opinions about the lavish ceremony in an
interesting article.
Enjoy!
”I am writing you today because I am a
Christian myself. I am not writing this article
to attack you; on the contrary, I am writing
it to wake you up from sleeping in these
dark hours. Jesus asked His disciples to pray,
but they went to sleep instead. Believers
have gone to sleep spiritually worldwide,
especially in Nigeria. I want you to be awake
to righteousness – (1st Corinthians 15:34
says, “Awake to righteousness, and sin not;
for some have not the knowledge of God: I
speak this to your shame”). I want to help
you in the spirit of meekness – Galatians 6:1.
I saw a lot of tweets and Facebook posts by
Nigerians expressing their disgust about the
all white yacht party you did in Dubai. What
is most worrisome is that the (touch not my
anointed) believers won’t tell you that you
are glamorizing the ministry by putting your
lavish lifestyles on display and deceiving
lazy Christians that the party in Dubai is
what God wants, what God can do, and what
God has provided.
You may ask why Nigerians are so angry. –
Everybody wants nice things, right? And
what better way to get them if God does it
for you? Pastor Fatoyinbo, it is true that
there is nothing wrong with having nice
things. Everyone loves to have more and live
a richer life but is that the only reason why
we (should) go to church? We should also go
to church because we love God, desire to
worship God, draw closer to God and are in
fellowship with other believers.
Your followers have defended you as
expected – that most people who are
frustrated by your unnecessary display of
wealth are those who are struggling to get
by day to day, trying to make ends meet,
save enough to meet their needs and that of
their families. Therefore, they are the ones
finding it hard to digest your lavish lifestyle.
How do we digest your lavish lifestyle ehn,
knowing that you and many so called men
of God are able to live this way because of
people who give monetarily to support your
ministry? You think anybody likes to feel
like they are being hustled or pimped by
their pastor for profit? People love God
enough to give and trust that their money
will be used to touch lives and souls with the
Word of God and not to be used for
throwing lavish birthday parties in Dubai.
Pastor Fatoyinbo: If you are going to build
your own “kingdom,” do not build it on the
backs of hardworking people who really just
want a more intimate relationship with God
and believe that you can point them in that
direction. Don’t “floss” on the people; it is
wickedness. It’s as if you’re saying, “Look at
what I bought myself with your money.
Don’t you like it? If you want it too, pray
about it!”
American rapper Kanye West said in one of
his songs, “I’ve been talking to God for so
long, if you look at my life I guess he’s
talking back.” But today, he is telling us he is
Jesus “Yeezus”. He has deified himself.
Pastor Fatoyinbo, your party in Dubai also
suggests that you are deifying yourself, and
on your own Yeezus tour, getting high on
your own supply. Jesus said, “If I be lifted
up.” (John 12:32) Unfortunately, you “with
your lavish lifestyle” are lifting up yourself
and making golden calf idols of your
possessions. Pastor Fatoyinbo, unless you
willfully left heaven to take on human form,
lived out a nomadic ministry on the
margins, was crucified for your ministry,
died, was buried, then rose again — sorry to
say, it’s not about you.
Your followers are defending your frivolities
arguing that pastors are people too, human
and flawed. Of course, they are. But as a
pastor “you don’t show people your wounds,
show them your scars.”You do so as
evidence that the journey with God brings
about healing and transformation. People
need and want to be whole. The question
Jesus asked was “do you want to get
well?” (John 5:6 NIV)
Christians often ask why Davido and Wizkid
and entertainers should be the only ones
with Bentleys and mansions. First, Bentleys
and mansions don’t measure the quality of
one’s life. Secondly, entertainers are people
selling what people choose to purchase —
music, movies, etc. As ministers of the gospel
you are not selling God and faith. The
Gospel is free. The Bible is not the best-
selling book in history because it has a good
price point. It’s because people want to
know God and know God loves them. Yes,
there is a business side of ministry but
literally for God’s sake, keep it to yourself.
You don’t have to throw lavish parties as
evidence of how much money you make. It
only perpetuates the negative stereotypes
true believers are constantly trying to
disprove. Your expensive all white birthday
party has only made people who are leery
about church say “shebi I told you so.”
The mentality of most Nigerian believers
that being rich and thinking money sets you
free, gives you peace of mind and eliminates
injustice, is a lie of the devil. Assimilation is
not liberation. You can have all the things
you want and still not be whole. The true
test of how you live your life and success is
what will be written in your obituary. What
will people say about you, and what you did
with your life? I’ve yet to see an obituary list
all the expensive items someone owned. So,
Pastor Fatoyinbo, go on your knees and cry
to God for forgiveness.”
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