I feel that I have
been in Africa long enough to share with you my observations of the
Church here in Africa. This will be a rather long blog, but I would
ask that you please read the whole thing. God has placed some of
these things very heavily on my heart to share with the American
Church, and those of you who are believers constitute the Church, the
Body of Christ. So please, read the whole thing and allow God to
show you what perhaps you have not even realized but that is keeping
you from completely living the life God has called us to.
To be honest, while
there are many differences between the American and African Churches
just by nature of the locations, the two are alarmingly similar in
many ways that have disappointed me. Perhaps this is simply because
of the influence that Americans have had over and in starting many of
the churches and ministries that we have experienced here (the ones
started and run by Africans have been fairly different). While
working in ministry both in Mexico and in Africa, our team has
learned that there are two types of individuals and organizations:
those who “get it” and those who don’t. That is not to say
that those who don’t get it aren’t doing God’s work or that God
isn’t using their efforts, but our time working with them is
usually strained and consumed by activities that we really have a
hard time putting our all into. The opposite is also true. Here are
a few of the characteristics of those who “get it”: they are
filled with and exude love, they are lead by the Holy Spirit and
allow God, not human reasoning, to determine their activities, and
they understand that ministry in the Christian life is not about
screaming at people from a stage but about loving them through
relationships.
Before I share with
you the major challenges to the African church, I would like to share
with you some of the things that the Africans do very well. While
worship is a lifestyle (Rom. 12:1), it is still extremely valid that
“worship” in the modern sense of corporate singing should be a
significant part of that lifestyle. And Africans worship- I mean
really worship. They sing with all of their hearts and they dance
with the joy of the Holy Spirit. Boy, do they dance! I don’t know
how everyone who is reading my blog feels about dancing in services,
but it is biblical to praise God through dance (Ps. 149:3, Ecc. 3:4,
etc.). I have seen people pick up and dance with flower pots; I have
seen them dance with chairs over their head, and why not? We are
free in Christ to express the Joy of the Holy Spirit in such manners,
if we feel so led. Africans also really understand the burden of
sharing the gospel with others around them. Whether that takes on
forms that I feel are most appropriate or not (I’ll discuss that
more in a minute), they do understand that we are supposed to be
sharing the gospel with everyone, and they, unlike many Americans,
actually do go to share that news with their neighbors. The Africans
also understand that the Church refers to the Body of Christ, the
collective group of Christians within a given area or the entire
world. They not only know this, but they apply it. The pastors all
know each other, and they do things together. They are not bound and
restricted by denominations or by claiming to be a member of an
individual Church. This is something that many Americans would do
well to put into practice, because I believe many Americans
understand it, but few apply to their lives. Finally, Africans
really understand the need for Christians to be the ones who meet the
needs of those around us, and they seek to do so in much greater and
more practical ways than I see happening in the U.S. Perhaps this is
because the needs here in Africa are more prevalent and pervasive
than those in America, but there are huge physical needs everywhere
in the world. Maybe though, those of us who have money in the U.S.
don’t see and aren’t meeting those needs because we have used our
money to build a barrier between ourselves and those who Christ has
called us to help. Think about it: We live in nice neighborhoods
among people in similar economic situations; we work in nice offices;
we worship in extravagant buildings, and even if we drive past those
who need our help, we keep our windows rolled up. No wonder we claim
not to see need around us. We have shut it out completely. I would
challenge everyone to take the time to look for and find the needs
around you in your city and then do what you can to meet some of
those needs by doing so in a very personal way so that you actually
must come face-to-face with those who have need and talk to them.
You might be surprised at how God will use you in their lives as well
as use them in yours. But be careful though, because once you see
need, you then should be doing what you can to help, otherwise you
might need to re-examine yourself and see whether your faith is still
alive or not (James 2:14-26). I do not mean to say that this is the
case for anyone who reads this or not, but I think many Christians
today have forgotten that we should be examining our lives according
to scripture. Scripture isn’t just a bunch of encouraging words-
they are challenging words that call us deeper into a life of
discipleship with Christ. All of this that I have discussed focuses
solely on physical needs. It does not even go into the emotional and
spiritual needs (which are greater than the physical needs) of those
who are in good economic situations but are dying inside due to
greed, lust, loneliness, and depression.
One of the major
problems within the African church is greed- both for money and
power. Christians pretty much run everything here in Uganda, and
they think that the best way to spread the gospel and to achieve
Biblical goals is political power. That’s definitely a western
mindset and rooted in human logic (1 Cor. 1:18-31), and I believe it
is actually detrimental to the spread of the gospel. In my opinion,
one of the darkest days in Christian history is when Augustine
institutionalized Christianity by making it the official Roman
religion. Since that day, Christians have lost the perspective of
faith as a grass-roots movement of the spread of the good news and
love of Christ. It has become a means to power, focused on
organization, not on relationships or the individual. And, this
change has lead to many of the things that I, as a Christian, would
like to have erased from history as committed by “Christians”
such as the selling of indulgences, the Inquisition, and the
Crusades. The African church is also very concerned with money and
with having nice places of worship. Many pastors struggle with
attracting people to their churches because Muslims have very nice
mosques here and many churches are just sticks. As a result, they
seek to have nice sound systems and buildings to attract people.
