Purging the church of its mammon
By far the most interesting piece of news to have emerged in the New Year is the news that we have so-called Financial Reporting Council, FRC Act passed into law. If ever there was a legal coup, this overdue law is absolutely a welcome one. Although its own website is virtually bare, snippets from social […]
By far the most interesting piece of news to have emerged in the New Year is the news that we have so-called Financial Reporting Council, FRC Act passed into law. If ever there was a legal coup, this overdue law is absolutely a welcome one. Although its own website is virtually bare, snippets from social media would reveal that the council binds registered charities to bring their accounts to date and forward same to the council for scrutiny. If clips going round social media is authentic, Jim Obazee, who heads the FRC was quoted as saying that only 89 out of the 23,216 registered churches have complied with the provisions of the law. It was not stated where he made this remark and many would not have known but for the storm now rocking the leadership of the Enoch Adeboye-led Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG.
That should not be surprising in itself because we live in a country where government agencies such as the NNPC would go for years without being audited or made accountable. The Council reportedly makes it impossible for presidents or leaders of such organisations to bequeath the charities to members of their family. Now this is a backbreaking but absolutely needed caveat to prevent almighty G.O’s and Mummy G.O’s, Spiritual Primates and almighty Bishops from instituting dynasties in the business of God. The first public casualty of that rule is the RCCG one of the five mega-church empires operating not just in Naija but worldwide. These churches are so rich they could pay off our country’s debt and still remain solvent. Yet, the impact of these charities on poverty eradication even among their own members is absolutely tokenist.
RCCG’s confusing announcement of a local GO and a Worldwide GO showed the power tussle within the organization, which pays pittance to most of its pastors while the top executives live large. In trying to comply with the provisions of the law, it has left most critics (who are ironically not members) with so many unanswered questions one of which is who is whether the provision of a local GO and a GO Gburugburu is acceptable within its own constitution.
That should be no business of ours; what should concern us is how much RCCG and other mega-churches have declared in the past ten or more years. How much taxes it has paid for the non-soul-winning arm of its conglomerate such as its established schools, recording businesses, sales of tapes, CDs and VCDs and taking of rents from businesses owned and run within its premises. The other is who is paying tithes and offerings; how much they are paying and what is the source of their revenue to justify those payments.
Now that Naija is broke, these businesses could help us with sacred liquidity. What more, this is also in line with Christ’s teachings. The saviour of mankind had siblings, yet he did not hand over the propagation of the gospel to them; rather, He left that in the hands of apostles most of whom he handpicked on the road and from private and public businesses. That singular act of selflessness is the reason why the gospel thrives today and the monarchy, which is inherited is almost history. By abiding with the provisions of this law, churches are doing something scriptural and beneficial to all.
The other reason why religious organisations should be subject to scrutiny is that Jesus fulfilled his personal and religious doctrine by paying taxes to the secular state of his time. This is found in Matthew 17:24-27 and Matthew 22:15-22 to quote just a few. The ancillary income made by religious bodies in this planet is not to be spent in heaven but for the betterment of the life of the living. Paul the Apostle, who wrote a substantial chunk of the New Testament, had a day job to pay his way.
It is hypocritical when publicly or sometimes missionary-schooled GOs, Bishops and Spiritual fathers are proprietors and vice chancellors of schools and universities that 98% of their congregation cannot send their children. Making churches accountable is spot on. But the act must be amended to make sure that religious outfits become even more accountable. We cannot send people to heaven who live large on the earth without fulfilling their public responsibility to the state.
What we wait to hear from Obazee is that the remaining 23,127 registered churches that are yet to bring their accounts up to par with the law are made put under lock and key until they can be accountable. We should insist that these organizations publish their accounts for full member and public access. There should be a peg on what and how much a GO or Bishop could accept as gifts lest half of the income is willed to them to buy private jets and launder on ponzi schemes by the coalition of board members who are usually children and wives of the overall boss. Christ was a living example, it’s time his adherents follow his footsteps.