By Iyiola Modupeola Omolola
Somewhere where I worked years ago, there was this lady who was always found sleeping or dozing at her desk. It landed her in trouble with our boss many times- she got queries over this incessant act at work. Very concerned, I met her privately to enquire if she had a health challenge or issue at home that deprived her of sleep at night and then she told me that they had programs in their church almost every day in a month and being a worker, she must not miss any, otherwie she would face the wrath of her pastor.
“Wow, so you mean you go to vigil everyday, finish around 4am and resume work by 7am.
Is your pastor not aware that you are working, I am sure you won’t be the only one in this category in your church?” I asked.
Well, I was once a victim of this too before I had a better understanding. Many of our Pastors scam us! Yes, you heard me right, they play on our ignorance and take advantage of that to selfishly rob us of many things all in the name of religion. Some of them are operating under the anointing of ignorance themselves, they thought that is how it should be done.
Dear Man of God (MOG), Take it easy. Don’t kill people just because you want to grow your church or because you want their life to be better. What exactly is the rationale behind this everyday vigil? What then did Jesus die for if your members have to labour this way to get a breakthrough.
You expect them to attend all the vigils and still be efficient at work, make money and come and pay tithe and offering. Work where they spend half of the working hours sleeping and dozing. Do you even know that collecting such salary is a sin? You must not hear of any public holiday, you have fixed a program like that. Couples no longer have time for their marriage, families hardly spend time together, if they are not at work, they must be in church. Why make Christianity appear like it’s such a tedious religion to practice?
And it is like that here in Africa, in saner climes they don’t die in church like us here yet their lives are far better. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying it is wrong to hold vigils or church programs but it shouldn’t be at the detriment of your members’ work and families.
Do you even consider their health? Church is your business, do well to let them concentrate on their own businesses too.
In the scritures, work comes before prayers. God worked for six days and rested. So forget that sermon of church comes before work and so they shouldn’t mind skipping work to attend church programs. You tell them if they get dismissed from work, Jesus will give them another one, is that what the Spirit sent you to tell us?
If you have fed your sheep appropriately with the true word and taught them how to apply the principles in the scripture, you won’t be spending 25 out of the 30 days in a month pulling down strongholds, fighting witches and wizards and staging warfare against the devil all the time. ‘And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free’.
While you run the church business, don’t be selfish, while we build the spiritual, the physical should not be outrightly ignored. Let your members rest, I beg you.