The place of the church is to preach the message of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, win souls for the Kingdom of God, baptise them in the name of Jesus, and promote the Gospel of Christ and to impact positively on society through the principles and the teachings of Jesus Christ.
The church in contemporary times have obviously moved beyond these virtues and are now busying itself in a fierce but silent inter-denominational competitive battle for laurels and materialism, first among leadership and then with corporate entities for limited and innovative advertisement space in the country.
Not too long, the airwaves was polluted by the abusive, unprintable and satanic exchanges between two Kumasi-based preachers, Rev. Dr. Prophet Ebenezer Darkwa-Yiadom (who now calls himself “Prophet1 Senior”) and one Bishop Daniel Obinim. So repulsive were their exchanges and threats that the Police had to step in to broker a truce between these two servants of God amidst threats of murder, occultism and allegations of kidnapping.
These and other acts of indiscipline, lawlessness and paganism have given the church a bad name in recent times. I vividly recall the His Excellency John Evans Atta Mills’ admonishment to the Clergy when he opened the 69th Synod of the Global Presbyterian Church. He advised the clergy to be trail blazers and lead lives that speaks well of their faith. In fact, His Excellency the President expressed his regret about the lifestyles of some leaders of the Christian community in Ghana which did not give credit to the Christian faith.
Not too long after this event, the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Rt. Rev. Frimpong Manso stated at the 10th General Assembly of the Church that “I wish to restate that we move away from our overdependence on offerings and tithes in the light of current fatigue in giving the poverty of most of our members”.
The waste in church expenditure is lately evident in the fierce advertisement, promotions and live presenter mentions on TV, radio, posters and on giant digital signage and bill boards of activities of orthodox, pentecostal and charismatic churches irrespective of size, location or membership.
This new advertisement drive that has taken the better side of the ministry of the gospel has seen the walls of many of our public buildings, electricity and telephone poles, schools, pavements, cars, among other sites splashed with posters of all colours, sizes and shapes announcing one crusade, healing encounter, motivational lecture, seminar, pastoral conferences and conventions and the cycle repeats itself year after year, while the increasing cost is borne by members of the church especially those who are richer and more popular including our politicians.
We are thus under intense pressure to pay more in church to outdo the church next door in terms of popularity and advertisement which i deem very occultic.
Aside the very high quality and expensive nature of these posters, billboards, and banners displayed at various locations all over the city, the cost of the production of such advertisement materials are borne by no other but the members of the congregation. Members are tasked to provide the resources via tithes, offerings and other “sacrificial offerings” and lately “corporate tithes” for the production of these expensive advertisement materials among other capital intensive engagements of the church. To me, the church is gradually ceding their responsibilities of helping shape our moral and prepare our soul for the coming of Christ to uppish social activities. I won’t be surprised if some churches soon begin organising beach events and pool parties all in the name of socialization.
I am yet to pay detailed attention, let alone concentrate to read the contents of many of these posters that are mostly posted at places obviously illegal; ie; on walls, tress, electricity poles, on transformers, Telephone exchange boxes, AMA rubbish containers, and areas clearly designated with the “post no bill” sign. This is the level of indiscipline that some of these churches are promoting in our society.
Equally disgusting is the current trend of our men of the cloth, shedding their collars for military uniforms to speak at conventions and programmes to depict a posture against the devil. Some even carry these pictures onto their posters that look very awkward.
I support the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA)’s resolution to close down all illegal churches and mosques to help curb the noise they generate even in the still of the night.
Our Churches must be the first to respect our laws so that they would live their mission of influencing our society, our nation and work places by the word of God. And it is disappointing how out city authorities have sat down to allow our cities and highways to be littered by huge billboards, posters, advertisement announcements , by religious bodies, event planners, individuals and corporate organisations.
Again, the foremost culprits of noise making in public beside beer bars and pubs are Churches and Mosques with their excessive noise making even when residents are fast asleep after a very hectic day. I am looking forward to seeing Dr, Alfred Vanderpuije deliver on his promise that the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) will close down all illegal churches and mosques springing up in every corner in the capital. Residents have the right to peaceful sleep and I am not sure that any church or mosque must be encouraged to deprive anyone of their sleep same way no resident should have the right to disturb any church legally located in an area.
It is even more annoying that lately, there are speakers mounted at vantage points in the capital where self-styled preachers scream their invectives into our ears with collection bowls placed tightly in front of them urging passer-byes to drop in their tithes, offerings and sacrifices. I wonder if the purpose for which the man erected those speakers was to preach or collect money from people.
I am convinced that the days when Evangelist roamed from village to village on foot and on bicycles mostly at dawn speaking to your very soul about the gospel of Christ and how he is ready to forgive us our sins if we believed in him and how we can find solace in a Bible believing Church in our neighbourhoods and develop our Christian lives are completely over! Those days are now replaced with fierce TV and Radio advertisement, paid up broadcast, text messaging, and digital banner and Radio Jingle advertisements all in the name of preaching the gospel of Christ.
In spite of the proliferation of churches in the capital, crimes and social vices seem to be on the increase and I shudder to ask why. Either many people are just tired of these preachers and their penchant for money or they have no reason to turn to Christ for salvation knowing too well that the message of salvation has been replaced by that of prosperity, riches and miracle.
In some churches, salvation and deliverance has now been tied to your ability to pay the preacher to say special prayers or prophesy or speak mysteries into your life which is gradually turning these churches into cults. The privileged will always be in the good books of the pastors as they are the ones who pay the more during pledges and contributions while the poor widow who needs the gospel to comfort her never gets noticed let alone the young man who has only pair sandals to enter the house of God to worship.
We have created a society within Christendom that is making the gospel of God look like some kind of joke as many people have lost touch with what they actually want in church and what the church offers them lately.
The world needs the gospel of Christ as I believe Jesus is coming soon to judge this world and our churches must rise to the occasion, feed our souls and turn away from such acts of idolatry.
The church should not be seen as a business entity in a fierce battle for recognition, competition and in search to make demagogues out of their leaders.
It is just a place where the poor, the meek, the rich, the humble and even repentant criminals can find solace and turn to God their maker.
For how long should the church trade the gospel of Christ for cowries?
No comments:
Post a Comment