On Daddy Freeze’s Condemnation of Dunamis Church Auditorium – Emmanuel Sokefun
Dunamis Church recently dedicated their 100,000-capacity worship auditorium, reputed to be the largest church auditorium in the world at the moment. I was happy because this has numerous positive implications for Nigeria as a nation, and the Body of Christ locally and globally. However, it’s fair to say that not everyone was impressed like I was.
I read with great dismay, media personality, Mr. Ifedayo Olarinde’s scathing remarks that building such a monument is a waste, as Nigeria is regarded as having the highest number of poor people in the world. I hereby write to put to bed any negative views on this bold and noble enterprise.
Daddy Freeze, as Mr. Olarinde is commonly known, lamented that in a country with this many poor people, we do not need more worship centres in Nigeria, but we need more factories where people will be employed, and make ends meet for themselves. But he failed to realise that from the moment this project was flagged off, to this very moment I am writing this article, the project has created so many jobs in Nigeria. One can only imagine how many building blocks, bags of cement, tonnes of wood, metal, cotton, tiles, sand, or litres of water and fuel were purchased to complete the structure. One can only imagine how many years’ salaries the church paid the contractors, bricklayers, surveyors, tilers, carpenters, architects, accountants, etc., who handled the project, not to talk of how much sales the various suppliers made to local businesses directly and indirectly. If the church weren’t built, these people would probably be looking for jobs, but for all these years, these people were gainfully employed building the house of God, something the government had failed to do for thousands of them. Some of them have probably become millionaires in the process.
Mr. Olarinde has failed to recognise that the church also has literally thousands of paid staff, many of whom will probably still be unemployed were they not hired by the church. In fact, up till now, people still get paid over the church building alone. There are administrative staff and maintenance personnel whose paid job is to look after the building and its affairs. Saying that the building does not provide jobs is a statement rooted in deep lack of understanding of the business of construction.
Secondly, for the church to require an auditorium with a 100,000 capacity, then they must have at least 100,000 congregants every Sunday. If they have at least 100,000 congregants weekly, then these people need to sit in church and feel comfortable, and this was what necessitated their construction of the auditorium. Imagine if you had that many people in your church, and you refused to build a church for them simply because you feel it’s a waste of resources, and the people were worshipping God under the sun and in the rain, what would people say? More directly, what would Daddy Freeze say? Critics like Daddy Freeze would point out that with all the tithes and offerings collected by the church, they could not build an “ordinary” church to house their congregants. Hence, it’s a lose-lose situation with critics.
Do you think it makes sense to have 100-200 thousand people coming to your church, but only a 10,000-seater church auditorium where 10,000 people would sit inside, with and at least 90,000 people seated outside? Does that make sense? Is this what would please critics? What I’m trying to say is that building the church was absolutely necessary and not a waste of resources because it is to cater for the needs and welfare of members in terms of sitting arrangement and comfort.
Thirdly, as a Christian, one would think Mr. Olarinde would be pleased that at least 100,000 people attend the church on Sunday as this means that more people are accepting the reality of God day by day. This is a thing of great joy. In a world marred with chaos and corruption, the Church is the only harbinger of hope, no matter how hard you argue otherwise. I believe this because God said so, and I believe God implicitly. No other argument counts to me. Period. As a Christian who should be concerned for the souls of people, Mr. Olarinde is first and foremost meant to rejoice at the fact that many more people have access to the Word of God, which will liberate and transform them. More people now have the opportunity to become born-again than before. This is a thing to rejoice over! Only a person who hates the salvation of the souls of men would criticise the admittance of more souls yearning for God into the Church.
If you say, “That means more people are paying tithe to the pastor,” paying tithe does not hinder the salvation of the congregants. As long as they have genuinely committed their lives to God, they will go to Heaven. Leave them alone. It is better for these 100,000 people to come to church and pay tithes than to go to the alternative rendezvouses like cult meetings and drug-pushing corners, so let them come and pray.
Moreover, Daddy Freeze’s claim that a church of such dimension should not be erected because there are poor people in the country, would only be correct if there is irrefutable evidence that the Church brought the poverty upon the people in the first place. But the Church didn’t. There is too much evidence with EFCC, ICPC, police, DSS, military and paramilitary Bodies that bad leaders in power who have no vision or leadership capabilities caused the bulk of the problems we are facing in Nigeria. We see it everyday. Many of them embezzle the money of the common man. They steal monies meant for projects that would develop the country and benefit her citizens. Many of them pocket monies meant for the factories Daddy Freeze would love to see. They stash the monies away in Europe and Asia, and leave the majority of the citizens poor. They mismanage money from the sale and processing of our crude oil and other natural resources. Why should the Church not build new buildings because people in government made the people poor?
Why would Mr. Olarinde leave criticising the actions of those who carry Nigeria’s wealth abroad, and rather crucify a church that is investing into the economy of Nigeria? Daddy Freeze wants factories to be built, and he’s blaming the pastors. That does not add up in any way. If you want more factories, take the fight to the offices of the Local Government Chairmen, State Governors, Senators, Representatives, Ministers, contractors, engineers, entrepreneurs, and Mr. President.
As the leader of a Christ-believing group himself, Daddy Freeze is very well aware that the responsibilities of a pastor do not include the construction of factories, so why is he taking his fight to church, rather than the government? Up till now, Daddy Freeze who has been clamouring that pastors should build factories has failed to show us the one he has built as the head of Free Nation in Christ Online Church. If he feels that a pastor should build factories, then he can go ahead and lead by example so that other pastors can follow his steps and start building factories too. If Daddy Freeze were to have a physical church, he also would realise the need to have a building large enough to accommodate his congregants.
