THE CHURCH TESTIMONY SAGA

 

I feel somewhat obliged to lend my voice and share a few thoughts on the recent testimony saga, as I have chosen to call it. Perhaps, we can learn or understand a thing or two about and from it. 

For those who are not aware of the situation, and to set the background to this story, it happened in a ‘megachurch’ in Nigeria where a lady publicly testified with excitement that she had just bagged a Law degree from a Nigerian university. 

However, the testimony was immediately truncated and refuted by the lead pastor who publicly accused and sternly rebuked the lady in question for lying, in other words giving a false testimony. 

My first reaction is this: if she was actually lying in the name of the Lord, then he was right to have rebuked her publicly so that people would “fear God” and desist from giving any form of fake testimonies for whatever reason they may be giving them, which of course is best known to them.

Now if that were the case, my only concern is: would this be the same reaction that would be meted out to someone of a higher socioeconomic class? 

Well, in fairness to the pastor, he is one who is known to be bold, fearless and outspoken even against political leaders. So, would he have also reacted in the same manner if a wealthy and eloquent person told “a lie” (as he accused her of telling) in the same assembly? Maybe or maybe not. Let that be food for thought.

Interestingly, if you want to hover around that thought a little bit more, I dare say he just may have treated it differently if her verbal communication was better. 

He was pissed off at her so-called testimony, particularly at her lack of articulation or lack of a good command of the English language, which apparently belied the fact that she could have studied Law, thus inadvertently making a caricature of the whole episode that fell awfully short of a good public advertisement for the religious enterprise: that is, the would-be miracle accruing from her (supposedly) “supernaturally beneficial connection” to the renowned organization.

Again, in fairness to the pastor, it was logical from her unimpressive speech to think that she was not a Lawyer by training, as she had posited.

Nonetheless, I just think he should have inquired a bit more from her to ascertain if she was lying or not, and not limiting his question to the BSc designation but asking a few more questions, before concluding that she was lying.

Now, if she was actually telling the truth and got that kind of harsh humiliation, then it is unfair and may even affect her mental health one way or the other, depending on how she takes it in, especially coming from a well-respected father figure who she holds in high regard. This may even be tantamount to abuse and unfair hearing. 

We have to be fair and considerate to everyone, regardless of their level of education, literacy or social standing. We need to be exemplary leaders and Christians in this already socially and psychologically strained society.

Hence, in the light of this, if her claims are duly verified (to be true); if she is vindicated by the relevant authorities and documentation, then it is only appropriate that the pastor publicly apologizes to the lady who he had publicly disgraced.

It is obvious and natural that he was pissed off by her unsatisfactory and unprofessional response and he reacted (or overreacted) in anger, which he amply verbalized and expressed.

He is human. She is human. They should do the right thing. The wrong party should apologize.

In conclusion, testimonies should be reasonably vetted for validity before public announcements. 

Furthermore, testimonies in church should not be all about showing off earthly achievements but more about spiritual transformation. 

However, these kinds of testimonies are the very product and result of the fallacious doctrine of prosperity and materialism, which is a tragic distortion of the Gospel of Christ.

Therefore, false testimonials and false testifiers should be expected from false gospels. 

The solution would be to seek and to understand the true Gospel and then to renounce every shade and form of religious falsehood and deception in the Church, specifically in Nigeria and in Africa.

Christian leaders should be held accountable to God’s revealed Word or Truth as documented in the Bible.

Grace and peace!