…”Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap (Gal. 6:7).
By Jude Ndukwe
The noise coming from our Pentecostal neighbors these days has become so cacophonous that you wonder if the protagonists are ever men of God in its true sense.
The accusations and counter-accusations coming from these otherwise ‘God’s giants” have taken over the blogosphere and permeated the society to the point that Christ The Crucified, the focus of Christians, has been relegated and is no longer preached by these ‘men of God’.
It is so bad that every new week, Nigerians now look out for new controversies among these pastors because, surely, they must focus their attacks on one another every Sunday, thereby giving the people, Christians and non-Christians alike, things to talk about Christ and Christianity, especially negatively, throughout the new week until the next when other accusations and counter-accusations will be launched thereby taking audiences’ focus away from our Lord Jesus Christ.
There is no doubt in my mind that this is the Devil’s new-found strategy to distract the Church and detract from Christianity. Because while the ‘shepherds’ fight, the Enemy freely plunders the flock! And it is working for him.
But this strategy of the Enemy is not new. The only thing that is new is that those involved are now dissipating energy responding to each other. When the Enemy used the same strategy years back against the Catholic Church (The Church), The Church refused to be dragged into such needless controversies despite the relentless acerbic attacks that came Her way from these Pentecostal churches.
Whether anyone likes it or not, the ‘modern’ Pentecostalism was founded on malice against the Catholic Church. Rather than preach Christ and win souls for Him from the pool of unbelievers, the Pentecostals as a collective focused their attacks on the Catholic Church accusing Her of all manner of things just to ‘win souls’ from Her to themselves.
They saw the Catholic Church as their fertile field from which they could ‘harvest souls’. Catholics were seen not only as non-Christians but were also considered sinners bound for Hell. Pentecostal preachers would tell us that we were in darkness, and the few fickle-minded ones they were able to sway would be made to give testimonies that “Once I was in darkness, but now I have seen the light”.
Among other things the Catholic Church was accused of were that we didn’t read Bible even when we read five different Bible passages at every Sunday Mass, and four at weekday Masses; that we didn’t preach, even when the priest gives sermons at every Mass both on Sundays and weekdays; that we were using incense and candles which they attributed to demonic worship; that we worship our Blessed Mother Mary; that we were going to Confession to a priest; that we were baptizing infants; that we were not spiritual (just because our Mass is solemn); that our prayers were merely recited and not spontaneous (as led by the spirit😀); that we were praying to Saints, using images, and calling our priests Fr.
They also had issues with the fact that our Priests do not marry, and several other issues they focused on in all in their desperate bids to poach members from The Church. But rather than engage these people for their malice, the Catholic Church knowing Her roots which are of the unshakeable Kingdom of Christ ignored all and focused on Herself.
Today, rather than diminish, the Catholic Church has grown from strength to strength both in number and in power because “the gates of hell shall not prevail against my Church.”
Today, as in the case of what goes around, comes around, the kingdom of those who conspired to pull down the Catholic Church in the recent past is in turmoil. Pentecostalism has become one big house divided against itself.
It cannot manage its growth; shepherds have turned against shepherds and the sheep have sheepishly taken sides. Is this nemesis? Are they reaping what they sowed against the Catholic Church years ago? They refer to us as orthodox but you can hardly find these same orthodox Churches get involved in any protracted bitter altercation with each other, turning the pulpit to a fighting ring.
My advice will be for everyone to sheathe their swords and focus on Christ who they each claimed called them. They should learn to adopt the posturing of the Catholic Church of not responding to infantile falsehoods and inanities spewed against Her mo. matter how long and how ferocious but to maintain spiritual equanimity and allowing God Himself to judge.
If these men start preaching Christ today while ignoring doctrinal differences, there will be peace in the land (but then, they thrived by latching on their doctrinal differences with the Catholic Church to grow to this level, so it is probably a practice they are used to and cannot stop).
If the attacker decides to be a Christian and stops attacking; if the attacked starts being a Christian and stops responding, there will be peace among them. But ego and pride will not allow them do the right thing.
Although the Catholic Church does not need it, but a deliberate effort to seek genuine reconciliation with Her who has grown to a whopping 1.39 billion people (members not yet baptized are not included, despite all the attacks) for vainly maligning Her for so long can also help lift the burden of Galatians 6:7 from off their heads.
Sadly, the Pentecostals have no leadership structure with authority strong enough to rein in their ‘warlords’.
In all, let peace reign!