Prosperity Gospel exploiting the poor in Zimbabwe
By Brilliant Pongo
A Wiseman once said “Truth is a river that is always splitting up into arms that reunite. Islanded between the arms the inhabitants argue for a lifetime as to which is the main river.”
This is true to what has been said about the “prosperity gospel”, in today’s world of competing views and opinions, there is rarely such a thing as telling the whole truth. But you can tell your truth, and if that differs from the beliefs of others then the argument needs to be made on your truth’s behalf.
I put forward my argument. That they are some people who have chosen to use the gospel of Jesus Christ to enrich themselves, by taking from the poor who they promise all sorts of wealth here on earth. Again I will support this even further with scripture, the sixth chapter of the book of St. Matthew verse 19-24
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your heart is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! No man can serve two masters: for he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon”.
I asked in my last article Bishop Chikosi, in reference to (Mark 10:vs 17-27) and I will say it again this time I point you to (Matt. 6:vs 19-24). At no point in these verses of scripture is Jesus suggesting, justifying or advocating His gospel as a tool for prosperity. So where do you get your justification for prosperity gospel?
Let us all pray for Bishop Chikosi, so that he may understand the scriptures not only academically but more so spiritually, that his understanding be opened up, that he may not be high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God.
Bishop Chikosi is clearly fighting to keep his career and wage coming in; his appeal in his last article said it all “When you give to the man of God, God will reward you with a rich harvest. Those who are already doing so please don’t stop. You are investing in your own future”.
In his latest article he laments: “The trouble with an over-emphasis on the sweet by-and-by, pie-in-the-sky aspect of the Gospel is that I am not in heaven yet. I need resources, not in the sweet “by-and-by”, but in the nasty “here-and-now”. Yes it is true that “This world is not my home, I’m just passing through.”
The reality dear Bishop is we are all in this world together it is not your home, neither is it anyone’s home, what stops you from getting gainful employment like everybody else?
Oh sorry I forgot you are gainfully employed sponging off your congregates, manipulating all scripture that talks of ‘doing good to all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith’ to meaning money to be given to you, I mean do you ever stop? Seriously you managed to get (Galatians 6vs 10) into a money for Bishops verse (Lord have mercy).
Bishop Chikosi continued: “But what shape are you passing through? Broke? Sick? Defeated? It’s amazing to me that while Jesus prays, “Thy Kingdom come here on earth”, the church sings “I’ll fly away O glory.” Somebody obviously didn’t get the memo from heaven about these things”.
Well Bishop Chikosi, you are easily amazed and perhaps you worry too much about things that Jesus Christ says not to worry about, maybe it is you who did not get the memo? (Or maybe ye are of little faith?)
Matt.6 vs 25-34: “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and body than raiment? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the fields, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying what shall we eat? Or, what shall we drink? Or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek 🙂 for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof”.
Yes the born again-Rapture-Ready Bishop Chikosi declaring he needs not focus on eternal life to come as he already has that in the bag. “We who are saved possess both ticket and confirmation of our flight to glory and as soon as it arrives we are going.” We are Rapture-ready.
“But while we await the arrival of our flight at this airport called Earth, we need to be able to go over to Starbucks and McDonalds to get some sustenance “now in this time”. They won’t give you coffee and hamburgers just because you have a ticket for your flight.”
The truth of the matter is Bishop Chikosi you have a lot to learn if you but humble yourself and seek for the Holy Spirits guidance when reading the scriptures.
The book of first Peter chapter 5 vs.2-4:
“Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being ensamples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away”.
While you gather in all the filthy lucre in tithes and offering for yourself and Mai-Bishop, and go for your Starbucks and McDonalds, the poor widows and the poverty stricken congregates, go hungry and cold.
Where is the Love, where is the justice, Bishop Chikosi? Surely you know that you are defending the indefensible, how on earth do you justify or even start to try and ‘convince the gainsayers’ when it comes to your friends Emmanuel Makandiwa and Uebert Angel who you seek to defend here.
What is your justification of the opulent lives that they life, at the expense of poor congregates, who live in squalor. While they are driving around in Bentleys’ surrounded by Lexus’ driving body guards?
How do you explain the groupie like behavior of those who crowed these supposed ‘Men of God’ at fast-food joints? How do you justify selling ‘Men of God’ endorsed holy water, and supposedly blessed face towels for USD$10 plus? I am sure you have a reasonable explanation for the Phone cards for prayer requests endorsed by these so called ‘Men of God’?
How is that not mindlessly following religious celebrity figures the same way secular masses mindlessly followed celebrities like Michael Jackson or Elvis Pressley? Help me out here bishop Chikosi, seeing as it is you are on the other-side-of –the-fence, (ko minamato yaku badhariswa here vakomana?).
Bishop Chikosi a man of your experience must and should know better I am not the one ‘infantilizing the Zimbabwean public’ you argue that “People not only know what they want: they know what’s good for them and they know who adds value to their lives. If the 80-100 000 people who attend these services were not getting any help or value, they would have stopped going long ago. Trust me on that one.”
You ask me to trust you! Ha, ha, ha but sorry Bishop I cannot trust you not in this life or the life to come. Wrong does not cease to be wrong because the majority share in it. What more 80-100 000 people who are not even a majority?
After all, right is right even if no one is doing it; wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it. (Greed is blinding those who you are promising heaven on earth by preaching the gospel of financial rewards).
I have heard of AICs (African Initiated Churches) Bishop Chikosi.
I agree with your views here and indeed AICs should not, and must not be beholden to Europe or the Americans theologically, financially or even academically. Because knowledge and understanding of God is wrought through the Holy Spirit and I believe that our people knew God before the missionaries brought this already existing knowledge in writ to us. I am all for indigenous churches for indeed they understand the way our people view deity.
I believe that the European churches from England and Rome also have a lot to answer for they too have looted resources from a lot of the poor and their histories are littered with a lot of evil deeds that they perpetrated in God’s name.
However, that is a topic for some other time; my bone is with the Chikosi’s of our time who have reinvented the wheel once used by those from England and Rome to rob the poor simply because they can justify it with a few misquoted and misinterpreted bible verses.
I do not judge or measure your ecclesiology by my denomination’s ecclesiology.
In the epistle of Paul to Titus in the first chapter verse 6-9:
“If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to filthy lucre; But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate; Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gain-sayers.”
Simply put Bishop Chikosi, a man cannot call himself to do God’s work, one has to be called of God (Kwete kungomuka uchiti nekuti ndine Masters in theology saka ndava Bishop) one cannot assume the role of Bishop by virtue of an academic qualification.
While Bishop Chikosi, argues that his Church’s bishop’s do not have to come into office in the same way as those from other church’s; that is besides the point, the question I am putting to him is how were you called as Bishop who called you as one?
Indeed you have the right to be independent as a denomination; you do not need the Roman Pope or the Arch-bishop of the Church of England to legitimize you as bishop. However, you do owe it to those of us who do not know how you arrived at your claim to be bishop; surely it is not a secret.
