The role of the church in Nigeria at 50

Website design By BotEap.comAlthough Nigeria celebrates its 50 years of independence from colonial rule, it is important that we take an objective and unbiased look at the role of the church during those years.

Website design By BotEap.comBefore we can truly assess the impact of the church in our nation, we must first look at the biblical purpose of the church in each nation. The church must bring godly change, change and transformation to every people and tribe. The church must call people back to God from the path of sin, evil, ungodliness, and wickedness. The church is to be an example of godly living, sobriety, moderation, and a sacrificial lifestyle. The purpose of the church in each nation is to bring silent changes, transformation to people in each community through precepts and behaviors.

Website design By BotEap.comJudging by what you see above, how has the church in Nigeria fared in the last 50 years?

Website design By BotEap.comThe church has been in Nigeria before independence in 1960. According to available records, the pre-independence church fared much better in terms of spiritual quality and impact. The revival under Joseph Ayo Babalola in 1930, especially in southwestern Nigeria, really helped spread the true gospel. Idol worship, witchcraft and occult practices were largely suppressed and the light of the gospel shone in many hearts. From the Anglican Church to the Baptist, passing through the evangelical and apostolic churches, it was a rebirth of true conversion and service to the Lord. Of course, there were persecutions of believers back then, but that didn’t stop the spread of the gospel. Many came to know the Lord and the few believers then were respected for their pious life and good citizenship of the nascent country.

Website design By BotEap.comSince there was independence in 1960, the church still had an individual Christian basis. She had just come up. Most, if not all, of the nation’s leaders do not know Jesus intimately. The gospel was for the poor and downtrodden. However, God was at work and the Scripture Union revival broke out in the 1960s, mainly in southeastern Nigeria. Many college students came to know the Lord. Now, this revival was an answer to the prayers of many uneducated church leaders that God will raise up educated youth to spread the gospel of Christ in our nation. God responded through the Scripture Union revival in our community colleges.

Website design By BotEap.comMany of the young college students were truly saved and started ministries, churches, and Christian organizations that have gone on to win many people to the Lord. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the effect of this move of God was still present. Yes, you don’t find many committed Christians in government, but people really respected the church. During this period, church leaders began to speak to the nation. Steadily and gradually, the church began to make inroads into many areas of Nigeria, people were being impacted, and the lifestyle of Christians began to attract people to the faith. The companies came to the church, requesting workers because they realized that they are honest, hard-working and sincere. Although largely poor and unheard, the church was respected, honored, and growing among the population. Of course, there were false churches and preachers back then, but they were few and largely unfollowed except one or two.

Website design By BotEap.comSince the early 1980s, the church began to receive and embrace the prosperity message. Preachers began to claim that riches, wealth, and material blessings are for God’s children in this age. While not totally unscriptural, the message was pushed to extremes until materialism became the order of the day. Big preachers, big names, titles and big pockets took over and the spiritual impact of the church seriously sank. Yes, crowds came to church. Large churches were erected and international preachers regularly came to the country, but the spiritual impact diminished every day. Yes, people in government began to profess faith in Christ, we even had a ‘Christian’ president, governors, senators and high-ranking government officials, but the church has not had the true spiritual impact on the nation in the last 35 years. years, as it did in the first 25 years of this nation’s life. The prosperity message only produced individually rich but impoverished preachers.

Website design By BotEap.comAlso, you can see the carcasses of churches and preachers that were once vibrant and lively but today are empty and struggling to get off the ground. There are too many churches and preachers that once grew and drew crowds in our nation, but today are experiencing a downward spiral and have fallen from grace due to scandals and deviation from godly standards.