Why it’s not wrong for pastors be rich —Akinjokun

Bimbo Akinjokun, an author and founder of Hill-City Inspiration House, a Christian outreach and development centre, shares his understanding on the controversial issue of prosperity and the church, saying that there is indeed a legitimate basis for men of the cloth to be wealthy. PAUL OMOROGBE brings excerpts.

Does the church have the right to be rich?

As much as I try to avoid joining issues with critics of the happenings within the Church of Christ, I have noticed that many believers who ought to know the right thing to say when confronted by critics usually have little or nothing to say against the criticism. This, in turn, makes the accusers of the Church think they have a point and at every opportunity they get, they talk down and try to paint the church in bad light. Does God want his people to be rich? The answer is yes! 2 Corinthians 8:9 states it very clearly: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich.”

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Some pastors say they left good jobs like banking to join the ministry. What’s your take on this?

When a pastor decides to ‘forsake’ a potentially lucrative job or career in order to do the will of God or ‘for the sake of the kingdom’, should God not reward him for his obedience as He promised? Haven’t you read from scriptures that God is an ‘exceeding great reward’ and also a rewarder of them who diligently seek him?

They complain that poor people abound in the churches while the pastors are buying private jets. If they truly believe that God rewards those who provide for the poor, then they should know that one of the major reasons why these rich pastors are rich at all is because they have been giving and also continue to give to the poor!

Is tithing supposed to be done in the church of today?

On the subject of tithing, it is very important that I state clearly that TITHING IS NOT AN Old TESTAMENT PRACTICE. Rather, it is a covenant principle that will last for all time. These critics make the mistake of thinking that when we say ‘The Old Testament, we are referring to the first 39 books of the Bible, that is, from Genesis to Malachi. They therefore assume that everything written in this section of the Bible is also Old Testament and consequently, has no place in the New Covenant. What a display of spiritual ignorance!

A lot of people may not know this, but the practice of the principle of tithing precedes the establishment of the Old Covenant. Abraham the father of faith lived long before the law was given and he gave a tithe of all to Melchizedek, the King and Priest of Salem. If the New Covenant admonishes us to follow the faith of Abraham, how then can it be wrong if the church encourages her members to give 10 per cent of their earnings to God?

So, should tithes go to pastors?

Let me reiterate that no rich Pastor is able to attain such a status (of wealth) by keeping the tithes and offerings of the church as his own personal income. I know that some so called Pastors claim that the tithes belong to them and so they divert such funds into their personal accounts. They say they are the Levites of today and that being Levites, they are qualified to receive tithes as their own personal wages, forgetting that the Levitical order of priesthood has been abolished together with its laws. Some even brazenly steal from the church purse through inflated contracts and other questionable business transactions.

Tithes belong to God and the only person qualified to receive this 10 per cent portion is our Lord Jesus Christ. Since the church is the body of Christ, tithes are to be paid directly to the church or Christian ministry and not to any individual. God spoke through Malachi that the tithes should be brought into ‘the storehouse’, not to the priests. This invariably means that the pastor who collects tithes as his own personal income is stealing from God and I assure you, NO MAN CAN STEAL FROM GOD AND BECOME SUSTENABLY RICH! He may have a couple of thousands to throw around for a while but I can assure you that it won’t last. There are powerful spiritual laws that will ensure that he doesn’t attain that status. Have you ever heard of the saying, “The curse of the Lord is in the house of the thief?” Well, it is not a philosophical statement. It is a scriptural verdict! Zechariah 5:1-5 tells the story.

Having established this fact, let me make my point; If you see a pastor who is rich and has been able to sustain the riches for quite a while, you can be sure he has not been stealing church funds or diverting tithes into his own pocket. He must have been practising the principle of sowing and reaping and no matter how much he is criticized, he will continually get richer if he continues sowing.

What do you have to say about church members who are poor?

The fact that there are a lot of poor people in the church does not mean the church or the pastor does not care. It is easy to assess a church by its perceived volume of income as if the money is just being stacked up as it is coming in. What about the workforce whose salaries are being paid on monthly basis? The payrolls of many of the rich churches in Nigeria and all over the world are filled with people from almost every kind of profession – doctors, lawyers, nurses, engineers, accountants and so on, not to mention artisans and craftsmen whose services are engaged from time to time. All these people are not part of the unemployed in the society. To a reasonable extent, they are all able to put food on the table for their family members and also put clothes on their backs. Is that not a way of caring for the people? Are ‘hand-outs’ the only things that count? What about the bricklayers, welders, carpenters, food sellers and others who earn their daily pay from the construction sites of the church and other related buildings? Are they not being lifted out of poverty? I think the church actually deserves our commendations, not criticisms.

Furthermore, people are poor and remain poor for two major reasons; not knowing what to do and not doing what they know. When the church makes effort to teach her members how to make, manage and multiply money, these critics say that the church only teaches prosperity. When the church decides to encourage her people to put their God-given abilities to profitable use in order to lift themselves out of poverty, they start criticising the Pastor for practicing motivational speaking in the church instead of him preaching holiness. Be that as it may, the church continues to educate and inspire her members on the subject. Some apply the principles to their daily living and their fortunes change. Some others refuse to take responsibility for the improvement of their own wellbeing and therefore remain poor. Should the Pastor be blamed for the state of their affairs when they have deliberately decided to pay no attention to knowledge?

I want to stress emphatically that as far as God is concerned, a private jet is nothing more than a tool for the propagation of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is no different from a car, a bicycle or a speed boat, depending on the nature and scope of each man’s divine assignment. As God continues to enlarge the coast of his church and extend the reach of the influence of His kingdom through His faithful servants here on earth, I assure you, more Pastors will be empowered to acquire private jets. In fact, I expect the number of Christian ministry owned aircrafts in Nigeria to more than triple within the next few years. Therefore, I will advise critics to start getting themselves ready because they will soon have a lot to talk about.