Prophets and holy wars in Zimbabwe

By Mairos Mubvumbi

In the Bible it is recorded that at one time apostle Paul had to intervene and resolve a conflict among the Corinthians who had divided themselves into two camps. One camp belonged to Cephas, that is, Peter. And the other camp belonged to Apollos. The two camps competed and that brought disgrace to the name of God and unnecessary confusion among believers.

Christian church members should know that they belong to Jesus Christ, the head of the church and the great shepherd. Our spiritual leaders, like pastors, evangelists, prophets are the under-shepherds, who watch over our souls. So if we belong to one Lord and one body and one faith, there is no need for holy wars whatsoever.

Followers of spiritual leaders will do well if they do not subscribe to the camp trap.
The so-called holy war between prophets Emmanuel Makandiwa and Walter Magaya is, therefore, just an illusion, from the way I have read the issue.

I do not think the two prophets are really competing for positions and influence. Each one is serving the Lord in the tasks given to him and according to the measure of faith given to him by God. Each one has his own sphere of influence.

It seems the so-called sons and daughters, who came up with that rating system whereby prophets Magaya and Makandiwa were placed in the first and third places respectively, wanted to spell out that prophet Magaya is greater than prophet Makandiwa.

And the media’s presentation and interpretation of the results was an echo of the same sentiments. It was an attempt to shift the minds of the two prophets from focussing on God and accomplishing their God-given tasks. They wanted the prophets to focus on mundane issues of popularity, fame and greatness, thereby causing divisions and instability in the body of Christ.

Pastor Kufa’s argument that they did not acknowledge the recognition, was quite commendable because it came out of the realisation that the whole thing was leading to something more than just positions and recognition.

The end objective was to bring the two into competition and the followers into the debate about who is greater than the other. He was not ignorant of Satan’s schemes.
The scenario reminds me of what senior boys did when we were herding cattle.

To break the drill and drudgery of tending cattle in quiet and uneventful pastures, they would make two small heaps of soil and give them names of the junior boys’ mothers. One would be named the breasts of brother X’s mother and the other one the breasts of brother Y’s mother. Then the junior boys would be dared to scatter the heap of soil named after each other’s mothers. When one did that, it was interpreted to mean that he had scattered the breasts of the other boy’s mother. The senior boys would then mock the other junior boy for not avenging the “destruction” of his mother’s breasts.

Naturally he would retaliate and both would get angry with each other. The sequel was a physical combat between the two junior boys while the senior boys would act as the referees. After some time of fighting, wrestling and scarring each other, the senior boys, would then stop them and advise them to finish the fight on another day.

It was an entertainment trap.

Well, it would take the junior boys time to realise that they were being used as a source of entertainment to the senior boys. They were hurting each other, while the senior boys were enjoying themselves. When it later dawned upon the junior boys that they were being used to entertain others, they would start refusing to fight saying that their mothers forbade them. And the entertainment trap would then be broken.

So the two prophets in particular and other ministers of God’s word are urged not to be drawn into that entertainment trap. Like Nehemiah, we should not stoop so low as to be entertainers of other people. Let comedians who are better at entertainment do that.

But both the raters and the media need to understand that spiritual influence is not necessarily measured in the same way business and political influences are measured. A minister of God gets his or her approval from God. The impact and sphere of influence of a servant of God are determined by God and his or her obedience to a heavenly vision.

In the ecclesia, that is the church, standards differ from those of the world. Therefore, the numbers of congregants, amounts of offerings and tithes, wealth and possessions, may not necessarily be indicators of how well one is serving God. When the disciples were overjoyed because demons were trembling in their presence, the Lord told them to rejoice in the fact that their names were written in the book of life in Heaven.

When one woman was pleased by the way Jesus was teaching and doing His father’s business, she shouted praising the womb that bore Jesus and the breasts that nursed him, but Jesus could not fall for that human deification trap. He corrected her and said that blessed rather was the one who heard God’s word and practised it.

When the disciples argued about who would be greater among them after the master was gone, Jesus told them that the one who was willing to serve others was the greater. He rebuked them for seeking greatness, like is done in the world’s system, and told them that God’s kingdom functions in a different way. God is the ultimate judge and rewards both the saints and the spiritual leaders, so let us seek to please Him and Him only.