The spiritual bankruptcy of pastopreneurs: Why they cannot give you Christ

By Oyewole O. Sarumi

In over three decades of traversing the globe, standing behind pulpits from the sweltering heat of Lagos to the cathedrals of Europe, and lecturing in seminaries where eager minds grapple with the sacred text, I have observed a phenomenon that deeply troubles my spirit.

It is a shift that has been subtle in its inception but catastrophic in its execution. We are witnessing the rise of the “Pastopreneur”, a hybrid creature of modern capitalism and religious performance who dominates the vista of African Christianity and beyond.

These figures command stadiums, fly in private jets, and boast followings that rival the populations of small nations. Yet, beneath the veneer of success and the noise of their amplified crusades, there lies a hollow silence where the true life of Christ ought to reside.

As a theologian who has dedicated a lifetime to the study of God’s nature and the history of His church, I feel compelled to write this rejoinder not out of malice, but out of a desperate, shepherd-like concern for the flock.

We must address a fundamental spiritual principle that seems to have been lost in the fog of celebrity worship: the principle of spiritual transference. This principle is anchored in the profound declaration of the Apostle Peter in Acts 3:6. When confronted by the lame man at the Beautiful Gate,

Peter did not offer a seminar on success or a mantle of prosperity. He said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”

The theological weight of this statement is crushing in its simplicity: a man cannot give what he does not have. The tragedy of our current age is that we have thousands of leaders who possess silver, gold, infrastructure, and political influence in abundance, yet they are utterly bankrupt of the authentic, transforming life of Jesus Christ.

Consequently, they cannot impart it to you. If we are to survive the spiritual famine that is sweeping across the pews of the global church, we must critically examine the nature of this empty religion, the complicity of the crowds, and the narrow, often painful path back to the true Bread of Life.

The Peter Principle: You Cannot Transmit What You Do Not Possess

To understand why the celebrity pastor or the religious entrepreneur cannot teach you about the life of Christ, we must first understand the economy of the Kingdom of God.

In the Kingdom, authority is not derived from net worth, social media metrics, or the square footage of an auditorium. Authority is derived from intimacy. The life of Christ, what the Greek New Testament refers to as ‘Zoe’, is not a commodity that can be franchised. It is a spiritual substance that is cultivated in the secret place, often through seasons of crushing, breaking, and dying to self.

The giants of the religious industry today are indeed in high demand. Their brands are polished, and their logistical capabilities are impressive.

MHowever, the infrastructure they have built demonstrates business acumen, not necessarily divine approval. When a leader operates primarily as a CEO of a religious corporation, with their spouses, children and family members as board members and close associates, the “product” they offer to their “customers” invariably shifts.

They teach their followers an empty form of religion. It looks like Christianity because it uses the right lexicon; it smells like Christianity because it engages in charitable acts; it feels like Christianity because it stimulates the emotions. But it is definitely not real Christianity, not by an inch.

This imitation is what the Apostle Paul, with tears in his eyes, described to the church in Corinth. He warned of those who preach “another Jesus” whom the apostles did not preach, “another spirit” which they did not receive, and “another gospel” which they did not accept (2 Corinthians 11:4).

In our contemporary context, this “other Jesus” is a mascot for upward mobility, a genie who exists solely to grant wishes and ensure comfort.

This is not the Man of Sorrows acquainted with grief; this is a projection of our own consumerist desires. The deception is so sophisticated, so closely modeled after the original, that billions of Christians are currently unable to tell the difference.

The Great Deception and the Appearance of Righteousness

We are living in the days that Jesus warned us about in Matthew 24:24, where false christs and false prophets would rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

The qualifier “if possible” suggests a deception so potent that it rivals the truth in every optical metric. In this fake form of Christianity, almost everything mimics the original except for one non-negotiable aspect: the Life of Christ Himself.

It is imperative that we make a theological distinction here, one that many believers miss to their own peril. There is a difference between the ‘power’ of Christ and the ‘life’ of Christ.

A preacher can demonstrate power without possessing the life. Jesus made this terrifyingly clear in Matthew 7:22-23, where many will say to Him in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?”

These are not charlatans performing magic tricks; they are individuals seemingly operating in the supernatural. Yet, Christ’s response is bone-chilling: “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”

This reveals that a man can have a gift, but lack the Giver. He can have the charisma of an apostle (2 Corinthians 11:13) and the appearance of a minister of righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:15), yet be internally void of the nature of God.

The “Pastopreneurs” rely on these external elements, the power, the oratory skills, the command of the stage, to fool the masses into thinking they possess the life of Christ.

But the life of Christ is characterized by humility, meekness, a lack of reputation, and a willingness to suffer, qualities that are diametrically opposed to the brand-building exercises of modern religious celebrities.

As the great A.W. Tozer once remarked, “It is possible to have a religion that is structurally orthodox but morally dead.” We are seeing the structural orthodoxy of “church” being used to mask a moral and spiritual vacuum. “Me I no go suffer” is a popular rendition in most of the premises of these pastopreneurs that liters the African landscape today.

The Infant Believer and the Trap of Spiritual immaturity

If you find yourself following these men and women, hanging on their every word, and defending their excesses, I must speak a bitter truth to you with love: it is likely because you do not really know the true life of Christ yourself. If you did, if you had tasted the vintage wine of His presence, you would not be satisfied with the cheap grape juice of motivational speaking masquerading as the Gospel. You would never, ever follow them.

This does not necessarily mean you are not born again. The Scriptures speak of those who are “infants in Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:1). An infant has life, but they lack discernment. They cannot distinguish their right hand from their left. They are attracted to shiny objects and loud noises. Because they are unweaned, they can be easily convinced that this fake Christianity is the real article. They judge a ministry by its size rather than its substance.

