WHAT I SAW IN CHURCH THIS SUNDAY
Nothing much, other than that people have problems!
I've sat in this church for over two years now. The church is almost
always filled to the brim with lively worshippers ready to gyrate to
good music which is never in short supply. They listen to the Word
with rapt attention, taking notes, eagerly flipping through the pages
of their Bibles and always wearing that angelic smiling faces we
always get ready for Sundays.
There's always, the young, the old and the in between; the beautiful,
the pretty and the beautifully-wonderfully mades; the rich, the poor
and the show-offs; the believers, the religious and the bench warmers.
Interestingly, there is this usher that I love to watch. I only see
him on Sundays, wearing suits, nay coats, that I suspect are ironed
every Monday and hung in the wardrobe against the next Sunday. He's
entertaining, unnerving and overtly annoying depending on how the wind
of his drama, rather than the Spirit, blows him. Such people are
reasons why some stay in church and others angrily seek for religious
greener pastures elsewhere because they are always holier than the
Holy Spirit. When the sermon is going, you see on their faces, that
they have already apportioned heaven and/or hell to individual members
one by one. The way they look at you, tries to convince EVEN YOU of
where your eternity you must spend!
With all the real, actual and assumed "holinesses" one finds in this
church and others, I have come to know that once money is mentioned,
everyone takes a position! Those who have been holier than others will
suddenly, momentarily submit their superiority so that those who "have
made money because they are not spiritual" can approach God (finally)
with their substance. How do I know this? Don't ask me, just do this
experience! Next time, when your priest calls for donations, make sure
you stand up once the first donors are called be it a million naira or
more or less, but make sure it is the very first set. Then, pray they
ask you to come out for prayers. Once you are coming out, take your
time a little (afterall no one hurries the one who is bringing the
most money) and watch any of these heaven-residents-on-earth that you
must have identified. You will notice a different kind of acceptance
on his or her face telling you that heaven has finally accepted you!
Today, I noticed that money rules not only the world but the hearts of
humans both religious and non-religious. The priest called for prayer
requests on paper from the congregation. Oh, my God! I noticed that
the offering basket used to collect these papers was filled to the
brim even after being pressed down and shaken together up to three
times. I remembered that even with envelopes that after collecting
offerings, and even with visible ten naira and twenty naira notes
offered by adults, this same basket is barely filled. And I had this
vision that those prayer requests were turned to 1,000 naira notes ...
what great riches!
It simply dawned on me that people have problems and that maybe it is
time the church started investing and ministering much to the
financial needs of their members in the best way they can! I hope I
won't be barred from church for saying this!
I've sat in this church for over two years now. The church is almost
always filled to the brim with lively worshippers ready to gyrate to
good music which is never in short supply. They listen to the Word
with rapt attention, taking notes, eagerly flipping through the pages
of their Bibles and always wearing that angelic smiling faces we
always get ready for Sundays.
There's always, the young, the old and the in between; the beautiful,
the pretty and the beautifully-wonderfully mades; the rich, the poor
and the show-offs; the believers, the religious and the bench warmers.
Interestingly, there is this usher that I love to watch. I only see
him on Sundays, wearing suits, nay coats, that I suspect are ironed
every Monday and hung in the wardrobe against the next Sunday. He's
entertaining, unnerving and overtly annoying depending on how the wind
of his drama, rather than the Spirit, blows him. Such people are
reasons why some stay in church and others angrily seek for religious
greener pastures elsewhere because they are always holier than the
Holy Spirit. When the sermon is going, you see on their faces, that
they have already apportioned heaven and/or hell to individual members
one by one. The way they look at you, tries to convince EVEN YOU of
where your eternity you must spend!
With all the real, actual and assumed "holinesses" one finds in this
church and others, I have come to know that once money is mentioned,
everyone takes a position! Those who have been holier than others will
suddenly, momentarily submit their superiority so that those who "have
made money because they are not spiritual" can approach God (finally)
with their substance. How do I know this? Don't ask me, just do this
experience! Next time, when your priest calls for donations, make sure
you stand up once the first donors are called be it a million naira or
more or less, but make sure it is the very first set. Then, pray they
ask you to come out for prayers. Once you are coming out, take your
time a little (afterall no one hurries the one who is bringing the
most money) and watch any of these heaven-residents-on-earth that you
must have identified. You will notice a different kind of acceptance
on his or her face telling you that heaven has finally accepted you!
Today, I noticed that money rules not only the world but the hearts of
humans both religious and non-religious. The priest called for prayer
requests on paper from the congregation. Oh, my God! I noticed that
the offering basket used to collect these papers was filled to the
brim even after being pressed down and shaken together up to three
times. I remembered that even with envelopes that after collecting
offerings, and even with visible ten naira and twenty naira notes
offered by adults, this same basket is barely filled. And I had this
vision that those prayer requests were turned to 1,000 naira notes ...
what great riches!
It simply dawned on me that people have problems and that maybe it is
time the church started investing and ministering much to the
financial needs of their members in the best way they can! I hope I
won't be barred from church for saying this!
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