The Private Jet Craze And Competition In The Nigerian Church.
The Private Jet Craze And Competition In The Nigerian Church.
Ecclesiastes 1:2
Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
1 Corinthians 7
29 But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none; 30 And they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; 31 And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away.
1 John 2
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
1 Peter 1
24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: 25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
O' Nigeria what gospel has been preached unto you, whose word and voice have you heard?
Why is the voice of the pride of acquisition of material things so loud in the Nigerian church today? Why has the pride of life/acquisition become the faith, the pursuit and the testimony? What gospel gave birth to this craze & unhealthy competition of acquisition of private jets & building the largest auditoriums for our own glory & fame in ministry?
My heart is indeed enthralled in a rhapsody of questions as I write.
Nigerians drive the most exotic and luxury cars in the world today, Nigerians spend holidays in the most expensive hotels and resorts around the globe, going on shopping sprees and frolic sight seeing, fun trips. A nation whose top public office holders and few rich citizens flaunt so much wealth & affluence on foreign shores while a huge percentage of her citizens on domestic shores live in abject poverty & penury. The few rich Nigerians & top public office holders are so often caught up in a whirlwind tour of luxury around the globe: $25,000-a night royal suites in Dubai, seaside resorts in Hawaii, tours of the Swiss Alps, villas on Lake Como in Italy, basking in the golden coast of Australia and shopping sprees in Paris and London. Sadly the church in Nigeria which should be the only hope and remedy to this malady of profligacy & lavish lifestyle is also caught up in this misdirected frenzy of ostentation and vanity.
The preacher in Ecclesiastes(king Solomon) who was so rich & lived lavishly came to his senses later in life and realised how all is but vanity and vexation of spirit. In Ecclesiastes 1:2 he declared as he began to lament & rue the years he wasted living stupendously/wasting much resources: "Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity".
See also Ecclaistes 2:4-11.
My question is why can't most of our leading preachers today learn from the preacher? Why can't most people in the church today understand that the fashion of this world & all in it is vain and fades away?
Why do we keep going prodigal and all the while seeing those who try to call us back to our senses as enemies of progress who are merely being jealous of our blessings?
It is not a surprise to see how in recent times, luxury private jet has become the craze and competition in the Nigerian church. We had been lamenting the fact that the nation has no national career & that the number of private jets in the country is more than the number of commercial fleets. We lament the disparity & huge divide between the haves and the have nots. We lament the excesses of government officials in Nigeria.
We lament the evil trend in the world system which sees the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, being deprived of even the little they have through government taxes.
The evil principle in the world which is often taught in major financial corporations & business institutions like Harvard Business school is that if you must join the club of the 20% controlling & commanding 80% of the world's resources/wealth you must learn to covet even the last penny in the pocket of the poor.
We lament all these ills in the society but blindly celebrate the same in the church like being under the opiate influence of spiritual hero & heroine worship.
Why do we forget that we are not owners/possesors of anything in this world but stewards who will one day give account of their stewardship and what they did with the resources at their disposal?
The lord of the unjust steward resolved to put him out of stewardship for wasting his resources(Luke 16:1-2)
What testimony is there in individuals acquiring private jets and spending millions of dollars to maintain them in an economy and nation that has no national career?
Why much noise about private jets?
What some nations are training men to construct, we are raising men to acquire & pride themselves in it like it's a milestone achievement.
If a church in Nigeria would invest in training men as aeronautic engineers who can construct jets and set up an assembly plant in the country for the same, then they can truly have something to glory in though not before God but before men as having impacted the nation.
How many global figures/leaders in the world today have private jets?
Even British prime ministers have no private jets in office, what they started using lately from the days of David Cameron is the Royal Airforce which they share with the royal family. Earlier this year, Theresa May was forced to charter a private plane for her visit to Saudi Arabia because Prince Charles had embarked on a tour of Europe in the royal Airforce.
In the US government, we've had cases of top officials queried for the excesses of hiring private jets and spending so much as travel allowance. Under the Trump administration, former health secretary Tom price paid the price for his excesses & penchant for hiring luxury private jets, when he had to resign as health secretary having come under fire.
Here in Nigeria we decry the unbridled and unchecked excesses of public office holders yet the church & it's leadership is not setting a better example but even growing worse.
A certain 'church' touts presenting a private jet to their 'papa' as a birthday gift on his 55th birthday, few weeks afterwards the music and art department of another 'church' decides to present the gift of a new private jet to their man of God adding to the fleet of his private/presidential jet and thus making a statement that what an entire 'church' can do, just one department of another can do. Thus the emphasis on it having come from just one department of that 'church' is the statement they made which is on the lips of most of the braggadocios who are their members.
Where there is this unhealthy competition and quest to make a statement people go all the way to make a lie/create a false impression.
Wouldn't be surprised if the suspicion raised by someone is true, that some through ill-gotten funds from their unholy relationship/alliance with corrupt politicians aquire these private jets and give to their church members to present to them as a gift.
Lest we forget Dr. Myles Munroe crashed in his own. Let's not make the acquisition of private jets by a man of God/some of his followers contributing to acquire & present it as a gift to him, the testimony of faith.
If Hebrews 11 account of the testimony/good report of faith is to be written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit today, am sure there won't be any verse like "Men who through faith acquired private jets".
If acquired where it is most needed it shouldn't be brandished as a testimony or something to glory in.
In all things we should like the apostle say "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." Galatians 6:14.
~ Paulchrisen Okey Okereke.
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