Like I’ve said a few times in America, I thought the love of Christ
and the joy of knowing God displayed in the lives of Christians
should be attracting people to churches, not the buildings
themselves. Even more than that, it is difficult for Africans to
preserve the purity of the position of a pastor. Many individuals
seek to become pastors not because God has called them into that role
but because it is accompanied by a steady pay check. Even more than
that, many “Christians” here use ministries to gain financially.
For example, they will find Americans to sponsor children here in
Africa and then take money from each sponsorship for themselves.
Some of the money does go to support the kids, but certainly not all
of it. This makes knowing who to partner with here very difficult,
and it makes it hard for legitimate pastors and organizations to find
others they can trust to work with and to gain sponsorships that will
really be helping kids.
Finally, one of the
major problems that the Church here faces is one that most American
Christians face. Put more accurately, it is a problem with
understanding what the life Christ has called us to looks like and
how we ought to do ministry. The phrase that I have heard tossed
around here in our group and with AIM is “Relational Ministry”.
Though I am not going to be discussing meeting the needs of those
around us in this portion, please understand that all of this is said
in the context of meeting needs while doing relational ministry
(remember James 2:14-26). It all goes together, and it is what will
help allow Christ to meet all of a person’s needs through our
presence- physical, emotional, and spiritual:
Perhaps the epitome
of the problem here in Africa is demonstrated by an incident this
Monday. We were asked to attend a funeral, so we agreed to come and
support the family. They asked us to sing a song and for one of us
to share a word of encouragement (by now, we’re used to doing that
everywhere we go, whether we like it or not). We were all a little
surprised when we got there to find out that it was the funeral for a
four month-old. And throughout the whole ceremony, not a single tear
was shed. I understand that there is a cultural difference
surrounding death between the U.S. and Africa especially considering
how much more often and younger people die here, but still… I
think perhaps the most shocking part of the service is that it was
run just as a church service is run. There was even a hellfire and
brimstone sermon delivered using the deceased infant as an example of
what will happen to us all. Though everything spoken was true, I
left feeling completely disgusted. First off, I don’t think it is
really appropriate to make an example of a dead body laying in a
coffin right in front of you at the person’s own funeral. I have
heard the gospel preached at many funerals, but as a testament to the
life of the person, never as a threat. To say the least, it didn’t
sit well with me. And beyond that, I am completely exhausted of
hearing the gospel screamed in such a loveless manner through a
microphone. I believe there is an old saying: “You catch more
flies with honey than with vinegar”. You can’t really scare too
many people into accepting Christ. But that is not even the point.
Even if they are scared into accepting Christ, they must then learn
that the gospel as it was preached to them is really a
misunderstanding. The gospel is about love and a lifelong devotion
to Jesus Christ. While it is true that we should let people make an
informed decision concerning their eternity, our faith is not meant
to be “fire insurance” but rather a loving relationship with our
Savior and Creator. Then, we minister to others by forming a
relationship with them and showing them Christ’s love. In addition,
sharing the gospel is not about preaching from a stage (though there
is a time and place for that). I don’t think that is really what
preaching the gospel is about. “Preach the gospel always; when
necessary, use words”. Nor is sharing the good news about taking
an Evangecube door to door for five minutes per house and expecting
people to accept Jesus within that time period (even though that is
was many Africans have been taught by well-intentioned but very
confused Americans). This attitude of only devoting five minutes to
try and show people the good news of Christ and moving on if they are
unwilling to pray a prayer demonstrates a complete lack of
perspective and love for the people we minister to. And though it
may or may not be as blatant as the example I just related to you, I
think there is the same lack of love throughout the American Church.
I will end by
giving you a model for Relational Ministry that has really stuck with
me. It is “Befriend, Encourage, Model, and Challenge”. Put
simply, we should form relationships intentionally with people (but
not with the view of them as a sinner who needs to be saved so that
we can move on but as a son or daughter of God who He loves and needs
to be shown His love so that they can be brought into fellowship with
Him and His people). After we have a basis for that relationship, we
should encourage them in daily life by walking along side of them and
helping them. During the whole process, we should be living out our
lives in a manner in which displays our loving relationship with
Christ. Then, once we have a strong basis of our relationship, we
can challenge our friends with the truth of the gospel and the Word
of God. If the person is not a Christian, then, we can challenge
them with the love of Christ so that hopefully they will experience
the joy of a relationship with Jesus for themselves. If they are
already a Christian, then we can encourage them and spur them on to
“love and good works” (Heb. 10:24). It’s really that simple:
Meet people’s needs and minister to them relationally.
I apologize again
that this was so long, but thank you for reading the whole thing. It
is my prayer that God would be working in your lives and your hearts
to go out and see the world with His eyes so that you may live in the
abundant life that Christ intended for us (John 10:10) as you go,
meet needs, and love people. God Bless you all as you look to serve
Him wherever He has placed you!
