As you might have noticed, the number of churches in Nigeria these days is increasing exponentially. It almost seems like every neighbourhood has a few churches to choose from. But what issues can such proliferation of churches in Nigeria cause? Let’s talk about it.
What is proliferation of churches?
Before we start talking about the problems of church proliferation, it makes sense to define this term first. It describes a process of new churches opening at a very fast rate. What is important to mention, though, is that it is not the same as church development.
An already existing church opening a new worship centre or starting a new service falls under the description of church development. However, if several worship centres or local churches decided to become fully independent from their parent body/bodies, then this would count as church proliferation.
For some reason, many Christian clergymen hold the belief that the best way to bring the word of God to the people is to open more churches. That is why every time a man of God receives a revelation, another Nigeria church pops up. As a result, there are so many registered churches in Nigeria and they can be found on every corner.
On one hand, a large number of churches should not be that big of a problem. After all, more people have access to a wide array of places of worship. What can be so bad about that?
Well, you might be surprised just how many issues the proliferation of churches can cause. Let’s consider all of them in detail in the following section.
Major issues with church proliferation in Nigeria
READ ALSO: Who is a youth in the church and what is their role?
Even though the opening of new churches grants an opportunity to reach more people with the word of God, proliferation of churches can lead to lots of issues.
The first one that comes to mind is the clash of personalities. When there are so many churches on a small patch of land, it will eventually lead to disputes and conflicts between their leaders and/or members. These conflicts can be based on different interpretations of religion, different views on some topic, or even just on petty personal fights between church ministers. Thus, the friendly and loving message of religion gets lost in these clashes.
Speaking of different interpretations of religion, it seems to be the main problem with too many churches out there. Even the most popular denominations have plenty of things to argue about when it comes to interpreting the Lord’s words. So when new churches appear and start preaching their own versions, the conflict levels might become catastrophic.
In addition to all this, many new churches are guilty of heresy. You might not believe it, but some churches go to all sorts of lengths just to be different from others and, consequently, attract more worshippers. What they are preaching is more resemblant of mad ramblings of a lunatic rather than the Bible.
Even though religion is supposed to unite all kinds of people, the proliferation of churches only divides them. Therefore, it creates the lack of unity. Each church thinks that they are above all others, so when it comes to reaching a consensus in some matter, nobody wants to give up their position/opinion in favour of others.
Another thing that is close to our previous points is unhealthy competition. Almost every church’s goal these days is to get as many followers as possible. When there is a lot of competition out there, no rules seem to apply. The main issue with this competition seems to be the converts that are looking to change their church of choice. Church ministers go out of their way to get those converts to attend their church.
What we have talked about before mostly concerns the churches themselves and religion as a whole. However, proliferation of churches also has a negative effect on people and the environment.
For instance, numerous churches that have opened recently are guilty of money laundering, fraud, swindling and embezzlement. The more churches open, the harder it is for authorities to control all of them. Therefore, some people use new churches as fronts for their nefarious operations.
Money matters aside, too many churches on one small patch of land lead to noise pollution. Even during daytime, several sermons that happen at the same time can cause quite a calamity. At the same time, some churches also choose to have night sermons. If the church is located among residential buildings, such events might disturb the peace of the whole neighbourhood.
In conclusion, proliferation of churches in Nigeria is definitely not a very good thing. It leads to discords, squabbles, excessive noise and many other unpleasant things. Nevertheless, we would love to know what you think on this subject. Is the constantly increasing number of churches good or bad for Nigeria? Let us know in the comments.
READ ALSO: Benefits of thanksgiving to God
Source: Naija.ng
ROSY CREST
Tuesday, 28 November 2017