Sarah Omakwu, the senior pastor of Family Worship Center in Abuja, has sparked reactions after criticising WhatsApp users who disable the app’s blue tick feature.
Speaking during a recent sermon shared on Facebook, the cleric said turning off read receipts suggests a lack of sincerity and leaves people uncertain about whether their messages have been seen.
“Put back the blue tick on your WhatsApp, put it back. Taking it off is lying, and then you keep people in suspense,” she said.
According to Omakwu, many users hide their read receipts mainly to avoid replying to messages while pretending they never saw them.
“Most of you who remove the blue ticks, it is insincerity, just so you know.
“Put back the blue tick so that the person would see that you have read. How would you want to not know that God has read your requests?”
The pastor also described the practice as avoiding responsibility under the excuse of privacy, urging people to be more transparent in their communication.
“If you are hiding your read receipts on WhatsApp to avoid accountability, hear me: it is not wisdom, it is dishonesty dressed as privacy. God is raising people who are faithful in small things,” she added.
She further encouraged people to embrace honesty in all aspects of life, including online interactions.
“If you can’t be honest in a chat, how will he trust you with people, with money, with influence? Start living in integrity; the small place is where he tests you for the big place. Turn it back on, be a person of your word.”
