By Jude Atupulazi
Soludo’s address to priests of the Anglican Communion on the root cause of idolatry is a very beautiful one. He called the spade by its name.
I have always said the capitulation of the Church to the allure of materialism is at the heart of the moral decay in society.
The Church has sadly prioritized materialism over spirituality.
Pastors and priests now sing the praise of “monied men” more than professional praise singers or otimkpus.
Questions are no longer asked. A donor’s background means nothing so long as they supply the cash.
Thus, today, criminals have taken over the Church as bazaar chairmen, parish council vice chairmen, and the rest.
They are invited to the altar to donate blood or stolen money and are venerated, all because the Church “needs money”. And I always ask, what is the Church doing with money?
The Church builds schools with contributions from the poor, and in the end, the children of the poor can’t access those schools. The same thing happens in mission hospitals.
The Church gives knighthood to people who don’t understand what knighthood means. In fact, being knights has become the latest fad.
Many young men are rushing to be knights just as a status symbol, in the same manner, they rush to become chiefs in their communities.
Now, what do you expect from such people? That is why I have always suggested that age limits be set for knighthood and chieftaincy, as in the days of old.
Just as some men now make their children chiefs, knights may soon do the same to their children, just to show off.
Go to many churches in festive periods, and all you will take away is how much money they need for projects, and because of that, all shades of people are welcomed to the altar to make donations, while the congregation goes bananas and shrieks like excited hyenas.
When they get back home, what you’ll keep hearing will be how this man shut down the church by donating millions, and how that man exceeded the first one by doubling the amount. Nothing will be said about the gospel preached.
In many parishes, any new pastor or priest arrives with his own new projects. Thus, most times, old church buildings are demolished for the construction of new ones to start.
And the people who will make the biggest contributions are con men, drug lords, and even ritualists. Their sources of money, though known, don’t matter.
I once wrote in my paper that a period of three years be set aside, during which there should be no projects, but just preaching and living the gospel.
God looks at the heart, not at projects. God will feel happier with a congregation worshiping in a dilapidated church building with genuine hearts than those doing the same in skyscraper church buildings with evil minds.
The bottom line is that the Church has lost focus because of love for materialism.
Once men of God see anyone they deem rich in church, there will be no escape for such a person, as he must be fleeced.
Even wedding couples are told to donate to church projects. Those mourning their dead are not left out.
If you ask me, the Church is partly responsible for the spread of idolatry, as the young people have since failed to be inspired by the Church.
They now want to make money by any means, so the Church will venerate them and make them bazaar chairmen, knights, and whatever.
Women get money anyhow in order to be crowned “Ezinne”, “Nneora”, etc. It’s all just about money. Thus, how can men of God truly look criminals in the face and condemn them? Can you condemn those you have made the pillars of the Church?
Note that there are still men of God who have refused to go with the crowd, but such are now few and are quite unpopular.
The Church should, therefore, do a soul-searching and redirect its priorities.
Soludo hit the nail on the head in his address to the Anglican Communion. I recommend that Soludo’s speech should be mass-produced and sold in CDs and also be played by radio stations.
I fully support Soludo here.
