You cannot serve two masters

A certain Pastor Tobi Adegboyega shared a video on social media, of a convoy of colourful luxury cars his “sons and daughters” were driving to church in, and said it was his birthday and wrote that, “If you’re angry, it’s because you dont (sic) like good things.” He also claims in the video that he was […]

A certain Pastor Tobi Adegboyega shared a video on social media, of a convoy of colourful luxury cars his “sons and daughters” were driving to church in, and said it was his birthday and wrote that, “If you’re angry, it’s because you dont (sic) like good things.” He also claims in the video that he was sharing the clip to inspire others. Okay, this is the thing: I don’t understand the need to show off your wealth, but I especially don’t understand how a “man of God” does this. Plus: the idea that anyone who disagrees with you is angry (read: a ‘hater’) is incredibly childish and a tired narrative.  

Anyone who knows me knows I have little patience for the prosperity gospel brand of Christianity and its insistence that God’s blessings and rewards are in the here and now, and are particularly quantifiable in material terms. There are many charlatans claiming to preach God’s words and sometimes, by their social media videos, they are revealed. If you’re selling an ostentatious lifestyle in this climate of 419ers as Christianity, if your God is one of prosperity above all else, if you claim that the rewards for your “good works” are multiple cars and private jets and expensive designer clothes (and you go on to flaunt these), you are a charlatan. I said it. Sue me.   

There’s a difference between ‘good things’ and a convoy of luxury cars “to inspire.” The ‘pastor’ is 41 and claims in his post that the cars are a consequence of how hard his ‘children’ worked. Sanu! I want to know what business these ‘sons and daughters’ are into, and what this pastor does aside from pastoring because if his income is just from his church, and his idea of a reward for his hard work is owning cars like the ones he shared, then he is shearing the sheep he’s supposed to shepherd. Shame on him, and on those like him!

 And there are many like him. Pastor Adegboyega, sadly, is one of many contemporary pastors who preach aberrant theology which often states that tithing/seed sowing (preferably quite heavily) is rewarded by equally heavy financial blessings. Someone told me once about her father being asked to ‘sow’ a car to get a better car. Isn’t that ridiculous? A true Christian, in their eyes, is one that has been blessed with wealth, and they as custodians of the flock are expected to be stupendously wealthy. The pleasures of the world – beautiful homes, luxury cars, private jets – are not deterrents to heaven, shackles to make the climb to holiness difficult but rather symbols of being heaven-bound. The poor are not the blessed. The passage in the Bible where Jesus told the wealthy man who asked how to make it to heaven to sell his property and follow him and the wealthy man went away sad (because he couldn’t) isn’t for them. Their God, as they often claim, is a god of material wealth, a being whose grace is reduced to what the pastors and their followers can afford. Years ago, in Belgium, a Nigerian acquaintance of mine left his church to open his own and the first thing he bought was a set of offertory bags because you know, offertory is the most important part of his ministry. He didn’t have a building yet but he was “working on faith.” Na wah!  

The history of prosperity gospel can be traced to the superstar American televangelists of the 20th century, a group that included Jimmy Swaggart and Oral Roberts; men who wore sharp suits and lived ostentatiously flamboyant lifestyles. Not for them the vow of poverty or the humility that was traditionally associated with Christianity. They indulged in their voracious appetite for life’s better things and said outrageous things to get money from their flock. In 1987, Oral Roberts reportedly told his congregation that God would “call him home” if he didn’t raise $8 million in a matter of weeks. The irony is that he thought of his death – even as he phrased it as a return ‘home’ as punishment. If he was going home (presumably to heaven), why wouldn’t that be a reward?  

In 2005, Joel Osteen – per a Washington Post article – wrote a letter to his people in which he told them “God wants us to prosper financially, to have plenty of money, to fulfill the destiny He has laid out for us.” This is the narrative in its many permutations that our prosperity gospel preachers push out. And many are buying it.  

In Nigeria, these prosperity churches have boomed. The promise of economic rewards on earth – rather than eternity in heaven or in addition to it – is tantalising. God is reduced to a money doubler in a theology that teaches that whatever is sown, would bear fruit a hundred times. Literally. And so, people borrow to give to the church and to unscrupulous pastors who have no qualms about feeding fat on the sweat of the poor. 

Pastor Tobi Adegboyega, I am not impressed by the fleet of expensive cars in your convoy. And it is not because I do not like ‘good things.’ These are earthly things that you shouldn’t be as obsessed by as you appear to be. Remember: there can’t be room for you to serve both God and mammon. You cannot have two masters and be loyal to both. Choose one. Choose wisely.