Looking back at our society and the bond that weld us together it is very easy to identify that ‘things have fallen apart, and the centre can no longer hold’. In the days of yore, there was this peace that pervaded everywhere in a typical Igbo community, love and oneness prevailed everywhere, you can feel the brotherhood. Everyone was the brother’s keeper. I can recall with nostalgia how my dad bonded with his senior bother, both now late. Life was complimentary and not competitive. It was a beauty to behold.
Today it is a different ball game. As time ebbs, we experience the worst of evil and with each passing day the future predictably appears ominous. Today, in most families, living is like a war, brothers are at each other’s jugular. Life is more of intense competition; pull him down, accusations and counter accusations, suspicion, jealousy, and in extreme cases eliminating the life of another. Consequently, most people have deserted their homes or become complete strangers in their own land visiting only occasionally.
How did we get to this point you will naturally ask? In search of how water entered the bridge could locate the dislocation in the activities that go on among our religious groups. In the minds of many worshippers have been sown thorns which they manifest in the form of expressing their beliefs and what has been revealed to them as false prophecies. This piece is not about taking a swipe or bashing on our religious groups. No, far from that.
At the same time, we must not fail to draw attention to the manner false prophecies and wrong doctrines dished out from worship centres have dismembered our society especially the family unity. People are challenged by one situation or another and in seeking solutions from their places of worship as they are advised; they usually have their cases worsened most of the times.
Through false prophecies and wrong doctrines more enemies have been created among people and we now fear and hate those we are meant to love. Some family members who have worked hard to make wealth are usually labelled to have obtained such achievements by using the destinies of the less privileged members. They are feared, cursed, discriminated against, warred against and bad mouthed.
In most churches especially the prophetic ones, the sing song is all about a certain ‘evil uncle’. The evil uncle is accused of taking the destiny of family members, prospering while others go down. As primitive as our society still remains we cannot rule out completely that there are no men out to undo others, but it looks like it has been over hyped to a scary level. The pastors profit from this to rip off unsuspecting members.
It is ironical that rather than the church teachings welding us together we are further separated from each other. Religious issues it is observed is held in great awe by the adherents because it is believed that it draws one closer to God and so people stick strongly to it for fear of missing heaven. More painful is that false prophecies not only divide families it does not solve any problem either.
It is much more disturbing when the teachings of the modern day churches condemn, malign and impugn the issues that bind us together. Some of these would be described as demonic as they paint scary picture of what they represent thus drawing away some young impressionable minds from the reality of their existence.
It is sad that in a family some parents withhold their children from bonding with other members of the larger family for fear of being contaminated with what they will call wrong doctrines. The children are left to grow with this and the consequences are breeding people with divergent views on their beliefs and culture. It is worst when some claim to be the chosen heirs to the throne of God while others are seen as the dregs of the society that must be consumed by eternal damnation.
This is the same attitude that is brought in relationship. While worship centres are mushrooming everywhere, they fashion out doctrines some of which may not be biblical just to remain relevant and attract their own share of the market. False prophecies and doctrines have been maximally used to destroy family unity. Have you cared to ask why we now have many prophetic churches and prophets than ever before?
Sadly, religious practices in this divide remain an unregulated business. There is a free entry and exit. It has since been hijacked by charlatans. It is sweet business. We are a deeply religious people and the belief in miracle and signs and wonders is what has kept us at this level of under development. It was not for nothing that Karl Marx described it as opium you administer on people to put them to sleep.
The issues that play out in our worship centres in recent times hardly can convince many that God is at the centre of it all. This is the reason many are re-thinking their beliefs though lack courage to dump it. There is need for urgent actions at this moment to save the people from further falling victims to these scavengers masquerading as men of God.
The government should step in to regulate what goes on in our worship centres. The church itself must also self-regulate its activities. They have bastardized the name of God while they line their pockets and destroy the society. When the family unit is not in peace there can never be a stable society.
