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B N W: Biafra Nigeria World News |
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THE priest was already behind the pulpit, delivering the sermon for that particular Sunday service when I entered the church. The sermon, as every Christian would readily confirm, is a special aspect of a religious communion. It is the priest's main moment when he takes the Congregation through the Scriptures, focussing their attention on a theme, or a set of themes, as he guides their spiritual understanding towards greater heights, nourishing their souls, inspiring them in the process, and thus bringing the process of worship to a worthy climax.
Every priest brings the quality of his exposure and spiritual endowment to bear on the sermon that he delivers. And these priests come in different shapes: some are radical and political, others are moderate, some are conservative, others are multi-talented orators who can energise the congregation. Their knowledge of the scriptures may also varies depending on their experience. But I am always fascinated by this aspect of a priest's assignment. A Priest delivering a sermon is at once a teacher, manager, psychologist, communications expert, theologian, counsellor, and critic. As the sermon progresses, the priest moves from one role to another, sometimes felicitously, at other times, histrionically depending on the church, and the mode of worship.
I entered the church, and settled down. It was not difficult to realise in a matter of minutes, that the sermon was a particularly interesting one. The Congregation was attentive. The best way to assess a sermon is to monitor the attitude of the Congregation. It is not impossible to find certain rows among the congregation holding their own discussions, or tittering when they are not impressed. But this Sunday, the priest had the church of Christ eating from his palms. He sounded convincing. He quoted the Bible as if he was one of the original authors. His body language was appropriate. He was neatly dressed as well (a shabbily dressed priest has no business preaching the Word). And his range of analysis was broad; his exposition sounded deep. He was talking about the values of Faith, Love and Hope. According to him, these are the foundations of spiritual prosperity and growth. There is so much disquiet in our land, Nigeria, because so many people have lost faith, they are no longer optimistic, and their own fears have robbed them of the capacity to love. "Tribulations or deprivations", the priest preached, "should strengthen our faith". In the face of adversity, we should remain optimistic; because the Living God that we worship never forsakes His own. He is all-knowing, and in good time, He shall answer our prayers.
The Congregation listened with delight. And I guess this must have encouraged the Priest. He became more expansive. I could see that he too was beginning to enjoy his own sermon. He cited many examples from the Scriptures, of men and women whose lives demonstrate the importance of the values of Faith, Love and Hope. He told the stories of those Biblical figures. The Bible is part-biography, and the many stories it tells in this regard form part of the pillars of Christian belief; the realisation that is, that there is nothing new under the sun: no pain that has not been suffered before by other men; no form of joy that has not been experienced. In the face of this, the priest urged Faith, Love and Hope. He had contemporary and immediate examples too.
He told the story, for example, of a couple who waited on the Lord for the fruit of the womb, for ten years. In the tenth year, the couple went to the priest to express their frustration. The Priest preached the message of Faith, Love and Hope. That same year, the Lord answered the couple's prayer. Their family was blessed with a set of twins.
The entire church screamed "Alleluia". Someone shouted: "Jesus is Lord". When a sermon reaches this height, a feeling that the Holy Spirit has descended pervades the entire church. It is a spiritual thing. On this occasion, our Priest prayed at every turn for the Congregation. Each time he did, a loud chorus of "Amen" flowed forth from every corner of the building. Nigerians go to church for fellowship, but also for spiritual nourishment. They want a basketful of prayers; they want to be reassured that their dreams are achievable. They want to start a new week, like a soldier of Christ in the sea of life. Everything went well, this Sunday, until the Priest took on the subject of the difference between spiritual prosperity and material prosperity. "There are too many persons in this country, today who are hankering after material prosperity", he thundered. "That is the major problem we have in this country. Nigerians should learn to be patient and contented. They must have Faith, Hope and Love each other".
The Congregation listened. Every eye was trained on the pulpit. It is a pity that human ears do not rotate, but there was no doubt that every ear drum was open on this occasion. I know many Nigerians who have a special gift of being able to close their ear drums at will. You can talk to them for hours, and they would not remember a word. And there are many others with perforated ear drums; when sound enters through one ear, it escapes through the other end. Eventually, I stopped thinking about other people's ear drums, and returned to the Priest. He was still preaching about prosperity.
