A pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), in Ogun State, Debo Akinyemi, has condemned the dating site launched recently by RCCG, City of David parish to match-mate mature Christian singles, saying it is “satanic”.
Akinyemi expressed disappointment at the initiative, preaching singles should go to God and not dating sites. He also said the “church has completely derailed”.
“I am surprised at the move and I think the church has completely derailed. How do we explain a dating site for mature Christian singles? Where is the place of prayer? Where is the place of God’s word? I think a dating site has taken God out of the equation. And that is satanic from whatever angle you want to look at it.
“He gave the template. It then means that singles should go to God, not to any dating site. That is a misapplication of technology. When you match-mate people through such a site, who do they take their problem to if they have issues?”
“Will they blame God if such marriage turns abusive? Will they blame God if people that don’t know God at all, take advantage of the site to infiltrate the church? I am convinced that it impugns the sanctity of the marriage institution whose sole proponent was God. It was God who saw that it was not good for Adam to be alone and he provided a wife for him,” he said.
The cleric said the initiate was accommodated because it’s from a wealthy parish. He said no poor parish will try a dating site without being sanctioned.
He said: “We are supposed to find God’s leading. The whole idea of the site smacks of exuberance, impetuosity, and poor supervision. No poor parish of the RCCG dared to do what the City of David did. Bringing ungodly concepts into the church is unacceptable.”
“That church was stopped from going ahead. I don’t know why the City of David is now untouchable.
“I dare the pastor of the parish to come and show me how the dating site accords with any of the doctrines of the RCCG or the Bible for that matter.
“Finding a spouse should be by God’s guidance. There is so much confusion in the world today. If God is not leading us we will choose wrongly. It is possible for a man to mischievously exchange love vows with many ladies in different places. The dating site furnishes the opportunity to get a partner through deception. Dating sites are like gambling with the future of our singles. It should not be tolerated.
“Any single who is looking for a spouse should do so with his eyes closed and knees bent in prayer and not through a lousy dating site. They must be ready to pray and wait on God’s guidance. All those who wanted something from God in the bible waited on God. Abraham waited. Hannah waited. Elizabeth waited. I could go on and on.
“We saw what happened to Saul when he was tired of waiting for God and went to the witch of Endor. So you are making the youths act like Saul when you ask them to push God aside and go to the dating site for partners, the dating site is an ungodly concept and there is little anyone can say in its favour, no matter any parameter of justification.
“The church is for the worship of God primarily. The church is not a marketplace for singles to come and market themselves to potential partners. If we teach our youth well enough, they would understand the need to look up to God to lead them to those to marry.”
