Howdy folks!
“What this country is looking for is production.”
That’s one thing I underlined in Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa’s speech in the majestic Mosi-oa-Tunya last Friday.
We have to work to produce.
And religion has a strong bearing on the economy as it influences certain principles of production, like the work ethic, for instance.
A wrong work ethic may result in adverse economic consequences and nobody wants that.
Paul, the Biblical apostle wrote to one church: “For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.” (2 Thessalonians 3:7-8) Sadly, we have a new crop of Christians who think they just have to sit back and relax, without doing anything, and expect the Heavens to take care of their livelihoods.
And their “papas” have carefully hand-picked a few Scriptures that they arm-twist to support their misguided stance when indoctrinating them.
They may begin with Psalm 127:2, which says, “It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labours, for He gives to His beloved even in their sleep.”
Or Isaiah 55:1, “You who have no money, come buy and eat. Yes, come, buy milk and wine without money and without price.”
Or Matthew 6:34, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.”
Misconstruing these Scriptures is something Christians should avoid at all costs.
You see, Zimbabweans are very religious people and even in the preamble of our country’s constitution, we did not forget “acknowledging the supremacy of Almighty God, in whose hands our future lies . . . and imploring the guidance and support” of Him.
And Christianity is quite a force to reckon with. Being a PK (preacher’s kid), as child prodigy Maud Chifamba has christened me, I pay particular attention to the goings-on in Christianity in the Republic and yonder in relation to the above.
The proliferation of new Pentecostal Charismatic Movement churches, or should I call them neo-Pentecostalism movements, is just remarkable.
“Signs and wonders” accompany their services.
Whether they are genuine or pseudo, I leave it to you.
What I am particularly concerned about is the manner in which some of these movements are abusing what they call prosperity gospel, much to the delusion of their congregants.
The Church is also prone to making mistakes.
And in the case of Zimbabwe, that admission was laid bare in the Church’s 2006 publication, “The Zimbabwe We Want”.
The document was jointly written by the Zimbabwe Council of Churches, Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference and the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe — representing all denominations of the Church in the country.
In the document, the Church asked: “How could the (socio-economic) situation (in Zimbabwe) degenerate to this extent when more than 80 percent of the population is Christian? What happened to our Christian values of love, peace, justice, forgiveness, honesty and truthfulness? Where was the voice of the Church which is called upon to the conscience of the nation?”
When the Church starts to ask these pertinent questions about the dearth of its fundamental values, surely something would be wrong. But it didn’t end there.
The Church went on to admit that: “Clearly, we did not do enough as churches to defend those values. As churches, we confess we have failed the nation . . . we have often not been the salt that the Gospel calls us to be. We, therefore, confess our failure.”
So, there you have it, the Church was sincere in admitting that it failed the nation in 2006. And what about now, almost a decade later?
Has the Church now addressed the above values which it bemoaned that they were diminishing in 2006?
I am afraid not!
The Church has deteriorated, folks!
Now there is apparent competition in the body of Christ, churches can publicly attack each other over adolescent issues, congregants have degenerated to become docile and gullible to the end that their so-called men of God can tell them to do the wildest of things and yet they will do them without asking questions — whether they are told to eat grass, drink diesel, let the pastor touch their private parts, the list is endless.
We surely can’t let 80 percent of the population be misled or be “failed” by the Church.
Where is the remnant of the good ones?
If Jesus was to physically visit one of these new churches that are mushrooming, what else would He say on top of, “Take these things (merchandises) away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” (John 2:16)
He will indeed say worse than the above, will He not? Imagine when He sees a preacher telling congregants that only those with US$1 000 should approach the altar call for a “special anointing” for business success. What nonsense!
Why should God ration his blessing on the basis of how much money one gives?
Why should He auction his blessing like that — that the highest bidder takes it all, while the poor is an automatic loser?
This is why any devil with money can now get into the Church and be addressed as an angel of light.
If the quantum of money was really the currency that buys the blessing of God, why then did Jesus acknowledge the widow who put just two mites into the treasury saying, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood. . .”? (Mark 12:43-44).
Yet, those of today want to discriminate the “gift of God” by giving it to only those with money while the poor are deliberately excluded from partaking.
What’s money got to do with it?
What did Peter say to that man who thought he could buy the gift of God from him?
“Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money” (Acts 8:20).
President Mugabe made a correct observation in March 2015 when he said, “As for the Pentecostal ones, anyone who thinks because there is no job he can just catch Genesis 1 and they just start preaching.”
Then again, what worries me mostly is the pseudo doctrine that is being rooted in congregants by some of these so-called men of God who over-enthusiastically manipulate the prosperity gospel.
They don’t mention faith on stage one; it’s only money they mention, only bringing you to the attention of faith at the last stage — disappointment.
Folks, don’t follow their way to the garden path.
Anyone can quote the Bible, but it doesn’t mean that they can interpret it well.
Some quote out of selfish ambitions.
Even Satan uses the Bible. In Luke 4:10 we see him quoting Psalm 91:11 only to deceive.
The Church must not continue to fail the nation by giving it a wrong ethic.
I know of a friend who has since quit applying for jobs because her “papa” told her that employers shall call her. Meanwhile, she keeps nagging her every phone-book contact begging for airtime.
I also remember watching this church’s TV channel where the preacher promised to bestow his congregants with a “blank cheque anointing” — that a stranger will just give you a blank cheque and you will write whatever amount of money you want. What kind of God does that? Who promotes such laziness?
Isn’t He the one who said, “Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise.” (Proverbs 6:6)
Sadly, many don’t seem to discern what is correct from what is false.
As long as they have been told their phone numbers, they are willing to give away all their livelihood for more circus, just like a casino addict.
As President Mugabe noted in the same speech above, “Our people, that’s what they want to see. They are in a hurry to have their demands, their needs fulfilled.”
The Church needs to seriously introspect and ask itself the same questions it asked itself nine years ago when it came to the conclusion that it had “failed the nation”.
What this country needs, indeed, is production! People who work as hard as they can with their own hands.
“You have to sweat for you to live. . . there is the whole world, you see, just yours. You have to work. . . in no time, you become well to do,” President Mugabe rightly put it in March.
Later folks!