His antidote to this is “worship in the Spirit”. That is, worshipping in other tongues, which is currently not in vogue, even in pentecostal and charismatic churches. Referring to the following words of the Lord Jesus Christ: “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24), Rev B said our humility must lead us to depend on the Holy Spirit even in our worship. Otherwise, it is not true humility and our worship would, more often than not, be unacceptable to God, since it is likely to be tainted by the flesh. Praise and Worship led of the flesh is unacceptable to God. It’s like Cain’s offering.
Carnality is on the rise among us Christians and many of the churches are helping its growth. In fact, many churches are today more carnal than spiritual. That about sums up the wake-up call issued last Tuesday by one of my pastors. Though, it was a revisit of what had become, for him, the most critical issue in the church today which, I had occasion to report last year, still, I feel an urgent need to share it again.
“Him” here refers to Rev Bayo Oniwinde, one of God’s gifts to the Body in the area of teaching the undiluted word of God. A man of faith who moves in the utterance gifts, he traces the genesis of his ministry to the year 1977 when he clearly heard the Lord say to him, “Feed My Sheep". He subsequently went into full time ministry in 1986 joining the Voice of Faith Ministries which is more popularly known as Christ Chapel International Churches in Lagos Nigeria, founded and led by Word of Faith icon, Rev Dr Tunde Joda.
Bishop, as he is fondly called is therefore a product of the “Coach” Tunde Joda school of ministry, under whose tutelage, he served for about fifteen years, learning and functioning in such diverse areas of church and ministry as pastoral, administrative, church planting, and marriage counselling. He was also involved in Bible School coordination and lecturing as well as conference planning. He is still on the teaching staff of the church’s Patmos Bible School of Faith.
Author of three books, "It is Written", " Believers, Your Case in Life is Different" and "What You Say Will Make Your Day", he currently runs Bayo Oniwinde Ministries, an independent international ministry which has seen him minister at seminars and conferences in places as far-flung as India, Britain, the United States, Estonia, Norway, and Sweden.
Ministering at CCIC, Ikeja Centre, his home church, Rev Bayo told the congregation that the level of carnality appears to be growing by the day, aided and abetted by what might be called the seeker-friendly disposition of many church leaders. This itself is the result of the drive for increased membership, which has led many churches to adopt ministry styles that are trendy and deliberately designed to pander to the preferences of the potential congregant.
But let’s put things in context. The theme for the month of June is Humility and the centre pastor, Rev Ajibola Oluyede had set the tone by defining humility as total, child-like dependence on God, rather than some external self-deprecation. He had explained that unless properly understood, it is possible for pride to manifest as false humility. The kind of humility God expects of His people is the kind that does not say I can’t; it’s the kind that says I can, because I am not the one who is going to do it; it’s my God. In other words, it’s humility borne out of total submission.
Ten days or so into the month-long programme, Rev B, who had been away, began to speak about humility in much the same terms, homing in on total dependence on the Holy Spirit in everything - to the exclusion of all else. He began, as he was wont to, with praise and worship in the Church. In his opinion, too much flesh has been brought into this very important part of the church’s fellowship. Referring to the showmanship, stylistics and histrionics that have become the hallmark of music ministry in many of our churches, he dismissed them as Christian entertainment rather than worship.
His antidote to this is “worship in the Spirit”. That is, worshipping in other tongues, which is currently not in vogue, even in pentecostal and charismatic churches. Referring to the following words of the Lord Jesus Christ: “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24), Rev B said our humility must lead us to depend on the Holy Spirit even in our worship. Otherwise, it is not true humility and our worship would, more often than not, be unacceptable to God, since it is likely to be tainted by the flesh. Praise and Worship led of the flesh is unacceptable to God. It’s like Cain’s offering
What applies to the music ministry applies to all other areas of activities of the church. He said of ministry of the word: “It is not phonetics or eloquence; it is about the Holy Ghost and the plan of God”. In his view, what is happening in the churches today is simply following the vogue. It is about ‘this is the way they are doing it’. So people just copy what they see others doing that looks successful, irrespective of whether it is God’s plan for their own ministry or not. And since, the way they are doing it is not of God, He plays the observer rather than lead participant. This has to change.
Touching other salient points, Rev B said church leaders quarrelling with one another and refusing to make up; some refusing to apologise to their brothers, even when the Holy Spirit is leading them to, are not doing God’s will. He’s not going to stand for that in the new dispensation. There are those who think they can go it alone and are therefore unwilling to associate with others. God’s position on unity is clear; the Church is one body, indivisible and interdependent.
Speaking on the carnal pursuit of wealth in the church, Rev B recalled that he had been at ministers’ conference where a lot of time was spent on the marketing of stocks and shares. At one such conference, the sales pitch for a particular company’s stocks was that the G.O had bought. Well there’s nothing wrong with buying shares, but it does reflect the state of the church if such a thing takes considerable time at a ministers’ conference. Wealth belongs to the church, children of God are expected to be financially buoyant, but if it’s of God, it will come by the supernatural. Citing example of the early church, he said they lacked nothing. The Holy Spirit was in charge and nobody needed to be cajoled to bring resources into the kingdom. People did it voluntarily laying it at the apostle’s feet. The couple which attempted to fool the Holy Ghost, Ananias and Sapphira never lived to tell the story (see Acts 5). The power to make wealth comes from God. And if we will humble ourselves and listen for the voice of God, we will prosper.
God’s vessel has to be holy, submitted to him and willing to carry the anointing with humility and use it with responsibility, he said. When some ministers get big, they become complacent. Much time is spent in carnally putting up programmes and projects; while so little time is spent on the pursuit of spiritual direction and the power that comes with it. If we put the Holy Spirit in the driving seat, the world would see a church that is united and powerful. Even the intellectual bows to the supernatural. When people see the power of God at work, even the most “religious” of them will come running.
Concluding on an almost apocalyptic note, Rev B reminded us that Jesus Has made it clear that He would come back for “a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:27) and He’s not going to allow anything or anyone get in the way of his plans. He said, although God really doesn’t want to bring judgement upon the people, it doesn’t seem like we are giving Him a choice. Unless we change, it will happen and it will begin at the top, with those who are supposed to know. The point is that God is going to bring revival into His church. And if that requires that some current leaders be removed, He’ll do it and replace them with those who will follow his set pattern.
The Holy Ghost, not our intellect and the wisdom of the world, must be allowed to stay in the leadership of the church.
PIX: Rev BAYO ONIWINDE... A burden for revival in the Church
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