clcgh.org Building The Capacity Of Christian Leaders, Equipping The Saints For The Work Of Ministry, Redirecting Straying Christians To The Sound Knowledge Of Christ
No Christian, in any part of the world, is supposed to be destitute of the knowledge of the Bible. The reason is quit simple: we have the Bible, the written Word of God, in most parts of the world.
God inspired the writing of the books of the Bible, because He does not want any of His children to be ignorant of His decrees, precepts, commandments, promises and will.
To know and live by these things, it is expected that Christians devote quality time to read and study the Bible. Both the literate and illiterate must be well informed. The unlettered can benefit from teaching services and Bible study programmes organised by their church leaders. Theirs is just to make time to attend.
The sad reality, however, is that most Christians in Africa have Bibles, but they do not read them. Even some pastors do not study it. They hate to read. It is like they are cursed. They openly admit that reading is difficult for them without making any effort to address it.
Moreover, many boycott teaching services and Bible studies. They, rather, throng prophetic services, miracle services, healing services, breakthrough services, so-called anointing services and all-night prayer services where they clap and pray against their enemies.
The consequence of biblical ignorance in Africa is the emergence of Christians who are unable to live by the Word of God and fail to exhibit Christlike character in their daily lives. Thus, it is difficult to differentiate between Christians and non-Christians in terms of attitude, conduct and behaviour.
Also, many are immature and gullible. They believe everything. They cannot tell the difference between true and false Christs, true and false ministers, true and false gospels, and the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
They are moved to and fro by every wind of doctrine, accept every teaching, observe every so-called prophetic directions they are told, without examining them in the light of the written Word. This projects them as blind individuals without a shepherd.
Through ignorance, they support the proliferation of false apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, leading to the formation of false churches whose activities contrast the teachings of the Bible and dent the image of the Christian Faith.
Moreover, through ignorance, most Christians in Africa mistake magicians, herbalists, witch doctors, necromancers, and diviners, who have rebranded themselves as bishops and prophets for true ministers of the gospel. People are just deceived by their miracles, titles and religious garments.
However, true servants of Christ are not known by the things aforementioned. Rather, they are known by the Christlike character they exhibit, by the gospel of Christ they preach to save souls, by the authority of the Holy Spirit they submit to, by their determination to see Christ increase while they decrease, by the power of God they demonstrate, by the suffering they endure, among others.
Similarly, many Africans profess Christianity, but ignorance of the Bible has made it difficult for them to worship God in Spirit and truth. Jesus Christ taught that God is a Spirit and that He must be worshipped by the inspiration, motivation, guidance, leading and prompting of the Holy Spirit and the Word ((John 4:24).
This means our acts of worship: praying, preaching, teaching, giving, singing, dancing, clapping and others must be led by the Holy Spirit and in the context of sound knowledge of the Word.
Unfortunately, uninformed believers just worship by their natural abilities. They violently clap their hands when they stand to pray, thinking by that strenuous effort, God will hear them. But this is pure ignorance.
God answers our prayers when we pray according to His will (1 John 5:14). And His will is that we maintain a love relationship with Jesus Christ, live a life of righteousness, forgive those who offend us, live at peace with men and women, study and keep His Word, among others. In fact, God’s will refers to His commandments, promises, decrees and precepts which are stated in the Bible.
There are several other erroneous things we do ignorantly in the Church in Africa. We can only worship God knowledgeably and truthfully when we repent and make a deliberate effort to read the Bible, meditate on it and apply it in our daily lives.
By James Quansah
