However,
it is very rare,(as rare as it is to hear Fani Kayode talk sense or not being a
"scally wag") to see churches make such elaborate and extensive
arrangements or efforts to raise funds for charity. Churches never devote two
weeks prayer sessions, fasting, fund raisers and donation for charity and
helping the poor. At best, what you find in most is a decrepit old box or
bucket sitting sorrowfully and looking forlorn at one extreme end of the
church, so far away from worshipers that it would take a divine push to make a
giver walk that far without having a rethink.
Perhaps we
should consider some of these disheartening developments.
Firstly,
the Wasteful Ways of Churches;
It might
serve no point trying to discuss how much billions of Naira modern day churches
lavish on buildings, fixtures, fitting, equipments and facilities, albeit
needlessly and extravagant in a grotesquely insane fashion because it is all
too well known.
I ask: How does a group Like the Jehovah's Witnesses
survive VERY WELL, strictly on voluntary contributions and with zero amount of
teachings on giving, tithes and offerings?
It is is
not in dispute that denominations like the Catholic, Anglican and a host of
Christian groups outsize a relatively small group like the JWs. It is also not
in dispute that a large chunk of the cream de
la creams in a
society attend these orthodox churches, more than their protestant
counterparts. That said, we should remind ourselves that if such a small group
like the JWs could survive very well on Voluntary Contributions of its members
alone and gifts from other congregations, then the bigger orthodox ones should
do better with considerably less effort. Unfortunately, the reverse tends to be
the case.
In spite
of this zero emphasis on giving, contributions, tithes and offerings, JWs still
fare very well in their finances and even present a better output in the end.
Also, let
the readers not forget that the weekly Awake and Watchtower magazines as
educative as they are, are largely freebies, hence they do not form a source of
income; rather, they amount to expenses. Don't believe me? Well, in the past
few years I've voraciously read close to 300 Awake and Watchtower magazines and
other manuals, and the only generous contribution I have voluntarily made is
cumulatively about 200 naira, maybe N250. Need I argue further that the worth
and cost of those 15page magazines and pamphlets far exceeds 200 naira each?
However, a
2 leaf bulletin in a Catholic church could go for as much as 50 naira. A near
worthless piece of paper only useful for bible verses (which we all now have in
smart phones and devices), hymns, and weekly announcements which mostly
ends up squeezed or discarded right there in church or soon afterwards. A
comparison of a Watchtower/ Awake magazine to a bulletin would leave me
defenceless to a charge of Culpable waste of useful time. So, I'd let that
pass.
Wastefully
Expensive Taste of Complexes and Worship Centres.
"Manifest
plainness. Embrace simplicity. Reduce selfishness. Have few desires.”Lao Tzu
The
question here is, do we need a gold plated or silver plated door and window to
really worship God? Do we, really need a 30 billion naira mansion for church?
Does a man of God need to use the most expensive cars or private jets? Does a
church of God really require Italian marbled floors or a multi-million naira
Glass pulpit? All that begs for an emphatic No!
Each day
the media is replete with one expensive yet unnecessary church project or the
other.
Perhaps,
it wouldn't be entirely bad for us to concede that what matters most in a
church is a spacious hall( based on size of congregation), reasonable (not
luxurious) furnishing, a neat and decent pulpit, good public address systems,
illumination, and proper ventilation or cooling systems!
In my
opinion, there is absolutely no reason why a church which should uphold
biblical tenets about modesty and humility should become a total parody of what
biblical teachings on those virtues really are.
My
research into how much a certain kingdom hall cost in Asaba, Delta State
revealed that the sum of 15 million naira was expended-which was all sourced
from voluntary contributions and donations. Its unimaginable the kind of
fund raisers most churches would embark on to actualize such projects. This
days, Churches spend several weeks collecting donations from members simply to
raise credulous , hair-raising sums in the name of Church projects. Why waste
so much resources on a single project whne other avenues abound where such
funds could be pumped into?
What
happened to Charity, low cost housing projects for poor members, petty loans to
small scale traders, rural evangelism and provision of facilities for
missionaries and the host communities?
In
Countries like Germany and the Netherlands, football clubs as part of their
corporate social responsibilities provide cheap electricity to their towns.
Some provide rail stations and bus terminals to ease transportation to and from
stadiums. To this extent, it would not be entirely weird for certain well known
churches in Nigeria to do elaborate donation services solely for the purpose of
raising funds for such projects like refurbishingcertain
vital roads and streets, schools, hospitals and prisons.
One would
argue that many churches embark on charity, and that we don't see it because
they don't go about publishing it. How noble and interesting!
The point
being made here does not in any way deny the fact that churches do charity,
rather this piece seeks to divert the main purpose of donations, tithes and
offering for "developing the church buildings and pastors or Priests’
houses" alone to human development. Mind you, the Church like Government,
Commercial and business sectors, form one of the strongest pillars
of any society. Thus, human development should never be confined to be the duty
of government alone. It is a collective duty in which everyone must partake.
In
totality, the need for us as Christians to begin to place emphasis on the
development of people rather than structures is paramount. We must learn to
prioritize human development so as to enable the church grow faster not just in
numbers but in the quality of members too.
