Nigerian pastor David Ibiyeomie, founder and presiding pastor of Salvation Ministries, ignited a heated debate on social media following controversial statements regarding Jesus Christ's stance on poverty. During a recent sermon, Ibiyeomie asserted that Jesus dislikes poverty and detested poor people, citing biblical accounts to support his claims.

"Jesus never visited any poor person in his house; check your Bible. That means he hates poverty," Ibiyeomie told his congregation, according to premiumtimesng.com. "He visited a sinner, Zacchaeus, who was rich. Tell me one poor man Jesus entered his house. He hates poverty; that's the meaning. He hates poor people."

He emphasized that while it is acceptable to come to Christ in a state of poverty, remaining poor is unacceptable. "He died for you not to be poor. How can you now come to church with some kind of mentality?" Ibiyeomie said. "You can come poor, but you're not permitted to remain poor. There's nothing wrong with you coming to Christ as a poor man, but it's wrong for you to remain poor. It is wrong."

Ibiyeomie explained that staying in poverty after embracing Christianity indicates a lack of spiritual insight and stressed the importance of living a life of abundance. His remarks sparked outrage across social media platforms, with many users sharing Bible verses to refute his claims. The Guardian Nigeria reported that critics were stunned by Ibiyeomie's interpretation, leading to a heated online debate.

Reverend Dr. Rotimi Ashafa of Christ Kingdom Baptist Church in Ogun State responded to Ibiyeomie's statements, disputing his interpretation of the scriptures. "The statement that Jesus hates poor people is not right. Maybe he wanted to say Jesus hates seeing people poor. Jesus was a friend of poor people; he came for the downtrodden and the downcast," said Ashafa, according to The Guardian Nigeria. "Whenever he saw a sick person at the temple, he healed such. Even those who were hungry, he fed them. So why should he say Jesus hates poor people?"

Ashafa highlighted passages from the Bible that contradict Ibiyeomie's assertions, referencing Matthew 8:14-15, which describes Jesus visiting Peter's house to heal his mother-in-law. "On the claim that Jesus never visited any poor person's house, Reverend Dr. Rotimi Ashafa recalled that Jesus visited Peter's house, where he healed the disciple's mother-in-law," The Guardian Nigeria noted.

Many people criticized Ibiyeomie for what they perceived as a distasteful and harmful interpretation of Christian teachings. Comments on social media reflected the public's disapproval, with one critic stating: "These marketers sha. Same Jesus that said, 'It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God.' They will want to drive home discussion of prosperity for their own gain and then twist the Bible," according to yabaleftonline.ng.

Despite the backlash, some of Ibiyeomie's followers defended his words as a call for believers to rise above poverty and achieve financial prosperity. As of the time of filing this report, Pastor Ibiyeomie has not issued a public response to the criticism.

The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system