Develop people’s mind, Banjo tells church leaders

The President of United Aladura Churches, UAC, Worldwide, Superior Evangelist Samson Banjo, has urged religious leaders, especially those that focus on prosperity messages to desist from preaching such and concentrate on developing the mind of Nigerians, which according to him, is more important. He said this recently at the church’s 13th anniversary.

“Some religious leaders seem more concerned about praying for prosperity and richness, when our major concern should have been to ensure that people live in the fear of God,” he said. “Once you live in the fear of God you will run away from all sinful acts.

Once you do that, evil will disappear, there will be no stealing, no killing and no corruption.

“We should tell people to be hardworking, industrious and in so doing God will bless them. We should develop the people’s mind by inculcating in them the fear of God. Whether we like it or not all evil is the handiwork of the devil and if you can overcome the devil in the mind of the people, evil, of course, will subside.

Therefore, it is the business of religious bodies to pray hard in this area because for a 13-year-old boy/girl to blow him/herself up for whatever reason, to me, it doesn’t make sense at all.”

He took a swipe on religious leaders, whose lifestyles make Christ’s flock to err.

“The directive or God’s message to church leaders is very clear and we call on those who lead the flock of Christ to respect God’s injunctions in the Bible.

Those who live a fabulous life and cause their members to err, when we get to heaven we shall be judged by what we have done. I believe within our churches, the C&S that I know, the church of the Lord that I know, the Celestial Church of Christ that I know, I have not yet seen a fabulous leader and I hope none of us is fabulous as to cause a lot of grief, misunderstanding and unhappiness to the flock of Christ.”

The cleric also tasked those in the corridors of power to find solution to the cause of crime in the society. Citing Badoo and herdsmen activities as worrisome, Banjo said: “While pleading with the government to look into areas that are causing people to indulge in such evil as Badoo, herdsmen, killing, stealing and corruption. We know that poverty gives rise to sinful acts. In the meantime, we are praying that God will give us men and women who will be able to address the issues raised.”