Jesus never hated poverty; he dined with poor people’

Abel Damina, the founder and president of Abel Damina Ministries International (ADMI), has criticised David Ibiyeomie, the founder and presiding pastor of Salvation Ministries, for his remark that ‘Jesus hated poverty’.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Ibiyeomie, during one of his sermons, which went viral on Monday, claimed that Jesus had never associated with poor people during His lifetime.

Mr Ibiyeomie, who anchors the ‘Hour of Salvation’ live services broadcast on over 40 local and international television stations, said Jesus’ apparent refusal to associate with people experiencing poverty meant He hated poverty.

However, responding to the 62-year-old pastor’s comment, which sparked a buzz on social media, Mr Damina’s sermon during ‘In Christ Realities Season 5’, posted on the church’s YouTube page on Wednesday, alleged that Mr Ibiyeomie insulted the Bible.

The CEO of Kingdom Life Network (KLN) – a Christian satellite TV channel- said, “People say all kinds of things in the body of Christ. Even a preacher (Pastor Ibiyeomie) once said Jesus never visited any poor person in their house, implying that He hates poverty. He asked, ‘Tell me one poor person Jesus visited.’ According to him, Jesus hates poverty and poor people. When I heard it, I said, ‘Kansogo ye, mobali na ngai.’ That’s all I said. These prosperity mongers—money lovers—when will you stop insulting the sensibility of scripture?

“We invite you, saying, ‘Come, let’s teach you the Bible’, but you complain that we talk too much. Yet, it’s your ignorance that is publicly distracting you. How can Jesus hate poor people? We know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: that though He was rich, yet for your sake, He became poor, identifying with the poor, that you, through His poverty, might be made rich. And the ‘rich’ here isn’t material wealth but richness in grace, mercy, and righteousness.”

Poverty

Additionally, he maintained that Jesus visited several poor people, contrary to Mr Ibiyeomie’s claim.

He argued that if Jesus hated poverty and poor people during his lifetime, he should have been born into a rich and well-to-do family.

“Jesus identified with the poor even from His birth. He was born in the manger of Bethlehem to poor parents—Joseph the carpenter and Mary. If he hated poor people, He should’ve come from the house of Bill Gates or Elon Musk. But instead, He came from a humble carpenter’s family.

“He lived in poverty throughout His lifetime. In the book of Matthew, He ate with tax collectors and sinners. In Matthew 8:20, Jesus said, ‘The Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.’ He ate with sinners and fishermen. His disciples were also fishermen. He didn’t choose wealth or affluence because He had a mission—a divine mission: ‘Thou shalt bring forth a son and shall call His name Jesus, and He shall save His people from their sins’”, said Mr Damina.

The President of the Abel Damina Ministerial Equipping Network (ADMEN) further stated that such teaching creates a mindset in people, making them believe that their wealth defines their relationship with God.

He added, “The Bible tells us such preachers are destitute of the truth. It says they are ‘doting about nothing’ and instructs us to avoid them. It also says, ‘Godliness with contentment is great gain.’ Jesus looked at the rich and said, ‘Beware of covetousness. A man’s life does not consist of the abundance of his possessions.”

Poor widow

Moreover, Mr Damina used the poor widow in the Bible to portray Jesus as a lover of the poor.

He also stated that believing such a teaching would not only create a negative mindset and flawed thinking pattern for Christians but also misinform and distort them.

Quoting the Bible verse, he said, “Mark 12:41 says: ‘And Jesus sat over against the treasury and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which made a farthing. And He called unto Him His disciples and said unto them, ‘Verily I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast more in than all they have cast into the treasury.

“For all, they did cast in of their abundance, but she of her want to be cast in all that she had, even all her living. And yet, someone dares to say God hates poor people? Are you saying Jesus died just to put Naira in your pocket? Did it take His death to give you money? Naira—something people who don’t even believe in God have more than enough of? No. Only ‘Kansogo ye ye mobali na ngai’ can respond and take care of that kind of school of thought.”

Mr Damina noted that Jesus’s hundredfold promise was not in money but in the blessings of the gospel.

“Which of Jesus’ disciples were rich? They followed Him and left everything behind. Their only legacy to their name was the lives they transformed through preaching, not monuments built with money.

“Yet these prosperity mongers will do anything to twist scripture for personal gain, even at the expense of eternity and the salvation of souls. What a wonderful week to preach the resurrection of Christ, and someone chooses to preach money out of your pocket. How can I stay in that kind of church?”