Doctrinal discrepancies have been a long-existing issue amongst the Christian folks as there are types of Christianity such as Catholicism, Methodism, Protestantism, Pentecostal, etc.

Even amongst the Pentecostals, there exist the holiness groups and the “rock star” or “new generation group”. This division was recently highlighted in an open letter written by a member of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry to the General Overseer, Pastor Kumuyi, over the invitation of “external musicians” to the holiness church.

On Sunday, the 23rd of January, 2022, Dele Banjo wrote an open letter on his Facebook page questioning and addressing the infiltration of rock star musicians to Deeper Christian Life Ministry.

Excerpts from the letter read;

“Dear Sir, despite our protest we will like to commend you for your day in, day out preaching of modesty, righteousness and judgment… The only issue is these musicians that you are inviting.

“By preaching the true gospel on one hand and inviting these Christian rock stars on the other hand, the congregation may not know what is right from what is wrong. And the congregation may go on to copy the immodest acts that are being displayed by the band members of the musicians you have invited.”

He backed up his concerns and motioned to stop the invitation of external musicians by citing a story of an American musician who backslid from the faith to join the LGBTQ community. He feared that that might be the fate of some Deeper Life members if the mix of Christian rock star music and the ‘true’ gospel of holiness continues. He also questioned where the position of the man of God would be if Paul Baloche for example, came out as gay.

Moving on, he held that choristers ought to transmit signals of holiness as opposed to the choristers who surrounded Dunsin Oyekan during a ministration.

“Dear Sir, we were surprised at the nature of the musical performance of Dunsin Oyekan at Impact. Our main concern was the manner in which Dunsin Oyekan was flanked by two earring-wearing females whilst he was on stage.

“Our humble Deeper Life choir that is made up of those lovely teenagers transmit signals of holiness to the congregation whilst they are performing, don’t they? Yes, they do. And that is exactly how a holiness church like Deeper Life should be. The choir should be transmitting signals of holiness to the congregation and we don’t want a situation where it will appear as if the women that are doing the flanking are transmitting signals of lust. Holiness is the only thing we want to transmit in Deeper Life Bible Church.”

He further throws some rhetorical questions at the G.O, reminding him of how the law of Christ admonishes to reward the sheep with righteousness, not gold, attributing the church’s book of hymns and deeper life choir to righteousness and the rock stars to gold.

“If we may ask you some rhetorical questions sir, did the congregation request that you invite these musicians to Deeper Life?…

Did the districts request that you invite these musicians to Deeper Life?…

Did the groups request that you invite these musicians to Deeper Life? They did not, so why are you inviting them Sir?…

“Throughout the decades of not inviting these musicians to the church, Deeper Life camps, events and retreats have been jam-packed, so what’s the point in inviting these musicians…

“Sir, do you know what it means for thousands of people to jump on your bus like sheep and be transported to your church? It means they love you, Sir. The law of Christ demands that you should reward this love that the sheep has shown you with righteousness and not with worldly gold. Sir, reward the love that Deeper Lifers have shown you with the book of hymns and choir alone (righteousness) and not with international Christian rock stars (gold).”

He advances to discourage the G.O from lowering the standard of holiness to appease the young generation as there are enough “non-holiness” churches to cater to their needs.

“In addition, you need not lower your standards in order to accommodate the so-called young and liberal generation. You need not, because there are already a million and one non-holiness churches that can cater for.

“This young and liberal generation knows that Christian music should be gentle music, they just don’t want it. Instead, they want a little bit of funkiness and hip hop to be integrated with Christianity. Since this young and liberal generation knows the truth but they don’t want it, then you need not lower your standards in order to appease them.

Approaching the close of his letter, he challenged pastor Kumuyi’s analogy of chemistry subject and a chemistry teacher to defend his actions when interviewed by a fellow Deeper Lifer.

Banjo questioned the implicatures of Pastor Kumuyi’s reply, consolidated upon a scriptural reference that holiness should be given priority, and warned that the next time the G.O would want to bring in motivational speakers to the Deeper Life Ministry, he could, first of all, enquire if there are any successful Deeper Life speakers- of which he was certain there are.

“Some Deeper Lifers have asked why you invited non Deeper Lifers as guest speakers and you have been questioned in an interview that is available on YouTube.

In the interview, you used the chemistry subject and chemistry teachers as examples to defend the invitation of non Deeper Lifers as guest speakers. You stated that for example, if you want to hire a teacher to teach a child chemistry, you will hire that chemistry teacher based only on the teacher’s ability to teach chemistry. You, therefore, implied that it is okay to invite any motivational speaker to Deeper Life irrespective of whether or not such motivational speakers practice modesty and holiness as long as they are highly skilled in their professional fields.

Dear Sir, are you now implying that chemistry (entrepreneurial or motivational advice) is superior to holiness? Are you implying that we should prioritize entrepreneurial or motivational advice over holiness?

The message of Christ which is holiness is the one that should be given priority, therefore the next time you want to bring in motivational speakers to Deeper Life; you can first all enquire if there are any successful motivational speakers or entrepreneurs from within Deeper Life. I am very sure that you will find successful motivational speakers from within Deeper Life that can lecture the youths.”

He concluded with a prayer heading tagged ‘LET US PRAY” and a commendation to Pastor Kumuyi whom he had just made an attempt to admonish using the sandwich feedback technique.

The open letter brought a lot of backlash on the addresser while some commentators affirmed that he(Banjo) deserves an explanation from the G.O since his indoctrinator has now made some sort of digression.