The Sunday Mail
Shamiso Yikoniko and Desire Ncube
IN 2004, veteran musician Zexie Manatsa released a song titled “Vaparidzi Vawanda”. The lyrics of the track may tempt one to consider Manatsa as a prophet given the number of preachers who have sprouted in recent years.Manatsa used to serenade listeners with the song which had an opening verse, ‘Vaparidzi vawanda, hatichaziva wekutevera,honai Baba tadzungaira . . .
Back then the song did not make much sense, but fast forward 13 years later. Poster boy preachers and prophets have taken Zimbabwe by storm. Every week, one of the self-styled prophets is holding a conference or a prayer meeting.
The message shared sounds like it comes from the same script; it’s all about prosperity gospel. It’s all about money. Congregants are shepherded to “sow seeds and sacrifices” every now and then. The question which begs for answers is who benefits at the end? Is it not the church leader who showers himself with shiny suits and pointy shoes as well as the latest BMW or Mercedes Benz. Many who contribute in church offerings, tithes and other thanksgiving platforms have nothing to show for it.
Last week, Zimbabweans were stunned when Victory World International Church Pastor Paul Sanyangore was exposed by his cousin Mr Andy Zimunya who sensationally claimed that the pastor faked miracles. In essence, Mr Zimunya made Zimbabweans believe that Pastor Sanyangore was a bogus preacher who was out to hoodwink people solely for the sake of making money. To back his claim, Mr Zimunya even swore that God should judge him if he had lied against the pastor.
Whether the allegations are true or false; the claims by Mr Zimunya are telling. Something is just not right with Pastor Sanyangore whose ministry might suffer a heavy blow following the stinking revelations.
For Christian believers, it’s not surprising that Pastor Sanyangore and other like-minded con-artists are doing whatever ‘fake’ miracle to milk money out of unsuspecting congregants. This is what John wrote about in the book of Revelations where God showed him in a vision that false preachers would come in the end times. If allegations against Pastor Sanyangore are true, then he is a microcosm of how many other youthful prophets are cheating the masses be it in Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ghana or South Africa.
The problem with these preachers is that they have found fertile ground in hundreds of people who flock to their churches.
As a piece of advice, Christians must just stop chasing miracles but feed from the word of God and act on it. In His word, there is healing, prosperity and salvation. People should ask for a discerning spirit to understand what is of God and what is fake. The weight associated with the title prophet as it was in the days of Elijah, Jeremiah and Elisha is no more. Things have changed, in an unfortunate way.
We now have ‘prophets’ who are stalked by allegations of faking miracles, sexual abuse and other vices.
Who will then shepherd the Lord’s flock if the ministers are often caught on the wrong side of the biblical law.
What the new preachers have done perfectly is brainwashing the masses to the point of making many ‘worship’ the men of God instead of focusing on God, the Almighty Himself.
The preachers have exalted themselves to a privileged class and this is despite the fact that Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 12 verse 14, says Christians are all and equal members of the body of Christ. We certainly live in a covetous age, where people focus on the finest things in earthly possessions. Many people today are seeking worldly riches rather than eternal heavenly riches.
The end times are upon us! Christians must seek the truth from God Himself through Jesus Christ
