By Samuel Timothy
PASTOR ADEBOYE TENDERS APOLOGY a great man of God is influenced by public opinion when one of the Afenifere chieftains who had gone to console Pastor Enoch Adeboye over the son’s passing said that the man showed them a video of Sunday Igboho insulting him. Some people’s criticism of you should always go unnoticed by you. Otherwise, why would someone like Adeboye care about the opinion of someone like Igboho that he would justify his politics? Something in the social culture has changed for Adeboye to listen to his detractors, even if it means identifying and shaming one particularly acerbic person.
The internet has made it more difficult to remain unaffected by critics in a society where accountability is not ingrained in the culture. The social distance has been reduced by the internet to such an extent that the privileged class now has to deal with a populace that they were unaware existed prior to the era of Web 2.0. The power hierarchy between the big man and the little people has been distorted by the internet, affecting everyone from the political class that will call the police over remarks you make on social media to Nobel Laureates and even megachurch pastors. The radicalism that the internet permits is a conservative’s worst nightmare as well as the ideal world for anarchists. In the public opinion arena of the internet, nobody is immune to mockery or criticism.
Adeboye has suffered a great deal online, and his own words have frequently been used against him. Things that pastors used to say inside their churches are now widely shared online, often making them appear irrational.
Adeboye recounted a tale about billionaires in his church who gave “hefty” tithes and required a monthly report detailing their spending. He claimed that those individuals suffered grave consequences for daring to oppose him and that he could not find a biblical basis for their request. A narrative such as that reveals a great deal about the underdevelopment culture in Nigeria. Will Adeboye inform the IRS that there is no justification for complying with their request if the RCCG churches in the USA fail to provide regular reports to their members? Their society is structured, and their God is not so nefarious that he would destroy people for voicing legitimate concerns.
Another victory for the internet is Adeboye’s recent admission of doctrinal error regarding tithes. Daddy Freeze (Ifedayo Olarinde), who inspired other irate groups regarding the tithing controversy, ought to be proud of his accomplishments. Hardly any well-known Pentecostal pastor did not demystify himself in order to criticize him—a single person—when he started to assert that the tithe doctrine as taught in the modern Pentecostal church was unbiblical. But no matter how much spin they put on it, no one who has studied the Bible or history books thoroughly would ever concede that paying tithes can purchase a happy life or eternal salvation. That is a transactional gospel, similar to the indulgences sold by the Catholic Church during the Middle Ages.
Adeboye’s public apology puts him in the company of well-known prosperity gospel preachers who have also acknowledged their mistakes regarding tithes, such as Benny Hinn and Creflo Dollar. Adeboye’s apology, however, seemed to be non-apologetic. He could have simply stated that he was mistaken, but instead he went one step further and said that “ten percent was for beginners” and that people should “give violently”—what exactly does that mean? Instead of putting percentages on people’s money, he could have maintained his focus.
