The Infiltration of the Church Part 2

Last Christmas, I wrote Part 1 of this article in which I reviewed church history and postulated a tentative hypothesis-that the enemies of the church appeared to have changed their erstwhile strategy of persecution but are now fighting from inside, in effect suggesting that the devil and his agents may have infiltrated the church. Some days ago, some friends and I were gathered discussing sundry matters, and the discussion turned to matters of faith.

Many of those gathered had horror stories to tell. These people were having serious challenges in their walk with God, amazingly coming not from outside the church, but from within. Kayode had the first horror experience to share. Apparently he was a member of a respectable Pentecostal church-he had been for over 10 years. He had never gotten involved in inner workings of the church however, as in popular parlance, he had not become a ‘worker’. He considered himself a child of God, but he had been susceptible to the occasional sin, so he didn’t quite consider himself a candidate. As Kayode advanced in age and career however he recognised a need to get closer to God. He attended Bible School and thoroughly enjoyed the experience, but he still chose not to join the church workforce. On the other hand, his growing profile meant he could no longer be anonymous in church, or any other context for that matter.

Kayode usually worshipped in the branch of the church closest to wherever he lived, and went about his business quietly. After moving to the island, he moved to a proximate branch as usual. In this new church his wife became a worker. Surprisingly, within weeks she was made a head of department, above more qualified, longstanding members. Kayode had his reservations as he wondered in what way she had earned the promotion. He felt the appointment was somehow linked to him. But he felt it was inappropriate to stop her from serving God in any capacity so he kept quiet. A few weeks afterwards, the local pastor approached Kayode with a loan request to buy a property in a choice part of Lagos Island. Kayode obliged. Weeks later, Kayode had cause to mention his plans for a change of career to his local pastor.

The pastor who at that point in time was also in career transition requested to see Kayode’s business plan! Kayode did not feel obliged to share such proprietary business information with someone in a similar career line, so he diplomatically denied the request thinking that was the end of the matter, but was he mistaken? A few weeks later, the local pastor declared to a workers retreat that the calling of the Lord was upon Kayode and appointed him a Minister. Kayode had not become a worker and was not present at the retreat! The stage was set for blackmail-if Kayode declined he would be accused of shirking the call of God; if he accepted he would come under the direct spiritual authority of an individual he now had cause to be wary of! Kayode hoped for the best and decided to honour the ministerial appointment. Well he wasn’t so lucky. Not more than a few days afterwards, the gentleman who proclaimed the call of God on his life began spreading malicious gossip about Kayode. He was careful to keep the gossip ‘below the radar’ so Kayode had no opportunity to respond.

Moji a teacher shared another horror tale. Her colleague, had been considering returning to her profession which she had not had the opportunity of practicing since graduation. Moji’s friend was not so sure she could cope with some of the things she heard happened in the industry. She then met an apparently fervent minister who ran a firm in that profession. Surely this was God answering her prayer? She arranged to spend her next vacation in the minister’s firm to test her interest in her original profession. The practices in the minister’s firm were worse than all she had heard about. And the minister personally gave her instructions to carry out those activities (knowing her previous reservations about such) without any compunction.

Olu also shared his story. Olu’s pastor and his wife ran the church like a closely-held corporation, with the pastor as CEO, the wife as Chief Operating Officer, and their children as members of the Board of Directors. A few carefully selected cronies were permitted into the Board. Apparently a “third world war” had started when the church leaders transferred a new minister to preside over the territory. The “CEO” thoroughly isolated the poor fellow, tormenting him spiritually, physically, socially and otherwise, and boasted that he would show the hapless newcomer who owned the church! Soon petitions began to fly. Members of the congregation watched in confusion as the warfare began to manifest publicly.

These are real life experiences. Reflecting on these stories, I was reminded of my hypothesis about the infiltration of the church. Surely these are not the doings of people who know anything about Christ? My worry is how many people are being driven from the faith daily by these ministers from hell. My co-discussants were already settled in their relationship with God-no one could drive them away, but how about younger Christians and unbelievers? How do we explain to them that these people do not represent the reality of the Christian faith?