Tithing in filth

Gone are the days in Nigeria when being a pastor, prophet or Imam is not the first choice of profession for anyone not the least the young ones. Doing the 'work' of God was not so attractive to many people in the same manner that being a professional politician had no attraction.


The job of a priest was a humble one. The priest was supposed to be a moral exemplar. So, the crave or even lust for money and material objects was not a priority for him.


The perception of the politician is different in the eyes of the people. The politician was viewed as a liar and a morally dishonest person. He was the direct opposite of the priest.


But times have changed.   Whether for a priest or politician, what matters is financial reward. These days, many university graduates in the country pound the streets for non-existent jobs. Many never-do-well have turned to politics as a way of surviving the harsh economic reality. Many more have suddenly received 'revelations' to become God's representatives on earth. In paid programs on the TV, Radio and inside public commercial buses, pastors and prophets are 'reaching' out to the people.

MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL

The message tag is simple. God's people are not supposed to live in poverty. Financial prosperity is not a sin even though the holy book may have said that "money is the root of all evil". Special prayers are even organized for church members and non-member friends of the church.


The feedback too for these 'men and women' of God has been substantial. It comes in the form of tithes. For the priest, tithes are an indicator of his job performance. If the tithes brought by members are huge, it shows the pastor is doing a yeoman's job. In this case, it would not matter where the money for the tithes is coming from. The pastor does not care a hoot about the source of tithes brought by members.


On the contrary, if members are scrounging to pay their tithes, it is a profound statement on the (in)effectiveness of the priest. He needs to stoke the 'fire' of prayer for his members so they can bring 'juicer yeild' next time.




The pronouncement made by the anti-corruption agency in the country, the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) that religious leaders should show more concern about the sources of huge tithes received from members of their congregation, if the war against corruption is to succeed in the country may not cut any ice afterall.
 
This is simply because in the church, tithes are 'economic indicators' that determine whether a pastor is doing a good job or not.



Chair of the anti-graft agency, Mrs. Farida Waziri told her audience recently at a one-day interactive seminar on economic and financial crimes for state senior executives in Calabar, Cross River State that it become the practice for corrupt government officials and dubious members of the public to pay huge sums as tithes to religious bodies without being asked the source of the wealth.



She wants religious leaders to find out if the huge funds paid by members as tithes were legitimately earned.



FILTHY LUCRE

What is 'filthy lucre' to the EFCC is 'blessing of God' to religious leaders in the country. And this relative perception is where the problem lies.



"Prosperity must come legitimately. I feel a responsible pastor should know where the tithe of his worshiper is coming from. How and where did you make the money that you are bringing in as tithe? It is not enough for your member to bring in a huge amount and you say- God bless you", Mrs. Farida wanted to tell religious leaders.



"Pastors should be responsible through their members (who are top government officials, members of the public) to want to know how they make money they bring to church. So, it goes beyond just preaching prosperity, they should let the people know that religion is beyond that. For any soul to prosper it means that soul must be in right standing with the principles that God has laid down by doing the dos and refusing the don’ts", she added.



The agency's head of legal unit in Enugu, Mr. Johnson Ojogbani, disclosed that over N300b ( $195m) recovered had been returned to either the agencies they were stolen from or the coffers of the Federal Government.



Corruption is a bane of the country's growth and development. In both government and public spheres, illegitimate money changes hands.



Religious leaders and the anti-corruption body need to have the same perspective on what constitutues 'illegitimate wealth' if the country is to be sanitized.