Churches are where to seek salvation and build one’s spirituality but instead of meeting that goal of creating the environment to be closer to God, they have become the place where activities are choreographed for entertainment.
To criticise the activities going on in the churches is often received or treated with bias because people have learned not to question things but to accept or ignore them.
Criticising the activities in the churches often involves looking into the actions of church leaders; whether the pope, priests or pastors.
While doing so, people would quickly retort, ‘do not touch my anointed ones, and do my prophets no harm’. This has blinded a lot of people who have turned their minds on the happenings in the churches. They have become complacent and docile. They take every word of their pastor as sacred and unquestionable. The people also fear that critiquing what’s happening in the churches will bring opprobrium to their life. Instead of questioning, which helps in keeping the church firm, people have tended to absorb all. They would rather have God fight his fight after all the scripture states that vengeance is for God.
It is this understanding that people have slumbered to. But, in doing so, the spiritual flame in the church is diminishing.
Christianity is losing its flavour and is being attacked from the sides and even from the centre. Some churches have left salvation in the chase of crowd and economic power while slumbering the congregants with entertainment.
When the centrality of tithes in most churches was questioned, the pastors and people came forcefully to defend it. But, before the people are the abuse of their spirituality in that there is more time spent in marketing and performing to the people than actually having them focus more on their salvation. This explains so much of billboards along the streets.
If there is no chaos in the churches, there could be more confused congregants.
For a society that breeds more churches, there should be more spiritually awakened people but Christians allow so much absurdity and often explain them away.
The world is turning on its head. The Catholic church has more Christians than other denominations. It is time that the Catholic church becomes a bulwark against so much absurdity but are they also falling apart?
In the churches, there are many ideologies which especially do not emphasise hard work but by waiting for miracles. People are encouraged to perform so much theatrics in the church like sweeping, lifting chairs and recently I saw in a video, congregants with cutlasses in the church in pursuit of those sitting on their miracle. So much is employed to demonstrate that a fictitious figure is behind the set back of a person rather than the individual to work on his mindset and utilising the God given abilities. What causes people’s setbacks could be many but the church should remain a place for salvation.
Across the world, Christianity is undermined. Jesus is depicted in some ways even as a gay. I don’t think any other religion will accept such depictions.
If this generation were alive during the time of the crusaders, they would be run over. While many think that other religions breed terror or unconscionable individuals, they at least remain conservatively protective of their faith while some Christian churches have made their pastors their saviour rather than Jesus Christ. Some even command God.
Gradual relegation of Jesus by many Christian churches is the sowing of the confusion and chaos in people’s lives. And this affects the society.
As Christmas approaches, many have chosen to remove Christ and add X. Also, instead of saying merry Christmas, some would say happy holiday. These happen and people unconsciously absorb them without questions.
Churches should be where people seek salvation and not where the congregants are lulled to complacency. “So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober.”1 Thessalonians 5:6
Merry Christmas!