher brought the sand, he lifted it up and prayed and then handed it to our respective palms, ordering us to hold it firm because it is a sign of God’s covenant of financial blessings to us as we donate at least N2,000.00 to the church.
But my question is this, could God’s blessing only manifest if we give or is it scriptural for giving to be forced on worshippers even if they do not intend to give at a particular time or have what to give? Is giving superior to salvation, holiness and righteousness? This is my question to every pastor who makes their church a commodity and will always be, until there is change.
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