The Nigeria factor: a new twist on an old truth

One church member said it means "life lived to the full. Everything done to the extreme." A woman added: "It is nothing that should be written down." Another friend contributed that "it is nothing we should be proud of." My taxi driver defined the "Nigeria Factor" as the following: "It refers to the extra sources of income because of corruption in our country. It is the African way. When someone does something for you, you show appreciation. But it is mandatory. It's a financial incentive. A person's salary is not enough for a person to survive. Dash is the factor." The Nigeria Factor under Christ should contribute to the recognition that theirs is a complex nation in a complex world. While the numerical growth of the Nigerian church is remarkable, it has also spawned an incredible array of wholly independent, answer-to-no-one ministries. Everyone agrees that "religion" is the largest "business" second only to the oil industry. An acknowledgement of the scandal of the commercialization of Christianity and the crass importation of freewheeling ways into Christ's church would aid in church unity.