The danger of remaining in this infantile state is that such believers do not just remain victims; they often evolve into accomplices.

They are deceived into swallowing this fake Christianity, and then they regurgitate it to others, becoming agents of the very deception that holds them captive. This explains why the “Pastopreneurs” have thousands of satellite pastors and proteges all over the world.

They are amplifying the signal of deception, creating an echo chamber where the truth can no longer penetrate. The day a believer truly begins to know and grow in the life of Christ is the day he will instinctively run away from these environments. He will realize that he is starving to death at a banquet of empty calories.

The Complicity of the Crowd: Seeking Bread, Not the Bread of Life

However, we must dig deeper because we cannot lay the blame solely at the feet of the leaders. There is a supply because there is a demand. There is a sad dimension to this matter that we often ignore: over 90% of deceived believers do not actually want to be free. The prophet Jeremiah lamented, “The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own power; and My people love to have it so” (Jeremiah 5:31). They love being in bondage and brag about it.

This dynamic is perfectly illustrated in the sixth chapter of John. Great crowds followed Jesus, not because they saw the signs and understood their spiritual significance, but because they ate of the loaves and were filled.

When Jesus began to speak of the true cost of discipleship, of eating His flesh and drinking His blood, of total union with Him in His death, the crowds dispersed. They were “God-users.” They were interested in the bread they could get from Christ, not the life they could receive in Christ.

Today, millions populate our churches with the same “loaves and fishes” mentality. They are eager to be deceived because the deception comforts them. It promises them a crown without a cross. It promises them wealth without work. It promises them reigning without suffering. In their self-fueled deception, they are shielded from the painful, harsh reality of truly following Christ.

Jesus did not chase after the crowds in John 6, as He quietly evaded them. Similarly, the true Spirit of Christ is quietly evading the millions of believers who gather in His name but for their own sake.

These believers are eager to be manipulated because the alternative is too terrifying to contemplate. The alternative is the narrow way (Matthew 7:14), and it is the difficult way. It is the Cross that imposes intense suffering, pain, and shame on every single man and woman who genuinely follows Christ.

The Offense of the Cross and the Doctrine of Suffering

The modern “Church Industry” has systematically removed the Cross from its theology because the Cross is bad for business. The Cross is an instrument of death. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer famously wrote, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” But the Pastopreneur bids you come and prosper. These two calls are incompatible.

The authentic Christian life is marked by a fellowship of His sufferings (Philippians 3:10). It involves being conformed to His death. The early apostles and the patriarchs of our faith understood that suffering was not an aberration to be prayed away, but a badge of honor to be worn.

Paul wrote to the Philippians, “For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake” (Philippians 1:29).

It is by fearing the pain and shame of the Cross, while simultaneously desiring the benefits of the Life of Christ, that men run into the arms of these religious merchandisers.

They want the resurrection without the crucifixion. But this is theological alchemy; it is impossible. By refusing the cup of suffering, they become accomplices in the mockery of the faith. In this end-time, this deception will grow into a deeper bewitchment. The chains will be secured by the very hands of the victims, until the Second Coming of Jesus catches them unaware, and their souls are lost in a perdition of their own making.

The Remnant and the Way of Escape

Who then can be saved? Who will escape this high-tech deception and the hordes of wicked spirits that sustain it? The only believers who will escape are those who want nothing in life except Christ alone.

We must return to the simplicity of the early church. We need men and women who desire His way alone, His truth alone, and His life alone. These are the people who are ready to despise the shame of the Cross and embrace its pain, just as their Master did. They are not looking for a transaction; they are looking for a transformation. They are willing to lose their reputation, their comfort, and even their lives if deemed necessary by God (Revelation 2:10).

The celebrated 19th-century preacher Charles Spurgeon foresaw a time when the church would be entertained rather than edified, stating, “A time will come when instead of shepherds feeding the sheep, the church will have clowns entertaining the goats.” We are living in that time. The “Church Industry” is indeed one of the fastest-growing industries in the world, a citadel of deception and falsehood where the pews are full, but the hearts are empty. The number of churches in some African countries quadruple the number of factories!

Yet, there is hope for the true believer who wants nothing on earth except Christ and His life alone, God’s loving redemption is freely and abundantly available. The prerequisite is not a seed offering, a tithe of your income or a partnership level; the prerequisite is hunger for Him alone. Jesus promised, “Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6).

The Time of Shunning Strong Doctrine is Here

We stand at a precipice as the warning of the Apostle Paul to Timothy rings with terrifying relevance today: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:3-4). The “Pastopreneurs” are the result of our itching ears. We created them with our lust for comfort and our disdain for sound doctrine.

But the invitation remains open. The life of Christ is not found in the noise of the marketplace or the merchandising of the anointing. It is found in the quiet surrender of the soul to the will of the Father. It is found in the daily taking up of the Cross, denying yourself, and follow Jesus, not men of God. It is found in the refusal to bow to the golden image of success that the religious Babylon has set up.

I implore you, as one who has seen the rise and fall of many ministries, do not be swayed by the crowd. Do not measure truth by popularity. Do not mistake financial gain for godliness.

Stop following men of God simply because they are famous, have big auditorium and speak queen’s English with impeccable oratory. Look for the scars. Look for the humility. Look for the Life of Christ. Compare their lives in the secret with the one in the public.

And if you cannot find it in these big auditoriums and cathedrals of glass and steel, go back to your secret place, open your Bible, and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the true Jesus to you.

Great grace is available to help every willing soul who turns from the fable to the Truth. Please, dear friend, be one of them because the clock of His appearing is tickling. Maranatha! I

Prof. Sarumi, a pastor and Bible Scholar, writes from Lagos

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