Giving to God Does Not Make You Rich — Pastor Damina

In a bold theological challenge, Pastor Abel Damina of Power City International has directly confronted the widely held belief in Nigeria that tithing is a direct route to financial prosperity. Damina, known for his often unorthodox theological viewpoints, asserts that the doctrine of tithing as a wealth-generating mechanism is unscriptural and has been deliberately cultivated within Nigerian churches to mislead worshippers. He unequivocally states that no scripture in the Bible guarantees riches for giving to God, arguing instead that such practices can lead to financial lack.

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There’s no scripture in the Bible that says when you give to God, you’ll be a rich person. There’s no such scripture. Nobody prospers by giving. When you give, you lack. Because when you give, it leaves you and there’s vacuum. Then you have to work again and give it time to recover what you gave. And sometimes you never recover it.

Damina's perspective is rooted in a practical understanding of wealth creation, emphasizing that prosperity stems from education, labor, and enterprise. He shared a poignant anecdote about an individual who donated all three of his cars to his church in pursuit of divine reward, only to be left with nothing and forced to trek. This story serves as a stark illustration of his argument that giving does not inherently lead to prosperity and can, in fact, deplete one's resources, requiring further effort to recover.

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Somebody told me he gave to his church all his three cars and he has been trekking since then till when I met him. He said, I was thinking of going back to collect one. I said, I think so too. Because if you gave three and the only one you want to collect is one out of the three, you try. You’re never asking for the three.

Furthermore, the clergyman posits that God's blessings are not transactional but are intrinsically embedded within the earth itself. He argues that humanity's role is to harness these pre-existing blessings through knowledge and diligent work. This viewpoint reframes divine favor not as a reward for monetary offerings but as an inherent potential within creation, waiting to be unlocked by human effort and understanding. Pastor Damina's critique challenges a cornerstone of financial theology prevalent in many Nigerian churches, advocating for a more grounded approach to wealth acquisition.

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I never saw anybody who, because he tithed, became a billionaire. Even those who said they became billionaires because they tithed — it’s because they don’t know. It’s because they had jobs and businesses. That’s why they became billionaires. Not because they tithed.