Many were those who found joy worshipping their new found faith, throwing away and putting aside anything contrary to what they had learned, believed and practiced. Many were those who sacrificed their lives for the propagation of the word of God. They lived their lives building the church of God. Others lost their lives through the construction of God’s church. Many indeed are those who moved day and night, whether rain or shine to ‘catch men’ into the kingdom of God. Many are those who traveled hundreds of thousands of miles, being led by the spirit of God into our land some three hundred to four hundred years ago, to share the light of the Kingdom of God with those who knew nothing about it. Yes, many are those who had to learn our languages and took pain to try to translate the word of God for us to read and understand. Many are those who carved the stones to put up buildings as classrooms and encouraged people to learn a foreign language. Oh yes! Many are those whose souls are in great ‘ANGUISH’ for the church of today! My brothers and sisters, indeed again, many are those who preached the WORD of God without asking for water to drink or food to eat, because they had been filled with Heavenly food and water. Many are those who considered the word of God first, before any other thing.
But what are we seeing today? Is it Churchianity or Christianity that we are practicing? I am ashamed to ask this question, since I profess myself to be the ‘follower of Christ’ without living and exhibiting the examples of Christ.
This question is no where answerable by me, a mere JSS graduate, since it has been tackled by many learned and experienced people. But I am only attempting to pose some questions for our deliberations as we try to adjust to the happenings around us.
Who is to blame? Society or ‘Men of God?’
Majority of us people who fervently pray every now and then. Others hurriedly and briskly walk to church on Sundays to thank God for several reasons. Yes, we all go to church, but why the rampant and incessant increase in crime rate, sexual immorality, alcohol abuse, pornography, lesbianism, gangsterism, hypocrisy, murder, jujuism, nepotism, sectarianism, jealousy, egoism, fraud, and hard-heartedness?
Churches are more than schools we have in Ghana at present. Preachers are more than preachers we had during the introduction of Christianity into our land.
Many are the ‘Prophets’ than during the days of Sodom and Gomorrah. Many are really the communication media we have at the moment than the early preachers.
Many are those who have learned church history, Philosophy, Anthropology, Sociology, Psychology and so on and so forth. But why?
Men of God
People who have the opportunity to speak and touch people’s hearts fail woefully due to the fact that they themselves have failed to follow the Commandments of God. How can a man of God tell his congregation to listen to him, accept what he is teaching and ignore his “IMMORAL LIFESTYLE?” Did any of the followers of Christ (apart from Judas Iscariot) speak about Him and lived a different lifestyle?
Christ is the light of the world, so therefore you being the follower of Him ought to have light in you, so that the past and dirty linen you used to wear would be replaced with new and you shall be a light unto others. So how come today, we are forced to ‘compete with men of God’ with our wives? How come we are forced to rival with them who preach to us that the Kingdom of God is at hand and for which reason we must refrain from doing evil? Aren’t they the ones who are supposed to live and lead a chaste life? Aren’t those who prepare the soup supposed to taste the soup before anyone else? How palatable is the soup that you want us to taste and yet you who have prepared it have refused to take it? Men of God must remember that they are the leaders of the flock and must therefore strive to live above reproach. It is a calling you are responding to, so it shouldn’t be a nine day wonder whereby you get in, swear an oath to the Creator of Heaven and Earth before His chosen men and women not to do ABCD and renege on your promise to uphold your integrity and the sanctity of the dwelling place of God.
Church Elders and their Roles.
Just like how political leaders come into office and promise to serve the interest of their people and immediately after tasting power get corrupted, that is what has crept into the church now. People have now taken the church to be a ‘Bonafide’ property. Without them nothing works in the church. When they even flactulate, they expect others to take it as normal, but when the ordinary coughs, it is seen as disrespect. The way and manner in which activities are carried out in the church depicts that there is ‘selectivism’ in God’s church. Let the rich have a problem and you will see how it will be carried shoulders high, but when the ordinary man who rather needs help and publicity is in trouble, they behave as the ostriches do, hiding their heads and pretending not to see anything at all.
People go to church and are very eager to leave because something is awaiting elsewhere. Is it a mockery of God or what? He has given you six days in a week to live and do whatever you desire and recognize that the last day is His, so therefore you should relax and show unto Him your gratitude. But what do we see nowadays? During announcements, that is when we want everyone in the church to see the new things we have worn to church and our style of walking. You will see others leaving before the final blessing is said by the officiating priest.
What is in this world that we are chasing? Haven’t we learnt enough to guide us the rest of our lives? Haven’t we learned that we are only toiling on earth here for nothing? Haven’t we learnt that people who were laid with gold have had their tombs excavated for those ornaments? We have refused to learn. Those of us who go to church to show off what we have must start to rethink our behaviour. Those who go to church because they think others will enquire as to why they could not attend church must rethink their stance.
Those who do not take the Day of the Lord seriously must wise up. We are all guilty of this. Once you are the creation of God, please do remember that you are answerable to your Creator one day.
So the question is:
Are you a Churchian or a Christian?
Think about it.
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