EVANGEL AFRICA

Years ago, a very respectable, well-meaning man of God gave me this advice: "You have a good gift in teaching the Bible. Someone like you should not suffer in life." Well, in all truth, I was not hearing that kind of thing for the first time. It is an open secret among a majority of African spiritual leaders that church is big business. That is, if you are young, ambitious, unemployed and perhaps not very educated, there is another way to make it in life. Start by opening a church ministry and then (depending on your conscience or lack thereof), apply these principles below... 1.) Present yourself as the holy man – The most strategic part of any commercial product is to be accepted by the people. In this case, the product is you. You start by branding yourself – by giving yourself a title. Call yourself Pastor, and then progress to Bishop, then advance to Overseer, then finally, qualify yourself as a Prophet. You can also add Major, Emeritus or even own all those title...

Now and then, there is always something "trending" in the media: something that is the centre of everyone’s attention. It could be a war in Iran, a new virus from China or a tragic event in the country. There is no shortage of these "burning issues". Just the other day, I came across a report about one such concerning matter that is currently affecting the community of my residence. You would not believe how it provoked my spirit. In fact, I was so stirred to such a point that I resolved to do something about it – immediately. I planned to start with a long, well-researched response on my social media page, just to spread further awareness about this problem. It's safe to say that I was deeply concerned. Fortunately, I gave my emotions a good two days just to think it through. Well, it turns out that was the wisest thing to do for my Christian soul because I realised that the so-called thing of concern had nothing to do with the Gospel of our Lord Jesus. Just a...

Being a good Christian also has negative connotations. That is, you begin to be concerned about the cause of Christ – how He is worshipped; how this and that should be done, especially in the house of God. Imagine yourself being part of this church community, perhaps you have been a member for as long as your mind can recall. You love this congregation with all your being; you are so connected to the point where it is unthinkable to imagine yourself somewhere else. What then should you do if you begin to see a few things (perhaps many) that you are not pleased with? And I don’t mean just what you don’t like according to your personal preference, but the point is, as you look into Scripture: how the church is supposed to be run biblically, then you see that your local church no longer aligns with that. The issues can range from minor issues like the music style to serious problems like a leadership that is walking in sin. If you are doctrinally conscious like I am, then false teaching i...