By Tony Okafor
The Church was never meant to be an empire of property or profit. At its core, it was established as a sanctuary for the weary, a refuge for the broken, and a dwelling place for souls seeking God.
Christ called His disciples to be fishers of men and shepherds of souls—not landlords, not land speculators, and certainly not merchants of mammon.
Yet, in today’s Nigeria, churches are enmeshed in land-grabbing disputes. Leaders are dragging one another before the EFCC over proceeds. Ministers, once expected to embody compassion, now behave like Shylock landlords—evicting tenants with ruthless efficiency and tossing their belongings into the rain in the name of court orders.
Where mercy should reign, greed now dominates. Where love should shine, selfishness casts a dark shadow. This is not the church of Christ.
The contrast with the early missionaries is glaring. Those pioneers came with nothing but their faith and zeal for the gospel. They endured hunger, sickness, and even death for the salvation of souls.
They built schools, hospitals, and communities, empowering the downtrodden to regain their dignity. Their contributions far exceeded what they ever received.”
Today’s reality is painfully different. Many church leaders flaunt wealth with disturbing ease—driving in convoys of luxury cars, building sprawling estates, and even acquiring private jets—while their members struggle with poverty.
Even the schools, hospitals, and other facilities run by churches are priced far beyond the reach of the very parishioners whose offerings funded their construction. The institutions once built to uplift the poor have become exclusive preserves for the wealthy.
Even more worrying is what has become of the priesthood. Some who are ordained today do not carry a genuine spiritual calling. Rather, they enter ministry as a business venture, a convenient escape from the crushing unemployment in society.
This reduction of a sacred vocation into a livelihood erodes the church’s moral authority and strips the priesthood of its sacred dignity.
If the church continues along this path, it risks losing its very essence as the salt of the earth. And when salt loses its savour, Christ Himself warned, it becomes worthless—fit only to be trampled underfoot.
Already, signs of this decay are visible. Young people, disillusioned by hypocrisy, are returning to paganism in alarming numbers. To them, the church no longer represents truth; it looks more like a business empire.
Who can blame them when mammon has been enthroned where God should reign?
The worship of wealth in the church is nothing less than a scandal to the gospel—a betrayal of Christ Himself.
The altar must never be reduced to an ATM, nor the pulpit to a stage for showmanship. Leaders of the faith must repent, turn back to humility, service, and sacrifice, and reclaim the calling that made the church a moral compass for society.
The Nigerian church is at a crossroads. To persist in this idolatry of materialism is to court irrelevance and divine judgment. To repent and return to its true mission is to once again become the conscience of the nation—and the salt and light of the world.
