Guest Feature: Killing the “African God” Slowly

By Naana Ekua Eyaaba

Is God still alive? Did God create the world and then forget all about it? Does God still care about what humans do in His name? Are we in Africa taking undue advantage of God's patience and unconditional love? Are some Christians making a mockery of God?

Having the advantage (or some may say disadvantage) of knowing and being connected with so many people on social media, WhatsApp in particular, means that I receive numerous interesting, even weird messages on a daily basis. Perhaps your experience is similar. Over the last few months, some of these messages are beginning to convince me that the activities and brand of worship of some Christians in Africa and those of African descent around the world could slowly kill the Judeo-Christian God in Africa in the not-too-distant future.

A few months ago, a renowned Ghanaian bishop of a ‘Charismatic Church’ was reported to have commanded the free-falling Ghanaian cedi to stop falling and begin to rise again. Then a South African ‘prophet’, in the heat of worship, took his congregation to a field and commanded them to eat raw grass. Suddenly Homo sapiens went on all fours and began eating green grass, with the animal droppings and all, with gusto. Later, that same prophet made his flock drink petrol.

In another, a pastor in Nigeria was carried aloft in a hammock by four strong men, as he “spread the Word.” Then there was the pastor who at the apparent “prompting of the Holy Spirit,” tried Jesus’ miracle of walking on water and sadly, drowned in the process to the horror of his congregation. Finally, earlier this week, I received another message in which a pastor in Nigeria charged his congregation a fee of 300 Naira per person, in order for him to tell those who were willing to pay “if their names had been written in the Book of Life,” as found in the Book of Revelation. Habah, my people!

In the case of the Ghanaian cedi, the said Bishop made his declaration, (some will say gave the prophetic message), in the presence of the sitting president of Ghana, who apparently mouthed “Praise the Lord” to this rather daft declaration. Was there no economist in the congregation to whisper to the Bishop, if he has no inkling of economics, that is, that currencies do not simply fall or rise on the barking of “men of God”? Did it not occur to the Bishop or anyone else in the congregation that the free fall of the cedi has everything to do with the reckless spending prior to Election 2012 and unrestrained borrowing thereafter? Yes, we can pray for our leaders and for the stability of our countries, but let us equally speak to them about the way of righteousness.

In Matthew 14:13-21 when Jesus realised that His listeners had not eaten all day and it was getting too late to send them away to buy food, He enquired and found a young lad who had five small loaves of bread and two small fish, which Jesus took and blessed and gave to the people to eat. If our grass-feeding pastor could not find food for his starving congregation, did he really have to rub it in by getting them infected with all kinds of diseases?

Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem was on a donkey, the lowest form of transport there was. Whenever He needed to do something special to reach the multitudes, Jesus borrowed a rowing boat, which was then put out to sea. He never forced anyone to carry Him anywhere, not even as a means of making His voice heard by the multitude. Simon the Cyrenian was forced by the soldiers to carry Jesus’ cross, a part of the way; it was not Jesus’ idea. Why are His disciples (or ministers) inflicting yokes they themselves cannot bear on others?

It is good that the guy who tried to walk on water did not involve anybody else, and frankly, if he had somehow been rescued, I would be carrying a placard now, urging the authorities of his country to prosecute him for attempted suicide. I have been wondering since I received that posting as to the explanation our departed pastor would give to St Peter at the Golden Gate, for his early exit.

Three hundred Naira for a peep into the “Book of Life” huh? How did our honourable pastor fix that fee? How exactly did he come by that book while still walking and breathing on this side of Heaven, perhaps Hell in his case?

The Bible says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6). Unfortunately, in nearly every one of the cases cited, my Sisters outnumbered the Brothers in the congregation. The Americans have a saying that “If you want to hide something from the Black person, put it in writing.” Sisters have been rolling naked in front of pervert pastors along sandy beaches all over Africa for deliverance for decades, and yet seem nowhere close to being delivered of anything.

We still slave away in private, assisted old folks’ homes in Europe and North America, and send our pay packets to pastors and prophets in Africa.

We continue to build homes in Africa that we never sleep in, only to be laid in state in those mansions (sort of mortuaries) when we die. In the meantime, we squat in other people’s living rooms and garages as we slave away to accumulate wealth that never benefits us in our lifetime.

My people, let us begin to read the Bible, and learn from its store of wisdom and riches. Let's stop our dependence on rogue pastors, who almost always take something from us without giving anything back.

Without a shadow of a doubt, we may agree that with the help of these half-literate “men of God,” we are killing interest in the God we worship, and making it more difficult for those who have answered the call “to go and make disciples of all nations.”

Look out for the beaded gourd, for I shall be back.

Nana Ekua Eyaaba has an overarching interest in the development of the African continent and Black issues in general. Having travelled extensively through Africa, the Black communities of the East Coast of the United States as well as London and Leeds (United Kingdom), she enjoys reading, and writes when she is irritated, and edits when she is calm. You can email her at neeyaaba@gmail.com, or read her blog at http://naanaekuaeyaaba.wordpress.com/.