“I have houses in at least 188 countries in the
world, so I am richer than Bill Gates.” (Adeboye).
Recently, a friend took me to the jewel-in-the-
crown of the Redeemed Christian Church of God; a
glitzy parish called “City of David” in Victoria
Island, Lagos. Displayed resplendently on a wall in
the church-office is a design of their current
building project; a 14 storey architectural
extravaganza titled “Trinity Towers.”
Redeemed still a church or is it now essentially a
business concern? The Trinity Towers project
shows the lines are now totally blurred. Jesus
warns: “No one can serve two masters. You
cannot serve both God and Money.” (Matthew
6:24). Nevertheless, this Tower of Babylon being
built with church funds is designed both for the
worship of God and for the worship of money.
The project is an appeal to crass commercialism;
a blatant celebration of wealth. In this poverty-
stricken Nigeria, the foundation of the building
alone is expected to cost over 2 billion naira.
Side-by-side with a 5,000 seat auditorium for
church services are high-brow restaurants,
cafeterias, indoor swimming pools, cinema halls,
gymnasiums, retail shops, games arcades, lawn
tennis courts, relaxation spots, and a helipad as
the crowning glory. Of what relevance is all this
“supermarket” in a church?
ANOINTING-FOR-CARNALITY
A church-member, overwhelmed by the grandeur
of it all, buttonholed me in the hallway. I did not
know him from Adam, nevertheless, he held me
hostage as he waxed lyrical about how the
Redeemed Church was, to use his words: “taking
over.” “We have already got the vice-presidency,”
he said. (The vice-president of Nigeria is now a
Redeemed pastor). “Next we will get the
presidency,” he continued; “and then we will get
DSTV;” (a South African satellite television
network).
The anointing for this pride of life flows right from
the top. The General Overseer of the Redeemed
Church is Pastor Adeboye. A few years ago, he
decided he needed a billion naira without which
his “work of God” could not be done. So he
confounded the Christian faith by establishing a
“millionaire’s club.” To be a member, you had to
hand over a million naira to him in Jesus’ name.
Thereafter, he upped the ante by calling for a
“billionaire’s club.” He announced that he would
be building an auditorium that can only be
described as “fantabulous.” It would be a
ginormous three kilometers in length and three
kilometers in breadth. This project is clearly more
designed to get Adeboye into the Guinness Book of World Records than it is to get the members of
Redeemed into the kingdom of God.
Declared Adeboye on that occasion: “We need 1
billion naira from ten people. If you are one of
them, please see my personal Secretary after we
finish today.” Who are those likely to have this
kind of money to give in the Nigeria of today
except those who have cornered public funds?
Thereafter, an announcer sought to know the
members of the church who were “willing to join
hands with our Father in the Lord to build a new
auditorium to God’s glory.”
VANITY-UPON-VANITY
The proposed auditorium is not to the glory of
God. The proposed auditorium is to the glory of
Adeboye. Adeboye’s project is reminiscent of
Saul’s, who built a monument to himself. (1
Samuel 15:12). Nowhere in the entire New
Testament was money ever collected for putting up a building. Money was only collected for the poor. The temple of God is no longer a physical building. The temple of God is now Jesus Christ.
Pastor Adeboye is getting increasingly carried
away by vanity. I have a tape of a question-and-
answer session he had with his church-workers a
number of years ago in which he boasted that the
time would soon come when, before anybody could aspire to be president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he would first have to talk to Redeemed Church. Nothing in the scriptures can be construed as suggesting this as one of the stated objectives of Jesus Christ.
A Redeemed church-member told me of another
meeting he attended captioned: “A Day Out with
the G.O.” It was a dinner for financial sponsors of
one of the annual “Holy Ghost Festivals.” Pastor
Adeboye boasted tongue-in-cheek on that
occasion that the time would soon come when the
Queen of England would plead to join Redeemed in
order to work as an usherette. The audience
reportedly responded with wild applause and
shouts of “Amen.”
RICHER-THAN-BILL-GATES
At the just-concluded 63rd Annual Convention of
the Redeemed Church, Adeboye declared that he is
now richer than Bill Gates; widely acknowledged as the richest man in the world. He said: “I have
houses in at least 188 countries in the world,
where we have our churches, so I am richer than
Bill Gates. Each time I visit these countries, my
children would be struggling and saying daddy,
come and stay with me.”
These “houses” don’t belong to Adeboye; they
belong to Redeemed church. Knowingly or
unknowingly, Adeboye distorts the gospel. Jesus
says: “All who have given up home or brothers
and sisters or father and mother or children or
land for me will be given a hundred times as
much. They will also have eternal life.” (Matthew
19:29).
However, Jesus words are spirit. (John 6:63).
Therefore, his “houses” are entirely spiritual, while
Adeboye’s are physical. Jesus does not make his
disciples richer than Bill Gates. Instead, he says:
“God will bless you people who are poor. His
kingdom belongs to you! But you rich people are
in for trouble. You have already had an easy
life!” (Luke 6:20/24).
Adeboye continued: “If I announce here that
tomorrow morning, I need a car to travel to the
new auditorium, how many cars do you think
would be made available to me by you my
children? Those of you that do not have a car of
your own, very soon, God will give you your own
cars. So, I am appealing to you to become an
incurable soul winner before you leave this
convention ground and your cup will overflow.”
ANATHEMA-TO-CHRIST
This is nothing but the enticing word of man’s
wisdom. Believers don’t preach the gospel in order
to receive cars. We do because God commands
that we do so.
Jesus had neither chariots nor horses. He had no
lands and houses. Indeed, he warned a
prospective disciple who wanted to follow him they would not be staying at the “Sheraton Hotel:” “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” (Matthew 8:20).
Jesus does not speak like Adeboye. He says: “A
disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant
above his master. It is enough for a disciple that
he be like his teacher, and a servant like his
master.” (Matthew 10:24-25). Jesus’ example is
anathema to Adeboye’s declaration that he is now
the richest man in the world.
This is the word of Jesus the Adeboyes of this age
choose to ignore: “It’s terribly hard for rich people
to get into the kingdom of heaven! In fact, it’s
easier for a camel to go through the eye of a
needle than for a rich person to get into God’s
kingdom.” (Matthew 19:23-24).
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