Özet:

The study examined Church commercialization with emphasis on John 2: 13-17. Religion to an extent in Nigeria is no more a spiritual thing but a means to an end especially among some so- called religious leaders. Although some spiritual leaders postulated spiritual reasons for their actions but majority of it is found out to be against the ethics of Christianity. Therefore for the purpose of clarity, the methodology adopted by the researcher in this paper was descriptive and empirical methods. The paper noted that, Jesus in John 2: 13-17 was angry with temple authorities that engaged in exploiting the poor and rebuked them for the desecration of the house of God. The paper revealed that in Nigeria, most pastors focused on prosperity preaching’s and this have caused loss of interest and lack of trust in spiritual activities among many believers. In other words, majority no longer reference God and things of God as it used to be. It has been pastor’s wealth versus member’s poverty in Nigeria Church of today. These facts have bashed the reputation of the Church; turned commercialization into an aberration that makes it to look like it is against the tenets of Christianity and thus the church is encouraged to work towards promoting good virtues in the face of this anomaly. The paper, on this note recommended that basic theological education needs to be given to people in order to understand the workings of religion and commerce. Religious leaders too who engaged in religion/church commercialization are advised to yield to the mandate of Jesus that freely one has received and freely one must give. This becomes imperatives in order to boost the image of Church that has been tarnished as a result of these unhealthy business activities. Above all, moderation and Godly contentment should be the attitude of professing Christians.

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