The African Church – One Mental Illness to Rule Them All
I was never too fussed with the church or religion, I made up my mind at the age 14 that
it was not of interest to me. But then I got married and after a while, my husband explained
that he wanted to resurrect his church life. I naively said ok, I will support you though I am not a
believer in that stuff. This is not because I am a devil worshipper- African Christians often
struggle to understand that people can believe in God without going to church - I have never
believed that you need anyone or any building in between you and God. So, he asked me to
follow him to church on Sundays, which I do a few times whenever I am free, this has allowed
me to see just how misled the so-called black churches are.
I can honestly say it is probably the number one mental illness we have holding us back
in the black nations. Now I know this will upset a lot of people – and I know there are other
factors, but I must discuss the one I have experienced firsthand. The reason I say this is not
because I hate Christianity, but it’s because for the last 8 years I have watched the same Pastor
stand up and repeat the same verses from the Bible week after week to suit his own aims - i can
honestly say in 8 years he has probably only touched on 30% of the whole bible - The Give and
it will be given back to you - seems to be a popular one of them all for some reason - not sure
why. The congregation sit and absorb it all like a sponge, shouting on prompt when he asks
them to. Very often the Pastor will utter out things that are complete historical fallacies, but
the people are so engrossed they neither care nor bother to do any of their own research. I
witnessed as one member attempted his own research only for the Pastor to snap, "are you
doubting what I am telling you." – Why is he not allowed to doubt what the Pastor is saying,
does he not have his own mind? This dependency on someone else to lead the way
dangerously opens people up to manipulation, serious manipulation.
As my friend once put it, going to church is akin to outsourcing your spiritualty, again
the question arises, why do you need someone between you and God?
The Pastors or Men of God tell you to prepare for the word of God and then spit out whatever
is on their minds to discuss. What about what’s on your mind to discuss as a congregation?
What about your understanding? It gets buried under the influence of the man you submit
yourself to, instead of God. At this point most Christians will scream, “we are not serving the
Pastor, we are serving God.” Well your actions speak louder than your words. From my
observations, a lot of people attend Church on Sunday, Prayer Meeting on Wednesday Night
Vigil on Friday Night, all time spent in the Church being led by a Pastor rather than in silence
being led by your God. As the saying goes Energy flows where attention goes.
Jesus said, "Blessed are pure of Heart, for they shall see God," Interesting statement
that; why didn't he say, "Blessed are the ones in church night and day." - it could be because
when you are there you are wrapped up in euphoria and adrenaline and not true knowledge
and understanding. When an aero plane wants to land, it needs a clear runway, nothing else
must clog its space. When you have your music up too loud you cannot hear the faint knock on
the door. This is the same way your mind works. Simply put when your mind is silent you can
hear God. You can connect to the Divine when you quiet your mind and connect with your
Heart purely. And I am not talking figuratively, I mean literally drop your minds attention to
your heart and listen. It is not easy, but it is well worth the reward. There is a reason that Jesus
is always pictured with a glowing heart. The truth of the matter is that the affairs of the Divine
are closer to you than you think, every part of your body is a testament to that. Have you ever
wondered why your body has two of everything?
So now some people will say, “I enjoy fellowship and I want to share my faith like-minded
people.” And there is nothing wrong with that, but fellowship should not be about being led like
sheep, it should be an active forum for scholarly discussion. You should be able to pick out
scriptures debate their meaning and explore your own thoughts. Have you ever wondered why
you say Amen at the end of the prayer and what that means and where it originated from?
A fellowship is not one man's narrow take on the Bible, fellowship is learning from each
other. I have watched many a time the Pastor finish an hour-long sermon and then invite
questions, but when one of the questions is outside of his understanding he will quickly say,
"we need to close, there is no more time for questions." Sometimes I have seen members ask
very good, thought-provoking questions only to be pushed aside by the Pastor, this usually
results in the member deciding to abandon the question. When you ask why they have
abandoned the question, they reply because the Pastor couldn't answer it so it can’t be
answered. That is blocking yourself and blocking your growth. If a question drops in your heart,
follow it through, ask the God you serve in your quiet time to reveal the answer to you, are you
not a child of God, connected to the Divine. Seek and you shall find.
