Prosperity preachers have taken over the vineyard —Ojo

General Overseer of the Be-Prepared Evangelical Church, Ibadan, Oyo State, Bishop Dapo Ojo, in this interview with SEYI SOKOYA, speaks on problems affecting Christianity in the country and other national issues.

What is your view on the issue of unity among Christian leaders?

Unity can never be achieved unless we retrace our source. Jesus Christ even taught his disciples the importance of unity. We have unity in diversity through all various denominations under the umbrella of Christianity. Every local church has its own method, but Christ is the centre and the message. If we want to embrace unity as the body of Christ, we must all come back to what Christ said. So, the majority of our clerics, especially Christian leaders, don’t believe in sanctification. Instead they preach salvation, lay emphasis on Holy Spirit, but sanctification is the connection between the two. This is why we lack genuine unity in the Christendom.

What is the implication of this for the body of Christ?

This is why we have many things wrong in the pulpit today. The pulpit must be blamed because many ministers are not genuinely called and do not know what the gospel entails. The pulpit has become messy and it is causing an embarrassment to God and the genuine clerics in the country. There is something missing. There is problem when there is no right mentorship. Personally, in my ministry, we emphasise holiness, because without holiness, no man shall see the Lord. Many churches preach against holiness today by the popular saying that God is human’s perfection and the claim that we are under grace, yet they continue to misuse the grace of God. We should not blame the followers, but those behind the pulpit in Nigeria. Many Christians believe in their leaders, but many Christian leaders have failed to follow Christ wholeheartedly. It is time all Christian leaders saw this as a big problem that should be tackled quickly. We need to go back to the Bible and align our lives to how God designed the principle of Christianity.

How have you been able to ensure sanity in the church?

I have been doing my best. This is what I have been doing since my tender age and I am not tired of speaking the truth to everyone, especially to those that will follow the right path of Christianity. We may be seen as not popular, because the prosperity preachers have taken over the vineyard, however, I am not moved by that and I can never be distracted by their affluence. I have noticed that people tend to misinterpret the Bible to suit their purposes, but there is no other interpretation people need to encounter Christ than salvation, sanctification and Holy Spirit and this is the only way we can be united as the body of Christ.

It seems the problems with Christianity are the same as those Nigeria as a country is facing.

Our major problem as Christians and nation is that we have missed the road map which is the word of God. According to the Bible: “If my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves, seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sins and heal their land.” Our problem is that we hardly have the people of God. We claim to be followers of Christ, but we are not. People pretend to be Christians today, even lead a Christian life, yet they are living in sin. In fact, it is confusing now, because it is double-standard way of life. I just came back from the United States and I discovered that the reason the country is in good shape is because their forefathers are truthful. Unless we resort to the Bible, we cannot experience peace as Christians and nation. Christians are the problem of the nation because the Bible emphasised that ‘we Christians that are called by His name’. So, the responsibility is on us and we must act fast to seek the face of God in one accord for the restoration of our dear country. It is sad that despite the proliferation of churches in the country, crimes and all forms of ungodly acts are on the increase. Have we ever asked ourselves what could have been responsible for that? When I started my ministry over 49 years ago, we had only three Redeemed Christian Church of God in Ibadan, three Anglican churches and there was sanctity then, but the proliferation of church has made Christianity messy because everybody wants to become a leader and the names of churches we have today are nothing to write home about.  We are no longer the light or salt of the earth. People no longer get the right messages from the pulpit and the more people get the wrong messages, the more those messages affect the nation negatively.

What  has the experience been since you started your ministry almost 50 years ago?

It has been interesting and I thank God for how far He brought me. Though it has not been easy, especially with the challenges that come with it, I stood not to be distracted from my core responsibility. I was exposed to the gospel at a tender age. I was born in 1949 and I knew Christ in 1968. I preached my first sermon at age 20 and I became the General Overseer of my ministry at 24. So, I was not privileged to live a wayward life. In fact, I never knew I could get married because I was tagged with my popular slogan, ‘Jesu nbo’ (Jesus is coming) and I replied people, ‘beloved, be prepared’. God gave me a vision of His second coming and I have in my best way spread the news with my ministry. This is how the name of the church, Be-Prepared Evangelical Church, came about. I cannot be tired of preaching the second coming of Christ because the name and the vision have not allowed us to derail. I am an advocate of the gospel of Christ. I am on a mission to go and prepare people for rapture. I am much aware that this is a narrow way gospel and I am contented with it. Aside my calling as a cleric, I am also a publisher of Sunday School manual. I have a radio ministry, I am also a director of a notable Bible college, among others.

Are you ready for retirement as you will soon clock 70?

I thank God for the gift of life and sound health I have enjoyed. I cannot thank God enough for this and there is no amount of celebration and thanksgiving of my 70th birthday that can quantify the grace of God upon my life. The truth is that one cannot retire from the work of God since one cannot retire the Holy Spirit in one. Despite the fact that I am 70, I am still agile and I also derive pleasure doing the work of God. But I have been able to encourage youths in the vineyard to be much active in the church. This is why I adhere to the voice of God to ordain a young man as the Assistant General Overseer of the ministry. The emergence of the young cleric came as a result of my payer to God for 15 years on the future of the church.