Commodification and Commercialisation of the Gospel in the 21st Century Church: The Nigerian Experience

The contemporary Nigeria churches have become money spinning ventures among ministers of God. Churches are becoming easy sources of financial gains where unsuspecting members are often exploited by those who are responsible for their spiritual nurturing. The Church is expected to be a refuge of comfort for the Christians in time of trouble and turbulent moments. It is rather unfortunate to observe that the Church has become an avenue for buying and selling of spiritual products, where miracles are commercialized, where money are being paid before you can receive your “blessings” or be prayed for by the so-called “men of God.” It is disheartening to say the least that ministers of God have commoditized and successfully commercialized the gospel by employing various means of marketing to advertise, brand and package gospel as a consumer or spiritual product to be sold and bought before life-challenges can be tackled. Sales of books and other spiritual items are common practices in the church today. The Church has become a place where sacred objects like rosary, rings, scapular, handkerchiefs, anointing oil, holy water are being commoditized and commercialized for material gains by “the men of God.” The intention of the paper is to examine how some charismatic ministers have shaped the religious-business environment and how their actions have impacted the genuineness of Christian teachings in the contemporary Nigerian society. The paper also adopted qualitative method of research. The work concluded that Christianity should be a source of lifting burden rather than means of exploitation as being witnessed in Nigerian churches today. The paper recommended that ministers of God should adhere strictly to the instruction stated in Matthew, “freely you received, freely shall you give.”