Things are not going well with Nigerians – Archbishop Eric Emiaso
The Presiding Archbishop and Head of Mission, Gospel Church of Christ (GCC) Worldwide, Archbishop Eric Emiaso has decreed faithfulness as a key factor lacking in every human area of life, especially among ministers of God and Christians who are supposed to be vanguard of faithfulness.
Archbishop Emiaso bares his mind while speaking during the national minister’s conference of the 55 years old church in Lagos. He said, “Faithfulness is a major key that is lacking in today’s Christianity, especially among ministers and church leaders. And, this is due to the situation we found ourselves in as a result of change in attitude, diversion of truth and misplacement of priorities that has eaten deep into our value system.”
“A lot has changed in our value system and this wasn’t so in the early days of Christianity. People were very faithful to God, faithful to their calling, doing the work of God the way it should be done, with fear and commitment to God. But it’s a different ball game entirely today and saddened that, people are no longer faithful, they are no more committed and loyal to God; to the church and their callings. People are no more faithful in their dealings with God and humanity”, he lamented.
Unfortunately, most things people and some ministers God are more committed and loyal to, are mortal being and materials things. They are loyal to pursuit of wealth, instead of the gospel God has called them to minister. “It’s a very negative shift that has shifted among today’s ministers of God and ministries”. There are happenings and things we are seeing today in the church and among Christians which are not supposed to be, but due to lack of faithfulness, he stated.
Quoting from the scriptures, Emiaso emphasized that to whom much is given, much is also required. The word of God should be the yardstick for ministers of the gospel, church leaders and Christians to be faithful, committed and dedicated to their calling and the service of God. “Talents were given to some people. And there was one that was given five talents, another one was given two talents, and another one was given one. The first one was faithful, traded with his talent, and had gains of another five. The same thing with the one that was given two, he was also faithful, and the one that was given one was not faithful. He just went and dumped it somewhere until the master would come.”
Fact is, at the end of the day, the Bible says there was accountability. The master asked the servants to come and give account of the talent that was given to them, and today the talent means the grace that we receive from God that people are no more conscious that they are going to give account to God for the grace He has given to them and that becomes the yardstick for faithfulness.
He called for filling the gap of missing link by going back to the foundation of this gospel to rededicate our faithfulness and commitment to the service and the love of God. “People are no more conscious that, one day the Master will call them to give the account of their stewardship”, he said.
Speaking further, Emiaso said, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Ironically, many don’t fear God anymore. They do whatever they like and don’t care. But, without the fear of the Lord, there can be no wisdom to be faithful to God. Because, the fear of God is having a tender heart, the consciousness that God is watching and assessing all our deeds. Also, with fear of God, you don’t want to offend God or do things that will break the relationship between you and God.
Because, people no longer have the key to the fear of God, they lack the wisdom of faithfulness to God, their calling, lifestyles and the ministry. A lot of evil is going on in the church, and terrible things are happening. If there is fear of God, many things we do in the church today, we will not do them. “The fear of God will make us depart from evil. If you have the key, you will begin to enjoy the grace, the blessings and the favor of God. If you don’t have the key, don’t think you can succeed, you will fail in any work of the ministry and in life, because God owns the work and not anyone”, he declared.
Emiaso berated people who just wake up and start a church to introduce all manners of doctrine to deceive people. It is my prayer, people will have the fear of God, and be guided to do what is right. Because without the fear of God, you can’t do it right and there will be no God’s grace.
“There are too many copycats, and manipulators trying to do what they are not called to do. Many, because they see some ministers and ministry flourishing, they imitate and copy them without the knowledge of purpose for being in the ministry”, he lamented.
Admonishing people to understand that ministry does not belong to anyone, he said, it belongs to God and you cannot jump into it and be doing it the way you like. “Church leaders should caution their followers and discipline their members with the way things are done right. Teach them to know if they are still in the right track or deviated from the right part. They should do self-analysis, self-assessment and self examination often to know if they are still doing the work the way they started”.
“There will be a judgment day, when everyone will give account of their stewardship. It is require of all stewards to be found faithful. If you know the desire of God, don’t do it anyhow. Many great pastors and ministers started well. But after some time, they deviated. Ask yourself, are you still standing firm as in those days or you have compromised? Before it’s too late, at the end of which, Jesus will not say, get out of me, you workers of iniquity. For, I know you not”, he warned.
Speaking on current situation in Nigeria, Emiaso said, as it is, due to insecurity, banditry, kidnapping and dwindling economy with many other happenings around the country, a lot of people are frustrated, confused and some acclaimed men of God used the advantage to mislead people with all manners of manipulative doctrine and evil practices.
“Nigeria is one nation God loves so much. And for us to continue enjoying the grace of God in this country, we need to go back to God as a country, as churches and as people. We need to go back and do things that brought the grace of God in the 70s, 80s and early 90s. We should all repent; go back to the first love according to Revelation 2 and let God have mercy on Nigeria.”
With the present state of the country, we need divine intervention from God. The present state of Nigeria is like a ship that is drifting aimlessly in the ocean. God should have mercy on our land and on our leaders, so that things can change. “We cannot continue like this and for how long will Nigeria remain in this situation? We need God’s mercy and to keep praying for our leaders. They’re already there and we cannot be murmuring, God hates murmuring. All we need do is to keep praying that things should get better and I believe prayer is the key. We must pray for our president, pray for his aides, and those working for him and with him, so that the spirit can control the physical”, he appealed.
Archbishop Emiaso reminded the current administration of government to know that they didn’t enter into the office by their own ability, but by God grace. “We all know that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was not expected to be elected. But how he won was by the grace of God and if he realized that the grace of God brought him into power, he should not forget God, and the people that voted for him. He should be decisive in his actions and decisions for the benefit of the country development and citizens. He should fight corruption headlong”.
“And those in position of government administration should consider pruning down their appetite for luxurious things. Because the economy is sick and if you are sick, all your things will not go well as things are not going well with Nigeria. Government officials should caution themselves and cut down on their budgets. They should not bloat the budget, when they do that, and God is watching the way they are doing things, He will intervene and they will surely give account of their stewardship. As Nigerians are supporting and praying for the government, they should avoid anything that will destroy the economy. But show good example of living a life worth emulating for the common man”, Emiaso admonished.
