The Primate of the Anglican Church of Nigeria, Nicholas Okoh has condemned the emergence of the ‘get rich quick’ sermon that is the rave of most Pentecostal Churches in the country.
Speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s programme, View From The Top, Mr Okoh said this was not the foundation that was laid by the missionaries who introduce Christianity in Nigeria.
He described as half-truth these sermons by pastors whose aim is for their personal advancement and enrichment.
The Primate said, “It’s not part of the way we started, it was not part of what the missionaries delivered to us, but all of a sudden the teachings on ‘if you follow me you will become wealthy’, ‘If you follow me within six months, you don’t have a Mercedes, then that is not my God’ ‘You either change the church or the church will change you’ something like that.
“At best this is half-truth, in the sense that it is true that God is the owner of everything, God is the owner of the universe, the oil we are harvesting in Nigeria and selling internationally market everywhere and making billions out of it is God’s property so God is rich, stupendously rich so his children are rich also, we are princes, we are princesses, but that does not mean there are no moral underpinnings, everything is ok and people can even steal and do thanksgiving you know is not right”
He said, “so I think that to counter this kind of thing, religious preachers and teachers must preach what is noble, what is helpful, what can build a being, what is realistic, what is biblically acceptable.”
