God is not a Christian, says popular Nigerian pastor
Popular pastor, Abel Damina, has explained why God is not a Christian while charging his congregations to stop believing that only the people who believe in Jesus Christ will go to heaven.
Damina, the senior pastor of Abel Damina Ministries International, made this known during one of his sermons on Monday.
He chided Christian believers who thought Christianity was the only religion that could take one to paradise to discard their position, as he further hinted that Jesus was not even a Christian.
According to him, biblical characters like Abraham, David, and Jesus Christ did not use the term “Christianity,” but instead unbelievers, adding that these holy people were merely disciples or believers, not “Christians” in the traditional sense.
He said, “Many of you think God is a Christian. God is not a Christian. Many of you think if you are not a Christian, you won’t go to heaven, lie. People went to heaven before Christianity started. Christianity started in Antioch in the Book of Acts. That should humble you a bit, and you should start adjusting your theology.
“And it is unbelievers that gave the name Christianity that you are carrying as a condition to go to heaven— unbelievers who watch the people who were adherents of Brother Paul’s teachings. After teaching for some time, they saw the transformation that had happened to these people. Before then, they were called believers and almajiris. They were disciples of Paul.
“Then the people said instead of calling disciples, the transformation we see in them is that they look like Christ, so let’s call them Christians. But before then, many people went to heaven, including the thief on the cross. So, you don’t have to be a Christian to make heaven.”
He alluded to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Abel, Isiah, and David, including Jesus, not being Christians during their lifetime.
Damina is known for his controversial views on salient issues in his sermons, most of which require other pastors to speak up.
he was knocked for his comment on the remedy to porn addiction.
He advised porn addicts not to struggle to stop pornography but should keep watching while listening to the word of God at the same time.
“Don’t struggle to stop watching the porn. Don’t struggle at all. Just keep watching the porn. As you are watching the porn, spend more time hearing the ‘word’. If you watch porn for one hour, spend three to four hours hearing the word of God.
“Take note. Go get all my teachings on Christ. Just keep learning and learning. After a while, you will find out that your appetite for porn is dying, and the appetite for the word of God is growing. Before you know it, when you see porn, you will be irritated.
“Word of God will kill that appetite completely and give you a healthy appetite. That’s what to do. Don’t try to stop. In fact, keep watching, but spend more time studying God’s word, and you will find out that before you know it, your desire for porn would be gone,” the pastor stated.
This, however, was greeted by dissension, especially from enraged conservative Christians on social media who believed that the pastor was encouraging people, mostly addicts, to sin.
A prominent pastor, Gideon Odoma of the Fortress Ministry, countered Damina’s submission while labelling pornography as a perversion.
“Christains have trivialise sexcapades. The things God call iniquities, we must never call it flexing,” he said.
GOD IS NOT A CHRISTIAN; I AM
Whether or not God is a Christian is not an intelligent argument, as far as I am concerned. It’s the same thing as saying “God is not a man” or “Omen Bassey is not a woman”.
So, why is it trending as though it is one earth shaking revelation? Is it all about the popular “clout chasing”?
That the name “Christian” was given by whoever is also neither here nor there. The meaning is understood and accepted. It means believers in, and followers of Christ. I am one and I accept the description. The source of the name in this case does nothing to its desirability or efficacy nor does it add any substance to the argument (if it’s intended to be one). Recently, one of my lecturers said most of our communities and ethnic groups never gave themselves the names they presently bear. In most cases, strangers used it to describe them until it stuck and became accepted.
Moreover, if the intention of the needless argument is the further expansion of the gospel of elastic and permissive grace, which seeks to completely close the gap between believers and unbelievers, there’s need to tread cautiously. I am glad to proclaim my Christianity and irreversible subscription to the Bible – the authoritative Manual which espouses my faith and the steady anchor which holds it.
I believe the entirety of the Bible as the Word of God. Besides, there are fundamentals of my faith as contained in the scriptures. One of them is the doctrine of the Trinity. It may not make sense to everyone but it does to me. I believe it absolutely.
The Word and ways of God are beyond intellectual analyses. This is why I encourage people to seek to experience, rather than understand God. You cannot explain God and you cannot know Him in a way which makes you proud of such knowledge. In reality, the more you know Him, the more inadequate you feel. This is why such people exhibit humility.
After several years in ministry and verifiable proofs, authenticating his apostleship, Paul said:
“THAT I MAY KNOW HIM and power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable to His death. PHILIPPIANS 3:10(Emphasis are mine)
He also says in 1 CORINTHIANS 13:9 (NLT):
“Now OUR KNOWLEDGE is PARTIAL and INCOMPLETE, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only a part of the whole picture.” (Emphasis mine)
No human being posseses such a perfect knowledge of God that he assumes the responsibility of correcting every other person. My position is simple – every knowledge is acquired. Your source can be wholly or partially wrong. Knowledge itself is progressive. If you already know everything today, what will you learn or know tomorrow?
If the trending “God is not a Christian” slogan is intended to contradict the scriptures in JOHN 14:6:
“I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me ” and JOHN 1:12 (NLT):
“But all who BELIEVED Him and ACCEPTED Him, He gave the RIGHT to become CHILDREN of GOD.” (Emphasis mine), then it can only persuade those who really did not take a stand.
It’s either I believe the unambiguous Word of God or I renounce my Christianity. It is not my place to advocate for those who belong to other faiths. Jesus Christ made the proclamation consciously. It’s not even my place to find out what the fate of those who died without hearing about Christ is.
As I said earlier, there are many things we will only know and understand later. Despite what we claim to know, none of us will be Omniscient in this flesh and no matter what happens, God will retain His Sovereignty.
Omen Bassey
09/10/2024