Place of worship or money making venture???
Taking a walk down my street, I am amazed at the number of
churches that occupy it and yet more are still springing up. Every available
space, shop or warehouse is converted to a place of worship. Each church which
its own loudspeaker competing with the other begging to be heard or just
contributing to noise pollution. By definition, a church is a building for
public Christian worship. Basically, a place where all believers gather to
worship and serve their maker .People are faced with different challenges and
run helter skelter to find solutions. The church has proven to be a solution
provider hence some dubious people have turned it to money making venture
resorting to all forms of schemes be it hypnotizing, witchcraft, occultism and
other evil plots to exploit their followers.
The other
day I was in the saloon patiently waiting for my turn along with two other
women-one obviously married and the other probably not. Trust women and gossip,
the issue was about pastors and how they are duping gullible followers. This
discussion came about as a result of the stylist opening later than usual. Her
reason was that she went to church first before coming to work. The two ladies
present had scolded her and had pointed out her nonchalant attitude towards her
business. According to them, business first then others follow after all that
was what put money on her table. However, the stylist did not claim defeat as
she defended her action; she had told them that God was the giver of life and
good things like health and that if such things were missing in her life then
who would be available to render the services that they needed. This little argument had regenerated
to take a new form as stories of personal encounters with so called men of God
were recalled. I decided to be a listener rather than a contributor.
As much as I have
reference for Pastors, I would however admit that going into ministry has
proven to be a lucrative venture aside politics. The intending pastor does not
need to have a PhD in Psychology rather he/she must understand the art of how
the human mind works and apply common sense and every other thing follows. I
don’t want to sound judgmental but it quite obvious that many have been led
astray, hypnotized and duped all in the name of seeking salvation or one form
of breakthrough or the other.
What is even more
pathetic is the level of moral decadence in the society-armed robbery is still
on the increase, corruption has eaten deep into the society, people still nurse
selfish ambitions and think less of their neighbours, parents no longer their
monitor their children and wards, the youths are over-zealous to make quick
money; they do not believe in hard work anymore, indecent dressing has been the
order of the day which in turn brings about cases of rape and other social vices.
Recently, a new trend which has taken over the headlines is the rate of
kidnapping. People are no longer safe in their homes and environment yet we
have so many churches preaching morals and the kingdom lifestyle or are they only focusing
on prosperity and giving alone.
Truth be told, we all need prayers and can
not stop getting enough but must we rely on solely people who claim to be
anointed for the laying of hand and prayers before we believe things would go
well. There have been reported cases of pastors who belong to occults, sleep
with their congregations and encourage satanic behaviours. I t is high time the
essence of religion is practiced and not capitalized on .I am not against the
propagation of the gospel but what I consider disturbing the rate at which
churches spring up for generating income yet there is so much ill in the
society. A famous Nigerian
artiste in his song “wonder” was quoted to be saying people are suffering and
the pastor lives are getting better…and that whether would Jesus ever come. It
is not an uncommon sight to see so-called pastors drive jeeps while their
members trek to church. Religion be it Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism,
Rastafarian or as the case may be all boils down with a personal conviction of
one maker. It is a personal walk though there is need for fellowship with other
believers. Every person would be judged accordingly and individually not
collectively. With so much deceit circulating it would be wise for a believer
to be careful in the decision he/she makes concerning his/her place of worship
and service to God. It is best to dissect every word preached and cross check
the bible for any contradiction. People should also remove the mentality of
worshipping their pastors –they are not gods only instruments in the hand of
God. Members should also strive to be worthy vessels in the house of God for
His glory.
Religion’s motive
was to instill morals and preach peace and love towards humanity but the
reverse is the case because it appears to have been taken to another level by
so-called fanatics. It is one of the causes of discord, war and unfair
treatment to humans and even killings. By definition, religion is a set of
beliefs concerning the cause, nature and purpose of the universe especially
when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies usually
involving devotional and ritual observances and often containing a moral code
governing the conduct of human affairs. Going by this, it should on its own
instill some check and discipline in the society to bring about peace.
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