LETTER TO ARCHBISHOP BENSON IDAHOSA ON HIS 81 POSTHUMOUS BIRTHDAY
My dear Archbishop,
You would have been 81 years old today. Congratulations to you on meaningful life.
How I wish you were alive today, I would have sought for an interview with you on the state of Christianity in Nigeria, wondering if you have noticed how the generations of babalawo, mamalawo, dibia and magicians have depleted or disappeared from the cities.
On our own, trying to decipher what has happened, we found out that the Lagos 419, the Imo dibia, the Kaduna magicians have surreptitiously melted into the Church, and the generation of gullible Church goers have soared to high heavens.
This has given the kleptomaniacs on the altars preaching vampire prosperity message the filip to dupe the gullible Christians and Church goers, telling them to sow seeds so their daughters could marry as virgins, sow seeds so God could bless them, drop their cars, phones, wrist watches, fat cheques, so they go to the next level.
They even encourage their congregation to disobey Jesus. I will explain sir. Jesus told His followers that vengeance is His, so His followers should pray for their enemies and bless those who curse them.
But these pastors tell their congregation, no, Jesus is wrong. They draw the line. Don’t trust Jesus on this note. Let us take shortcuts to His vengeance. Let us curse our enemies, swear for them and call down fire so they can fall and die.
On one occasion when the Samarians rejected Jesus, His disciples suggested to Him they call down fire like Elijah to consume them. But Jesus, the Founder of the faith, rebuked the disciples, telling them He did not come to kill enemies, but to save them.
Archbishop, the current pastors will not read this portion of the Bible in their Churches. They would rather read the Old Testament verse of “If I be a man of God” by Elijah… forgetting that the New Testament takes precedence over the Old. The gullible Church goers are now deeply immersed in their regular mantra: ride on pastor!
They take initiative on their own without recourse to the Holy Spirit and God has therefore moved back from so many Churches. No wonder these churches are now lacking in the power we saw in the New Testament Church. Archbishop, that is what Christianity has become in your absence!
Today, only the Berean Christian is free from the prodigal shenanigans of these dubious acts. The true pastors know themselves, and the spirit of God is gradually revealing them to this generation.
One of them is Benny Hinn. He was bold enough to come in the open and confess that his prosperity theology is faulty and grieving the Holy Spirit. He apologised for his wrong doings and even threatened to rebuke any pastor around him who is demanding for money to preach the gospel. We wait to see how many preachers across the world would heed his warnings to quit the ministry of receiving.
Like every vision, you started a revolution of a more rigorous and profound interpretation of the gospel. Your messages woke the latent faith in the orthodoxy that held sway in your life time. You led a movement that took the battle of faith straight to the corridors of the devil. You showed your generation of Christians the generosity of Christ and the power of His resurrection. It was clear from your messages that the Word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to those who are being saved, it is the power of God.
But sadly, you were raptured before the generations that paid attention to you were properly weaned, giving rise to kwashiorkor Christianity. Their momentum was rudderless, giving rise to mal-nourishement and deformity. Like every child losing the mother at infancy, baby Pentecostalism developed into spiritual thuggery nicknamed Penterascality.
How we wished you stayed around to wean the movement you started, so generations unborn would be saved from the deformity we see today. We however take solace in the fact that His will was done concerning you.
Sleep well, Archbishop.
Yours in His service,
Bola Adewara.
