Etcetera Writes Pastor WhoCelebrated His Birthday On A DubaiYacht

Etcetera Writes Pastor WhoCelebrated His Birthday On A DubaiYacht

Etcetera Writes Pastor WhoCelebrated His Birthday On A DubaiYacht

Remember the Nigerian Pastor who
celebrated his birthday with a lavish
dinner party at the 7-star Burj Al Arab
hotel in Dubai, well, he has come
under fire by popular writer and
columnist, Etcetera.

I am writing you today because I
am a Christian myself. I am not
writing this article to attack you; on
the contrary, I am writing it to
wake you up from sleeping in these
dark hours. Jesus asked His
disciples to pray, but they went to
sleep instead. Believers have gone
to sleep spiritually worldwide,
especially in Nigeria. I want you to
be awake to righteousness – (1st
Corinthians 15:34 says, “Awake to
righteousness, and sin not; for
some have not the knowledge of
God: I speak this to your shame”). I
want to help you in the spirit of
meekness – Galatians 6:1.
I saw a lot of tweets and Facebook
posts by Nigerians expressing their
disgust about the all white yacht
party you did in Dubai. What is
most worrisome is that the (touch
not my anointed) believers won’t
tell you that you are glamorizing
the ministry by putting your lavish
lifestyles on display and deceiving
lazy Christians that the party in
Dubai is what God wants, what God
can do, and what God has provided.
You may ask why Nigerians are so
angry. – Everybody wants nice
things, right? And what better way
to get them if God does it for you?
Pastor Fatoyinbo, it is true that
there is nothing wrong with having
nice things. Everyone loves to have
more and live a richer life but is
that the only reason why we
(should) go to church? We should
also go to church because we love
God, desire to worship God, draw
closer to God and are in fellowship
with other believers.
Your followers have defended you
as expected – that most people who
are frustrated by your unnecessary
display of wealth are those who are
struggling to get by day to day,
trying to make ends meet, save
enough to meet their needs and
that of their families. Therefore,
they are the ones finding it hard to
digest your lavish lifestyle. How do
we digest your lavish lifestyle ehn,
knowing that you and many so
called men of God are able to live
this way because of people who
give monetarily to support your
ministry? You think anybody likes
to feel like they are being hustled
or pimped by their pastor for
profit? People love God enough to
give and trust that their money will
be used to touch lives and souls
with the Word of God and not to be
used for throwing lavish birthday
parties in Dubai.
Pastor Fatoyinbo: If you are going
to build your own “kingdom,” do
not build it on the backs of
hardworking people who really just
want a more intimate relationship
with God and believe that you can
point them in that direction. Don’t
“floss” on the people; it is
wickedness. It’s as if you’re saying,
“Look at what I bought myself with
your money. Don’t you like it? If
you want it too, pray about it!”
American rapper Kanye West said
in one of his songs, “I’ve been
talking to God for so long, if you
look at my life I guess he’s talking
back.” But today, he is telling us he
is Jesus “Yeezus”. He has deified
himself. Pastor Fatoyinbo, your
party in Dubai also suggests that
you are deifying yourself, and on
your own Yeezus tour, getting high
on your own supply. Jesus said, “If
I be lifted up.” (John 12:32)
Unfortunately, you “with your
lavish lifestyle” are lifting up
yourself and making golden calf
idols of your possessions. Pastor
Fatoyinbo, unless you willfully left
heaven to take on human form,
lived out a nomadic ministry on the
margins, was crucified for your
ministry, died, was buried, then
rose again — sorry to say, it’s not
about you.
Your followers are defending your
frivolities arguing that pastors are
people too, human and flawed. Of
course, they are. But as a pastor
“you don’t show people your
wounds, show them your scars.”You
do so as evidence that the journey
with God brings about healing and
transformation. People need and
want to be whole. The question
Jesus asked was “do you want to get
well?” (John 5:6 NIV)
Christians often ask why Davido
and Wizkid and entertainers
should be the only ones with
Bentleys and mansions. First,
Bentleys and mansions don’t
measure the quality of one’s life.
Secondly, entertainers are people
selling what people choose to
purchase — music, movies, etc. As
ministers of the gospel you are not
selling God and faith. The Gospel is
free. The Bible is not the best-
selling book in history because it
has a good price point. It’s because
people want to know God and know
God loves them. Yes, there is a
business side of ministry but
literally for God’s sake, keep it to
yourself. You don’t have to throw
lavish parties as evidence of how
much money you make. It only
perpetuates the negative
stereotypes true believers are
constantly trying to disprove. Your
expensive all white birthday party
has only made people who are leery
about church say “shebi I told you
so.”
The mentality of most Nigerian
believers that being rich and
thinking money sets you free, gives
you peace of mind and eliminates
injustice, is a lie of the devil.
Assimilation is not liberation. You
can have all the things you want
and still not be whole. The true test
of how you live your life and
success is what will be written in
your obituary. What will people say
about you, and what you did with
your life? I’ve yet to see an
obituary list all the expensive items
someone owned. So, Pastor
Fatoyinbo, go on your knees and
cry to God for forgiveness