I am glad that Daddy Freeze takes the Bible as his spiritual Grund Norm. In the Bible, King Solomon spared no expense in constructing the most glorious architectural edifice for God, and God was so pleased that His glory filled the temple (II Chronicles 7:1-3). The presence of God was so mighty that that no one else could minister in the same atmosphere—God took over the show! Was the building magnificent? Exceedingly! Were there poor people in the land? Yes. Was God happy with the building? Yes. So why is Daddy Freeze not criticising King Solomon for building such an expensive structure for God, and criticising Pastor Enenche instead? I believe it is because Solomon is a Bible character, while Pastor Enenche is among us today. If Pastor Enenche were the Bible character, while Solomon were to be among us today, Daddy Freeze would have scolded Solomon and exonerated Pastor Enenche. Should we wait for all the poor people in the land to disappear before we decide to do exploits? The answer is NO. Why? Because there will ALWAYS be poor people in the land (Numbers Deuteronomy 15:11, John 12:8). If we therefore wait for the poor people to be eradicated from the land, we will wait forever without doing anything worthwhile for God. On the contrary, if the poor properly engage the principles of Scripture, their poverty will end, which is why they need a place of worship before the Lord.
People would often cite the industrialisation of America, UK, France, etc., as the reason why we should stop building churches. But these people do not know the history of these countries. Early America put God first. They dedicated their country to God and were willing to serve Him all the days of their life. How many countries have the words “in God we trust” as their motto or on their currency—the money they spend? The founding fathers of America were prayerful, and put the nation into God’s hands. This made God come and dwell with them and make them great. What we see today is the result of intense prayers and faith of the founding fathers. The ungodly laws they pass are not a reflection of their past. But God is merciful because He remembers the labours of their founding fathers.
Great Britain has a similar story. Missionaries like David Livingstone would not care about fame or comfort or their lives for that matter, to ensure they spread the Gospel. Without the British missionaries who are now being accused of numerous evils, Christianity and civilisation would never have reached Africa. Perhaps a Jihad would have swept down south from the north, and we would all not have seen the Light of Christ. Nigeria would never have been formed, or would have become an Islamic nation, or we could all still be living in muddy houses in the bush, worshipping our family deity in our various clans. Light came upon these countries because their ancestors treated God as the secret of success, and this is why I believe that not too long from now, Nigeria will also experience the Light of God that will launch us into global prominence, and I know it will be in my lifetime because I must be a major partaker.
One of Daddy Freeze’s arguments is that God has decided to dwell in human vessels, and an outward temple is hence unnecessary. But the fact that God has decided to indwell us Christians does not mean we should not gather and worship as a family. The apostle Paul (incidentally Pastor Enenche’s namesake—smiles) warned us not to forsake a collective gathering of fellow believers, which makes it necessary to have an external worship centre, because where two or more Christians are gathered, Jesus said He will join them in worship, notwithstanding that He already dwells in us, so all this fuss over the church building is unnecessary.
The same way Mr. Olarinde and his supporters are condemning Dr Enenche, many people complained when Pastor Adeboye began the construction of a 3 kilometre X 3 kilometre worship Arena at Redemption Camp, citing wastage and whatever other reason. But at the just concluded Holy Ghost Congress, we all saw why Pastor Adeboye’s building of the Arena is justified. The 3 X 3 km Arena was full. Even the former Arena of 3 X 1 km was also full to capacity. Other outlets were also full. Failure to build would have resulted in people not having seats throughout the programmes. According to Dr Paul Enenche, God only fills you to the capacity of the container you present before Him. These men have presented large containers for harvest, and little wonder their congregations are growing rapidly.
Finally, as a Christian, one would think Mr. Olarinde would be happy that a fellow believer has exercised his faith to fruition by building a seemingly impossible structure, given the economic situation in Nigeria, and encourage others to develop faith for the impossible, and glorify God for providing and guiding the construction to fruition, but NO. He has failed to see the providing power of God in the face of great poverty, to build a great edifice to put his name, and is focused on how not having a big building will eradicate all the poor people in Nigeria.
I would leave Daddy Freeze with this little titbit which he would do well to memorise and meditate upon. We shall stand before Jesus one day and give account of all our utterances (Matthew 12:36). The Bible says that we shall be justified or condemned by our words, and so he needs to be cautious of everything he says (Matthew 12:37). Let him mind his own walk with God instead of railing and arguing about the Law and every other subject against every pastor and anyone who doesn’t agree with his philosophies (II Timothy 2:23-24). He should work out his salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12) instead of criticising another man’s servant (Romans 14:4).
In a country where there are more pressing issues to address, such as the soldiers recently massacred by terrorists because they were poorly equipped and catered for by the government, election-rigging, Fulani herdsmen decimating the already insufficient food supply in Nigeria and killing farmers in the process, national strike by ASUU and underpayment of academicians which has crippled tertiary education system and kept youths idle and tempted, economic crisis which has robbed the naira of its value, porous borders through which hoodlums of every sort filter into Nigeria, unstable electricity, roads with more potholes than tar, poor Water Corporation services, drug addiction, cultism, unemployment, harsh climate, political godfatherism, baby factories and underground criminals, fake goods, adulterated foods which put millions of lives at risk, corruption in government, impunity of leaders, and so many other societal ills, I trust that Daddy Freeze would turn his attention to matters of graver importance, than a pastor building a larger church to accommodate more members of his congregation.
Emmanuel Sokefun is a graduate of Redeemer’s University and a freelance writer who loves dogs, nature and antiques.
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