The next argument I am sure will arise in some people’s mind is about prayer, they need
people to pray with them or pray for them. To that I agree, prayer works and prayer in numbers
is good, as long as everyone has the same focus. There is no point praying with someone whose
mind is wandering elsewhere. This is like trying to pull a ball in different directions. Pray with
people you trust, that take your matter as their own, pray in one direction, with one voice.
Don’t just speak words, that’s meaningless, remember energy flows where attention goes. You
must step into the prayer, I mean feel the outcome of your prayer. For example, you want to
pass an important test, see yourself passing it as you pray, see the surroundings, the tables the
chairs, the test paper with a pass mark, feel the joy and the happiness of it as if you already
have passed it and say thank you for it. Don’t forget repetition, that is key, there is a reason the
western Media repeats their news over and over again.
Therefore, I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, bel ieve that you receive
them, and you will have them" – I have no idea where in the Bible that is but I know it is
in there.
You see the Bible is full of some good stuff and also some stupid stuff, but you need to
approach it with a inquisitive mind.
The African nations have been so engrossed in Christianity, we have consumed it like we have
consumed everything else the western world has thrown at us and it's doing us no good. We
have loads of Churches, lots of rich Pastors, thousands of saved people but terrible health care,
issues with electricity and water and barely any innovation. This is not the direct fault of the
churches, but a result of their influence because unfortunately, a lot of talent that could be
creating amazing new technologies have their brains clogged with a charade. I am sure a voice
will now shout, “the church is not stopping people, they have time when they get home to
innovate”. Well yes, you have time, but you need the inquisitive mindset and the imagination
and the bravery to push for answers, not fear of enemies or the Devil. You may not believe this
but many of the innovations we enjoy today were created because people dared to question,
they wanted to see the Divine and understand the world around them. Kepler wanted to
understand planetary motion when he derived his formulas, formulas we use today in GPS
technology.
While many Christians will say “that's impossible God cannot be understood,” the
pursuits of these great minds have given mankind more than we could have imagined. and they
have been rewarded, their names immortalized in history. How many God-fearing Pastors have
their names in museums, or have their theorems taught in school? – but I guess they are in
heaven so that’s ok.
It's ironic that the African Christian enjoys the fruit of Western labour and thinking; the car,
the cooker, the TV, the computer, GPS; But we feel we are better because we shout Jesus a
thousand times. Somehow shouting “Jesus loves you” gives us automatic access to heaven so I
have been told.
Let’s think about this for a second, you roll up to heaven alongside the scientist that
found a cure for influenza, and at the pearly white gates, the angels check your name on their
list and see that you have no noticeable achievements other that shouting Jesus about a
thousand times, and Gods accountant checks your tithe balance is up-to-date, then they let
you in, then they turn to the scientist and commend him for the great innovation that benefited
Mankind - God’s creations I must add – then they shake his head and say sorry we can let you
in, you haven’t done enough shouting and you’ve paid no tithe, go and check Hells Inn.
Seriously is that what we think is going to happen? We are so transfixed with saving
ourselves, we forget about contributing to the world around us, but we enjoy the contribution
of others and expect to be rewarded at the end for nothing.
So, I have not tried here to be militant against religion, we can’t all follow the same
path, I am not saying abandon your church tomorrow, though that would be the sensible thing
to do. What I am saying is spend time with yourself and your God in silence and asking
questions, as much time as you spend in the church. There is a reason they say the kingdom of
God is within you. It’s in you to explore it. We need growth, and what you produce in this world
is a manifestation of that growth. let's shift from consumers to producers, explorers and
teachers.