We all know that the dark ages are upon us again
here in Africa. It is almost like a dark blanket that is slowly surrounding the
land. People who know absolutely nothing of the core values of evangelical
Christianity—the new birth, repentance and saving faith, justification and
holiness, etc.—have hijacked evangelical Christianity in Africa. Even the term
"born again" is being peddled without an iota of the meaning that
Jesus had in mind when he used the phrase in his talk with Nicodemus. These are
dark days indeed.
Once upon a time in Zambia, in the 1970s and early
1980s, you could go to very much any English-speaking evangelical church on
Sunday and expect to attend a Bible study and hear faithful preaching of God's
word. You may have been a little uncomfortable with some aspects of their
worship. You may have also disagreed with some doctrinal assumptions during the
preaching. However, you could not miss the fact that here was a sincere effort
at arriving at the meaning of the text of Scripture and applying it to the
hearers—both in the Bible studies and the sermons. You also heard an appeal for
repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. They may not have
dotted your "i"s and crossed your "t"s as you do, but you
still went home edified.
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George Whitefield preached "You must be born again" during the Great Evangelical Awakening of the 18th Century |
I liken this delusion to the days prior to the
Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. People flooded the churches but it
was all for the wrong reasons. They were deceived and spellbound by a priest
craft that claimed abilities they did not have but which the people craved
after. Superstition reigned supreme in the church. The people were poor but
they were promised various blessings if they could only give their remaining
money to the church. Out of these funds majestic church edifices were built and
the church's top leadership lived like kings and princes. Is this not what is
happening in the name of evangelical Christianity today? Or am I the only one
who is seeing these things?
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Such "dancing queens" are now the height of "worship" in churches |
Come on; let us be honest. We all know that the
so-called prosperity gospel, which is in vogue in evangelicalism today, is
heresy. We all know that the only guys becoming stinking rich are the preachers
to whom the blind followers are giving their money. The followers themselves
are still in abject poverty. It is nothing but religious fraud. We also all
know that 99% of the claims to physical healing by our faith healers are false.
We all have relatives who would be alive today if they had not been told they
were cured and so should not take medication for their sickness. These men are
murderers. This is not Conrad Mbewe being malicious and making up stories.
These are all well-known facts.
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Zambian "bishop" (of Restoration Deliverance Church) with Nigerian accent recently accused of impregnating 10 women in his church |
The problem with this current silence is that the
younger generation who are coming into evangelical circles now think that what
they are seeing is a viable and alternative form of evangelical Christianity
when it is not. They have no clue that only recently believers got together in
church for serious Bible study, that worship had dignity and awe, and that
sermons were Bible-based, Christ-centred, and aimed at spiritual conversion.
Due to our silence, our upcoming preachers are seeing filling your church
membership roll with goats rather than sheep and driving expensive cars at the
expense of poor parishioners as the sign of pastoral success. They have no clue
that it was only recently when pastors stood out in society for their true
godly servanthood. Today’s evangelical leaders are misleading a whole
generation of innocent souls by their silence.
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Martin Luther who said, "Enough is enough" in the 16th Century |
Once upon a time, a generation of God's people saw spiritual decay and said, "Enough is enough!" and out of this protest was born the Protestant Reformation. In yet another generation, when liberalism had invaded the Protestant church and was killing its very life, a generation of God's people again said, "Enough is enough!" and out of that protest was born the Evangelical movement of the 18th century. In the light of the darkness that is once again upon us, with churches becoming no more than witchdoctors' dens, is it not time for today's evangelicals to say, "Enough is enough"? How can we be silent in the light of this engulfing darkness? Surely, our evangelical silence must be criminal.