Catholic Church, CAN & End-time Prophecy

The Catholic Church of Nigeria (CCN) has taken a lot of flak over its decision to sever family ties with the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). Just last week Wednesday, at a news conference held in Abeokuta, the Diocesan Administrator of the Catholic Diocese, and member of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), Monsignor Christopher Ajala, announced that the Catholic Church of Nigeria has withdrawn its membership from CAN because of its “closeness to the government.”
The largely negative reactions to the announcement by most stakeholders in Christendom quickly moved CCN leadership to engage reverse gear. It is safe to say that the CCN immediately regretted the negative slant provided by the news report, but as much as the Director of Communications in the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Rev. Fr. Ralph Madu, tried to put a positive spin on the Msgr. Ajala’s outburst, the damage was already done. The crux of the matter is that CCN has decided to withdraw its membership from CAN, regardless of whether or not it was due to CAN’s irksome closeness to the government (according to Msgr. Ajala) or just to sort out some issues with the national Christian body (according to Rev. Fr. Madu).
From their body language and Freudian slips, most CCN leaders are not comfortable with the emergence of Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor as CAN President for whatever reasons. Still, it is not my intention to join the heated debate over which of the Christian denominations in Nigeria is closest to government and corrupt politicians, nor do I support the expulsion of CCN from CAN, as is being canvassed by a school of thought, simply because two wrongs do not make a right.
In his letter to the Church at Corinth (I Corinthians 1:10-13), Apostle Paul wrote as follows: “I urge you, brothers and sisters,  in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, not to have factions among yourselves but all to be in agreement in what you profess; so that you are perfectly united in the same mind and in the same purpose. For it has been reported to me about you, my brothers and sisters, by  Chloe’s people, that there are serious differences and rivalries among you. I mean that each of you is saying,  ‘I belong to Paul,’ or ‘I belong to Apollos,’ or ‘I belong to Cephas (Peter),’ or ‘I belong to Christ.’ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of  Paul?” When you replace Paul, Apollos and Peter with the names of present-day Christian denominations you would immediately realize that what applied to the Church at Corinth hundreds of years ago still applies to the Church in Nigeria today!
Apostle Paul went on to state in I Corinthians 3:1-4: “My brothers and sisters, I could not talk to you as spiritual people, but as people still living by their natural inclinations, still infants in Christ…For you are still living by your natural inclinations. As long as there are jealousy and rivalry among you, that surely means that you are still living by your natural inclinations and by merely human principles. While there is one that says, ‘I belong to Paul’ and another that says, ‘I belong to Apollos’ are you not being only too human?” It is a question that many Christian leaders should equally ponder about as they struggle to hide the unpleasant reality of their overarching ambitions behind the facade of church denominations and respectability.
Our Lord Jesus Christ solemnly declared in Matthew 16:18-19: “And I say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven (authority and power of Christ), and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” The fact that the gates of hell seem to be prevailing today through various anarchic organizations implies that many of the denominations dotting the landscape are not built by Jesus Christ, but are founded and operated by leaders and organizations still living by their natural inclinations and human principles.
To say that the self-centeredness of spiritual leaders is the bane of the Church today is to say the obvious. The Church is constantly under attack so the sons of God must be on the look-out and continue to pray without ceasing to avert the destructive work of the devil and his agents. This requires the Church in Nigeria to purge herself of divisiveness and be “united in the same mind and in the same purpose.”
The End-time Church God is building is a reigning one. We are in the days of the dominion of the Church. Zechariah 8:20-23 makes this succinctly clear: “Thus says the Lord of hosts: There shall yet come peoples, the inhabitants of many cities; and the inhabitants of one city shall approach those of another, and say, ‘Come! let us go to implore the favor of the Lord;’ and, ‘I too will go to seek the Lord.’ Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem (the Church) and to implore the favor of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ten men of every nationality, speaking different tongues, shall take hold, yes, take hold of every (spiritual) Jew by the edge of his garment and say, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’”
These last days are days of a massive Revival. But it won’t be because of story-telling; it would be the product of power manifestation by the End-time Church. The Church would be exercising so much authority and power and displaying what the Amplified Bible calls “the complicated, many-sided wisdom of God in all its infinite variety and innumerable aspects” to the extent that so-called ‘strong nations’ (you can guess them!) will seek counsel from mighty men and women of God! While the rest of the world would be suffering an economic meltdown, political instability and leadership cluelessness, the Church would be scaling supernatural heights and dictating the pace as in the days of the prophets of old! This is why it is very important that the Church remains united rather than separated. In a subsequent essay, I would outline how the different denominations could seek bible-based unity.
It is, however, very important to state at this juncture that the refusal of Church leaders to toe the line won’t stall the execution of God’s agenda for the end-time. Apostle Paul said as much in I Corinthians 11:18-19: “To begin with, I am told that when you meet as a church there are divisions among you. I believe there is some truth in the report. There have to be factions among you in order to reveal which are genuine.”! In order words, recalcitrance on the part of Christian leaders could advantageously become a tool with which God will separate the boys from the men. Anyone who has an ear, should listen to what the Spirit of the Lord is saying!