It is no longer tenable for the umbrella associations of Born-Again churches to stay quiet. You just have to watch the news!
The other day it was a ‘pastor’ sentenced to life in prison for sacrificing his landlord’s two-year-old child. The following day, another so-called ‘pastor’ caught sleeping with a married woman and conning her out of her land in a Kampala suburb. Then another chaining people to walls in his ‘church’ against their will.
And that is before you go to social media, where some of these charlatans even have dedicated pages to market their craft to Ugandans desperate for their fake miracles. In all this, the federations that unite genuine Pentecostal churches remain conspicuously quiet, as thousands are misled.
The Pentecostal faith is unique in such a way that it allows for anyone to serve the Lord, as long as they have a divine calling upon their lives. Bible school can come later. Where the divine calling is genuine, it is actually impossible to ignore it.
We believe that one can have a degree in Theology, but no spiritual calling on his or her life, while another could be a herdsman like David on one day, and a great king and “man after God’s own heart” the next!
For decades, this served the Faith well and the true fear of God was enough to keep everyone in check and identify impostors with ease. It also ‘helped’ that the Pentecostal movement was not as financially blessed as it is today. Pioneering pastors were by no means rich people.
Just like the biblical priests that had to go first into the raging waters of River Jordan bearing the ark of the covenant so the rest of the Israelites could later cross on dry land, Uganda’s early pastors thrived on the full Gospel of righteousness; exemplary humans praying God would one day prosper them in pocket, health and spirit, and aspiring for Paradise.
Those prayers were answered. Being born-again no longer meant biwempe (papyrus) churches; being Pentecostal no longer carried a poverty and/or illiterate brand; Pentecostalism changed the way people give to God and to others; it brought many biblical principles and stories to life.
And the crooks were watching. Now they have taken advantage of this simplicity that defines us as a faith, to also brand themselves ‘pastors’, ‘prophets’ and ‘apostles’, with the sole aim of fleecing Ugandans.
They have brought great shame to the body of Christ, and our leaders are silent, or busy fighting one another. Even as we intercede, we need a campaign similar to the telecoms’ campaign against mobile money fraudsters.
We can no longer afford to stay silent, especially since the fraudsters and cults are aggressive in their ‘marketing’.
malita@observer.ug
Source: The Observer
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