The State Of The Modern Church And The Footing Given To Its Critics

Posted on March 16, 2025

TAIWO ABIODUNย 

The way many new generation Pastors have presented the Gospel of Christ has given a strong footing to those who attack the church today. We now see individuals like Omoyele Sowore, Very Dark Man, Abraham Daniel, and others boldly speaking against the church, mocking its doctrines, and ridiculing the body of Christ. A true Christian should never give ear to such voices because they are not speaking by the Spirit of God but from a place of mockery and unbelief.

However, while these critics bear responsibility for their actions, much of the blame falls on certain pastors whose actions have emboldened them. Many pulpits today have shifted from preaching Christ-centered messages of salvation, repentance, and holiness to messages that prioritize personal gain, prosperity, and manipulation. The Bible warns about such preachers in 2 Timothy 4:3-4, saying:

“๐˜๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ; ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ง๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ญ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฑ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด, ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ด; ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด.”

Instead of being places of soul-winning, exhortation, and encouragement, many churches have turned into business centers, where the focus is no longer on the kingdom of God but on material wealth. This distortion of the gospel has provided ammunition for those who now attack the church with accusations of greed, manipulation, and falsehood.
2 Peter 2:1-2 further warns about this:

“๐˜‰๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ, ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ด, ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜บ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ถ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ต ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ. ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜บ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜บ๐˜ด; ๐˜ฃ๐˜บ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ญ ๐˜ด๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง.”

Because of these false teachings, some believers have been led astray, confused, and discouraged in their faith. Many have become disillusioned and have even walked away from the church. This is why Christians must be discerning. Not every message preached from a pulpit is of God. 1 John 4:1 instructs us:
โฃ
“๐˜‰๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ, ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜ด๐˜ฑ๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ต, ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฑ๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜Ž๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ: ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜บ ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ.

๐‚๐Ž๐Œ๐Œ๐„๐๐ƒ๐€๐“๐ˆ๐Ž๐ ๐“๐Ž ๐Ž๐”๐‘ ๐…๐€๐“๐‡๐„๐‘๐’ ๐ˆ๐ ๐…๐€๐ˆ๐“๐‡ ๐Ÿ‘

In the midst of this, we must give special commendations to our fathers in faith whose focus has remained steadfast on the true Gospel of Christ. To those who have refused to compromise, who have stood firm in preaching salvation, righteousness, and holiness, we say THANK YOU. Your candor, your unwavering commitment, and your dedication to the true message of Christ have been a light in these dark times.

๐๐”๐“ ๐๐‹๐„๐€๐’๐„, ๐ƒ๐Ž ๐๐Ž๐“ ๐‹๐„๐“ ๐“๐‡๐„ ๐๐„๐– ๐†๐„๐๐„๐‘๐€๐“๐ˆ๐Ž๐ ๐ƒ๐„๐’๐“๐‘๐Ž๐˜ ๐“๐‡๐„ ๐‹๐€๐๐ŽURย ๐˜๐Ž๐” ๐‡๐€๐•๐„ ๐๐”๐ˆ๐‹๐“ ๐Ž๐•๐„๐‘ ๐“๐‡๐„ ๐˜๐„๐€๐‘๐’.

The enemy seeks to sow deception and corruption within the body of Christ, and if unchecked, the next generation could drift further from the truth. ๐–๐„ ๐”๐‘๐†๐„ ๐˜๐Ž๐” ๐“๐Ž ๐‚๐Ž๐๐“๐ˆ๐๐”๐„ ๐“๐Ž ๐’๐๐„๐€๐Š ๐”๐ ๐€๐†๐€๐ˆ๐๐’๐“ ๐“๐‡๐„ ๐…๐€๐‹๐’๐„๐‡๐Ž๐Ž๐ƒ ๐‚๐‘๐„๐„๐๐ˆ๐๐† ๐ˆ๐๐“๐Ž ๐“๐‡๐„ ๐‚๐‡๐”๐‘๐‚๐‡. Confront the doctrines that are leading many astray, expose the errors, and correct them with the Word of God.

The Apostle Paul charged Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:2-5, and the same charge applies today:

“๐˜—๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ; ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ, ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ; ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ต ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ง๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ. ๐˜๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ; ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ง๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ญ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฑ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด, ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ด; ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด. ๐˜‰๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ด, ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ง๐˜ง๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด, ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฌ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ต, ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜บ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜บ.”

๐…๐ˆ๐๐€๐‹ ๐€๐ƒ๐Œ๐Ž๐๐ˆ๐“๐ˆ๐Ž๐ ๐“๐Ž ๐๐„๐‹๐ˆ๐„๐•๐„๐‘๐’

Let every believer hold fast to the truth of Godโ€™s Word, test every teaching against Scripture, and commit to living a life that truly reflects the love, humility, and holiness of Christ. Instead of giving ear to critics who mock the church, Christians should focus on deepening their relationship with Christ, studying the Scriptures for themselves, and being led by the Holy Spirit. The gospel of Christ is about salvation, transformation, and eternal lifeโ€”not just material success.

As Colossians 2:8 warns:

“๐˜‰๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜บ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ด๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ช๐˜ญ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜จ๐˜ฉ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฉ๐˜บ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ท๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ต, ๐˜ข๐˜ง๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ, ๐˜ข๐˜ง๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ณ๐˜ถ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ง๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜Š๐˜ฉ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ต.”

May the Lord grant us the grace to stand firm, discern truth from falsehood, and remain faithful to Christ until the end.

Amen.

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