"I don't know what is wrong with our people. Nobody can sleep on two beds. You can't ride two cars at the same time. You can't wear two different types of dress. If you do that, people will have something to say about you. Look at Abacha, the man looted the treasury, he had houses everywhere. But where is he today? What can save any man at all is spiritual prosperity. If you prosper in the spirit, then the good Lord will add everything else unto it".
When the priest made this declaration, I immediately remembered his colleagues in the new generation, 21st Century churches where the Christian doctrine has been subjected to so much interpretation and revision, it is now standing on its head. The Pastors in these other churches preach material prosperity first, and talk about spiritual prosperity as a footnote. The Pastor is himself, or herself (the women in these Pentecostal churches are also mounting the pulpit) a living advertisement of the gains of material prosperity, and those who worship as Pentecostal Christians are excited not by the promises of a Heaven that no one can see, but of a Heaven on Earth characterised by material prosperity. Our priest was not directing his sermon at his colleagues in the Pentecostal churches; his message was meant for his audience but I resolved that there is serious problem among the Christian priesthood in Nigeria. Is there a standard doctrine? Are the Pastors all using the same Bible? Is the Congregation being misled? Why do different churches preach different kinds of messages? If I had any questions on my mind, I was jolted back to the moment when the Priest told the Congregation:
"What will make me seek material prosperity in my life, God will never let me see it. I don't collect ten per cent. What will I do with it? Any priest who steals the money belonging to the church of God can never amount to anything".
I smiled. Again, I remembered the Pastors in the Pentecostal churches. They do not joke with "ten per cent" " the Nigerian euphemism for gratification. There have also been well-advertised stories about how these Pastors are the Accountants, sole signatories to church accounts, and how many of the churches are run as family businesses. I have read reports about Pastors who impregnate other people's wives, rape young girls or serve as informants to armed robbers, only to blame the Devil afterwards. Our own priest may have been speaking for himself, but there may well be some of his colleagues in the old, traditional churches who do not share his views on the subject of prosperity. And others as well who are regularly tempted by the Devil. But the church service was heading for its real climax.
After quoting a few more passages from the Bible, and prayers to which the Congregation enthusiastically said "Amen", the priest then sermonised:
"There are some people in this country whose stock-in-trade is to steal government funds, collect ten per cent, and build houses all over the place. Anybody who steals money to build houses will never live in those houses.."
Ah. You should have been there. The entire church was quiet. Nobody said "Amen" to this particular prayer. The priest was delivering a sermon about corruption; he was advising his audience to embrace the values of Faith, Love and Hope. Nobody had any problems with these values, but on the subject of corruption, and the punishment that the priest was prescribing, there was no meeting of minds. When the man realised that he faced the risk of losing his audience, after a brilliant sermon which had earned him at least three rounds of applause, most unusually, he had to reverse himself rather diplomatically:
"I am not cursing", he said, trying to explain himself.
"I don't know what his problem is", someone uttered quietly.
"You don't know him. He is very stubborn".
"He should be told not to talk politics"
"What is his problem if a man builds 20 houses. Is it his money?"
"Why is he even talking about government funds? Is he with the ICPC or EFCC or a priest in this church? The Parish Council has to take this up".
The priest would not give up. He was determined to defend his position: "The people who work with me know me. I do not touch money. When they bring any list of expenditure to me, they know I will take my biro and cut down any inflated cost".
"Good for you".
But the sermon still ended successfully. The priest, an experienced man in these matters, managed to manoeuvre his sermon away from the dangerous subject of people building houses with whatever funds, and not being able to live in them. It was a brief, but delicate part of his sermon. The tension that arose did not escape my attention. When the priest returned to his interesting, general talk about values, he had the Congregation on his side again. He finished his bit with a prayer, and the church applauded his brilliant performance.
I was impressed too. But I could not stop asking: why would the Congregation not support the priest on the declaration of Hell-fire for corrupt office-holders? Why the murmurs? Why would corruption be a delicate subject to examine in the House of God? If churches cannot successfully be part of the anti-corruption campaign, because they have a Congregation that has its own ideas about prosperity, then where are we going as a nation? Why should a priest run into trouble preaching morality? I left the church partly convinced that nobody can win the battle against corruption in Nigeria.
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