When people’s lives are near-hopeless, those who hawk false hope in the name of religion have a ready-made market for their wares.
For a people to whom access to basic health care is a luxury, in a continent where jobs are practically unavailable to a vast majority, demands for miracles have become the next big commodity.
The fight against false prophets, prophecies, religious merchandising and hawking of false hope is a herculean task in Africa, and understandably so, because the masses are buying heavily into them. In fact, from what I can see, the demand for false prophets and false hope is far more than the supply.
When you see crowds thronging a religious meeting, don’t think it is God they seek. No! They seek bread. They want money. They have been told God will give them money and that is why they came. They want miracles or any magic wand that could get them out of their socioeconomic misery. This is why they will agree to do anything and everything however doctrinally unsound, as long as it promises to work.
Don’t be carried away by the large sizes and numbers of church auditoria you see all over the place. They are not a sign that Africans love God or fear Him. Many people have contributed to build such structures because they were told the houses were for God and if they participated, God would in turn build houses for them. They are simply trying to do business with God. It is not because they love Him. It is a transactional relationship. It is a quid pro quo relationship, a screatch-my-back, I screatch-yours phenomenon.
Friends, the high frequency of meetings, both day and night, is not a sign of spirituality either. All the “drama”, manifestations and “performances” taking place in such meetings are meant to keep people’s minds engaged. Spirituality is not drama. Leave the drama!
Today, what we see on our streets attest to the fact that majority don’t have the truth yet. Our streets are still morally bankrupt as ever. The love of God as exemplified by love for one another is hard to come by. Godliness is alien to majority. Our continent, for instance, ranks among the highest in corrupt practices, both contractual and day-to-day living but they have some of the biggest auditoria and church meetings in the world.
When you dive beneath the boisterous religious activities you see, you will know that Africans don’t love God. Rather, they love miracles as much as they love magic. They love money, yet they keep getting poor. They are hungry and they want bread. They only “go to church” because of the false hope of material blessings sold to them by their prophets.
But these prophets lie as they breathe! They mystify wealth so people could come to them to help demystify it. They tell their hearers that poverty is a curse but it’s a lie from the pit of hell. Poverty results mainly from lack of productivity. Think about this: Cain was placed under a curse by God himself for killing his own brother, yet he went ahead to build a city! (Gen. 4:17). The curse he was placed under could not stop him from mobilizing resources and build a city.
If your sole aim in life is to be wealthy, don’t go to church. Just go to work. This is the divine protocol instituted by God at creation. Stop putting your ladder against the wrong wall.
Friends, let’s open our eyes! Let’s wake up. Smell the coffee!
Don’t be deceived one more day!
Don’t be an impotent folk mentioned in John 5, otherwise you will contribute to the sheep market!!
Tinashe Chivasa
