The loss of the Gospel
The Gospel message is that good news that tells of how much sinners we are such that it took the death of the Son of God to pay for our redemption. Hence anything called the Gospel must always contain the elements of who God is (He is holy), and who we are (we are evil), what Christ has done, and what we must do in return (repent and believe). I tell you the truth when I say that this message has completely disappeared in almost all Pentecostal churches. The word “repent” itself is as far from them as Cape is from Cairo. It’s not a message that is the center of what they do. What you will hear, instead, is how you can make it in this life; how the physical problems you are facing now can be overcome. Whenever the Gospel is lost among supposed Christian people, they can continue calling themselves believers but the reality is they are not Christian believers because the very thing that makes up the Christian message is not in their interest. It’s that simple.
Emotion & Experience above Scripture
The fundamental problem with my Pentecostal brethren is that their theology is designed to make much of what happened at Pentecostal more than what happened at the Cross. By doing that, it was only a matter of time before they disconnected the doctrine of the Holy Spirit from the doctrine of Christ; to the demise of that denomination. Have you ever wondered why it’s mostly in Pentecostal churches that we see weird manifestations, unbiblical shaking, vomiting and so-called visions and revelations; regular trips to heaven via hell? And no one seems to question the credibility of these strange things because there is no standard to question them by. Everybody then has freedom to claim anything, no matter how ridiculous and hope that people will accept it because “it’s my experience.” In other words, personal experiences are bigger than the Bible. In that world, as long as something is emotionally good, as long as it gives warm fuzzes and tingles the body, it’s from God – forget what the Bible says about testing the spirits! There is a good reason why Scripture emphasizes the work of the Spirit in our minds, to give us knowledge about our Lord, and then it overflows into our practical lives. Never is there any command to seek “angelic visitation.” Never is there any Biblical encouragement to go out of our minds and become zombies for the Spirit to work. The true biblical Christianity says we must test everything, including our dreams and visions by the truth of Scripture, not the other way around. The main issue is not “experiencing” the Spirit so we can boast about it, but it is rejoicing in the Cross of Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit, so we can tell others about it.
A love for titles
Gone are the days when being a simple believer was good enough. Nowadays, for you to stay relevant with the “super anointed” ones you have to clothe yourself with some holy title. It’s not honourable anymore to be a Pastor, you have to top that up and call yourself Bishop, then Apostle, then Prophet, then Overseer, then Major 1, then Emeritus…and the list goes on. Some even want all of these titles in one man. A few months ago, I met some guy on social media who called himself “Evangelist.” I then politely asked him, “Mr. Evangelist, please explain to me the Gospel message; what is the Gospel?” And guess what? After a long talk with him, I noticed he has no clue about the Gospel, yet he called himself with a holy title. This is a regular phenomenon in the Pentecostal circles; the credibility of the leaders is not based on godliness, and Christian fruit, but on titles. How bad is that?
Absence of the doctrine of suffering
There is a reason why Pentecost churches were the worst affected by Covid19 because the reality of what that virus did is against the entire doctrine of that movement. They believe that life is all about success. Following Jesus will make you healthy and wealthy; you will drive nice cars and wear nice clothing. Your wives won’t have miscarriages and your children won’t get sick. Therefore, when suffering strikes, they have no explanation for it. It’s all because they do not believe that suffering is not only part of humanity but also part of the Christian life. Christian history is overflowing with the blood of the Christian martyrs who were tortured, burned beheaded and fed to lions – for what? Because of their faith in Christ. It’s a white lie that believers will never suffer, for a start, it’s unbiblical. Here is a Biblical verse, “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake”(Phi 1:29). I usually read this verse to some of my Pentecostal brethren and watch them gasping for air, because it is never taught in their churches. Personally, I don’t like that kind of dishonesty in the handling of the Scriptures. You see beloved, it's either we believe the whole of the Christian doctrines or we believe nothing at all.
An unhealthy interest in demons
Ever noticed that many of the Pentecostal Pastors are very knowledgeable about demons? They can spend hours teaching about what demonic activity is happening, when and where. They even know the names of these “territorial spirits”, “generation spirits”, “marine spirits”, “demons of delay” and demons of what else. Their Christian life is not looking unto Jesus; what He has done and what He is doing, but it’s looking unto evil spirits and what witches do at night. Much of the prayer services, all-night prayers, mountain prayers, fasting and deliverance services are all a reaction to what demonic spirits do, not an expression and joy in Christ and His finished work. Am I the only one who is crazy enough to notice that something is wrong there? Does our faith revolve around evil spirits? Should I not sleep at night because there is a witch who is waiting to feed me human meat? That is not what the kingdom of God is all about. Our interest as believers, dear brethren, is not marine spirits. A million times no! It is our beloved Redeemer! He is the One we must hear more about when we sit under a Sunday sermon. Anything less is just robbery in the name of religion.
Conclusion
I am sure those who are old enough can remember the old Pentecostal churches, for example, the Assemblies of God, how there were organized and so godly in the way they conducted their services. Then what happened? Therefore, whether we want to admit it or not, something went wrong with our Pentecostal denomination. And I don’t think it’s too late to re-examine ourselves and fix these problems to restore the Name of Christ back to the glory that It once was in the church. The question is, are you going to ignore and continue being part of the problem or you are going to stand up and become part of the solution?
Sinothi Ncube
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