THE HIGH PRIESTS ON CARNAL HILLS

By Akin Ojumu

Wealth, health, leadership, success, deliverance, destiny, and dimensions. That encapsulates the prevailing message of most modern-day preachers. It is the addictive LSD of professional pulpitism and the intoxicant of the high priests of mammonism. These are the addiction inducing psychedelics that modern-day preachers peddle to their hapless listeners. The drug pushers pumped their victims with loads and loads of the addictive drugs at every encounter and at every gathering. Within a short period of time, the victims get hooked for life on the LSD of earthly cravings while the professional pulpitineers become extraordinarily rich, living large at the expense of their zoned-out customers.

Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo, one of the foremost kingpins of the drug trade, took to the stage at the recently concluded 2021 Annual Convention of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, to give out free samples of the dangerous narcotics. Without wasting time or mincing words, the High Priest of Carnal Hills laid out his agenda for the day. He was there to sell his young customers the LSD of earthly desires.

“Many are not making progress because their mind is set,” the man of God started his spiel. “My teaching this afternoon is what you need if you want to create wealth. My teaching this afternoon is what you need if you want to move into quality leadership. My teaching this afternoon is what you need if you want to see success in ministry. My teaching this afternoon is what you need if you want to stop blaming the Nigerian government and start taking charge of your own destiny.”

The man of God wasn’t there to preach about salvation through Jesus Christ. He wasn’t there to teach about fearing God, walking in righteousness, and living in purity of heart. His goal wasn’t about teaching these young Christians about how to keep the faith, endure the hardship, and bear the suffering they may face as believers in Christ. He wasn’t there to teach them how to successfully live godly lives in an ungodly and sinful society. All Pastor Ashimolowo came there to do was to teach them wealth, leadership, success, and destiny. The eternal be damned, what’s paramount to the drug pusher was the temporal. He was there to sell them what will arouse their temporal urges and feed their sensual desires.

What many of these modern-day preachers teach are nothing more than human wisdom. The thing about human wisdom is that it is false, carnal, natural, and demonic. Such teachings lack the power to bring about genuine repentance and they cannot wrought salvation of souls. Earthly wisdom is incapable of keeping the faith alive in anyone. 

The Nigeria society is evidence of the futility of carnal wisdom. It is a place that epitomizes the powerlessness of earthly messages to transform human soul. Nigeria is one of the most – if not the most – religious countries in the world. If you walk down a block on any street in Nigeria, you are more than likely to find at least 5 denominations of different churches or even of the same church. 

With so many churches, you should expect righteousness to overflow the land and permeate the society. But far be from it. Nigeria is the poverty capital of the world. Unrighteousness reigns supreme. Violence and corruption are the order of the day. Even with all the churches and the prayers, it is home to evil and headquarters to darkness. And that’s because the churches are carnal altars ruled by high priests who conjure earthly wisdom and minister carnal knowledge.

In the Book of Ecclesiastes, we read about the foolishness, uselessness, and senselessness of carnal wisdom. It is wisdom that corrupts the soul and destroys the spirit man. And while the high priests of mammon sit back and say to themselves “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry," the end result for the addicts hooked on their LSD is gnashing of teeth, deep frustration and great disappointment.

It's another Sunday morning. The High Priests on Carnal Hills are waiting with syringes of LSD in hand to pump the veins of the multitudes rushing through the doors to get their fix of the psychedelics of earthly desires.