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/.
Sign up here with your email
ConversionConversion EmoticonEmoticon