Pastor David Ibiyeomie, founder of Salvation Ministries, has claimed that Jesus Christ strongly detests poverty and did not maintain close ties with the poor during His time on earth. In a sermon captured in a video that began trending on Sunday, Ibiyeomie told his congregation that, according to scripture, Jesus never entered a poor man’s home — a detail he interprets as evidence of divine disapproval of poverty. He further asserted that Christ’s death and resurrection were not solely for salvation, but also to liberate believers from poverty. Remaining poor after accepting Christ, he argued, indicates a lack of spiritual insight. Ibiyeomie said, “Jesus never visited any poor person in his house, check your bible. That means he hates poverty. He visited Lazarus, they were not poor, they were giving him food. “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 people who are poor. He died for you not to be poor. How can you now come to church with some kind of mentality? “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.”