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Leading Pastors of Pentecostal and Charismatic churches in Africa are fighting over doctrinal differences, leading to discouragement among immature believers.
The disagreement which was started in Africa’s populous nation, Nigeria, between popular televangelists is spreading across the entire continent and beyond.
While a section of Christians believe that the situation is being engineered by the devil to destroy the Church in Africa, others believe that it is God’s way of weeding out false ministers and churches.
It is known that strong arguments over doctrines between churches and denominations have been there and tolerated for centuries.
But the current confusion involving leading pastors of different denominations who have been publicly criticising one another on the pulpit is very worrying.
The controversy mainly involves Dr. Abel Damina, lead pastor of Power City International with his associate ministers, on one hand, and many other leading pastors including Pastor Enoch Adeboye, Pastor Paul Enenche, Apostle Johnson Suleman, in Nigeria and Bishop, Nicholas Duncan Williams in Ghana, on the other hand.
It all began when Dr. Damina attempted to teach against tithing in the New Testament, describing tithe endorsement and collection by pastors as an act of fraud and thievery.
According to the Senior Pastor of Power City International, Christians are not bound to give 10 percent of their income as tithes to pastors but they are to give offerings willingly and freely from their hearts.
Other doctrinal differences which have contributed to the dispute include the deity of Christ Jesus, heaven as the habitation of God, rapture, the birth of Christ, once saved, always saved and water baptism.
Meanwhile, social media content creators and influencers have taken advantage of the situation to misinform the public with half truths, leading to agitations in churches.
Now, we, at the Christ-Conscious Leadership Centre (CLC), cannot state that the current state of affairs of the Church in Africa is the will of God or not.
However, we are of the view that the controversy is caused by the fact that pastors see, hear and understand doctrines differently and rush to the pulpit to communicate without spending quality time with the Holy Spirit to receive clarity.
God is not the author of confusion, so, pastors are advised to patiently research, excavate and dig the scriptures and depend on the Holy Spirit so as to communicate the wisdom of God for edification and comfort.
It is also advised that pastors humbly subject their messages for accountability and peer review by engaging in discussions with fellow ministers and theologians for corrections when necessary.
Moreover, it is suggested that Christians offer prayers to God for His intervention and will be done in the crisis.
It is hoped that this approach will greatly help ministers to maintain sound doctrine thereby minimise the propagation of doctrinal errors and promote unity in the Church.
By James Quansah
