Church should remove spec in its eye before speaking about values

Those that remain true to their Biblical calling is negligible as to be lost in the maze of the corrupt churches. [iStockphoto]

The clergy came out recently to lambast, condemn and curse presidential aspirant George Wajackoyah for his advocacy for the legalisation of marijuana. But as it were, the church would do well to keep its peace on matters of morality.

By morality, I mean the principles that determine what is right or wrong, good or bad in the eyes of the people. We consider ourselves civilised because we operate within an acceptable set of rules that are fair to everyone irrespective of the station in life. Today, society is grappling with behavioural problems that emanate from the church, but which the clergy have conveniently ignored.

From cultism, deception to fraud, from intimidation, and falsehoods to homosexual behaviour, it is all within the church. But how often do the clergy call press conferences to condemn such vices? Incidences in which pastors elope with other people’s wives, divorce their spouses, impregnate school girls, hold the gullible to mental slavery through which they fleece them on fake promises of a better life in heaven are the hallmarks of the church today.

I hasten to add, however, that it is not all churches that have deviated. Unfortunately, the number of those that remain true to their Biblical calling is negligible as to be lost in the maze of the corrupt churches.

The primary calling of the church is to fulfil the spiritual needs of congregants by exalting Christ, preaching and teaching the message of redemption. But as Baptist Church preacher Charles Spurgeon once opined, “The condition of the church may be very accurately gauged by its prayer meetings. So is the prayer meeting a grace-ometer, and from it, we may judge of the amount of divine working among a people. If God be near a church, it must pray. And if he be not there, one of the first tokens of his absence will be slothfulness in prayer”.

Indeed, that is the predicament the church finds itself in today, which vindicates Canadian preacher Albert Benjamin Simpson when he said, “The church that lives for itself is bound to die a spiritual death and sink into stagnancy and corruption”.

Nothing exemplifies this more than the current commercialised nature of a church that has gone to bed with suspect politicians. These corrupt individuals take their ill-gotten wealth to church where it is gleefully received, not condemned or rejected on principle.

Majority of Christians are under the bad influence of rogue latter-day pastors. Many of these pastors exhibit personality disorders indicated by patterns of manipulating, glibness, exploiting, cunning, arrogance and delusions of grandeur. They demand their congregants build good houses for them, buy top-of-the-range cars and other things of the world while promising a better life in heaven for their enslaved congregants.

If the church must speak against societal ills, it must not do so selectively. It must speak against church capture by the devil’s agents with the same vigour with which it speaks against legalising bhang, abortion and same-sex marriages.

The church exists independent of the State regulation and should keep out of politics unless it is absolutely necessary to lend its voice, while the church is subservient to the state, the latter does not interfere in matters of the church.

Indeed, the Catholic view of State and the church is that they are autonomous, and what better proof of this than that Rome, the headquarters of the church, has its own government within the acknowledged people’s government of Italy?