The gospel of intimidation

My conscious has been torn apart with fear volcanoed by the so- calcalled men of God. While I appreciate and respect their ‘sacred’ contribution; I feel some have gone crazy with the Gospel of God.

I have no doubt the self-acclaimed men of God have reached the extent of blaspheming the Omnipotent God. There are so many issues which have transpired and twinged the so-called Christians. Many people have talked about the gospel of prosperity for long and I feel enough has been said.

My fear today is the encryption of the gospel of intimidation in which pastors use words that influence their flocks to act in fear of some impending danger. I was shocked when I met a friend who asked me to join him to a fellowship where his pastor would be celebrating his birthday. He emphasized that the pastor had hinted that those who will worship with him on his birthday and offer handsomely to the Almighty God would be saved. He jumped, saying many people will be saved that day.

I looked at him and saw some seriousness rolling all over his face and I realised my friend never wanted to miss ‘salvation’ on that day.

I am not a theologian, but going through rational thinking, how on earth can one attain salvation by partaking in such activities? Many pastors today are taking their followers for granted with the gospel of intimidation. The gospel should bring peace among people.

The case of a South African pastor who urged his flock to feed on grass is another serious example where we see pastors taking their followers for granted. The blind faith has seriously wounded our heapal campus.

The famous gospel of intimidation is inflicted by Christians who are very sincere, who believe they are obeying the Bible in sharing Christ with others and often believe they are being led by the Holy Spirit. In other words, the gospel of intimidation can be reared as spiritual abuse where there is mistreatment of a person who is in need of help, support or greater spiritual empowerment, with the result of weakening, undermining or decreasing that person’s spiritual empowerment.

The gospel of intimidation has settled in most churches because we have narcissists—people who take for granted that any idea that jumps into their heads is from the Holy Spirit and they are only following the promptings of the Holy Spirit when they decide to do anything. They see other people’s actions as less holy. Often times, the narcissists end up injuring other people. They consider their decisions as righteous and unquestionable.

Christianity today is also infested with dichotomous thinking. These people think they are not weeds, but wheat; they see the rest of Christians as weeds. They always see themselves in a good side of life and gospel. Dichotomous thinking Christians think they belong to the ‘holy group’ and the rest to hell.

A very sensitive part striking many Christians is the power of being Holy. Many Christians force themselves to be holy; hence, enforcing others to take directives. This is very dangerous because it harms the followers. Pastor forces to have power and control over the congregation; and some nasty decisions are made to test his power.

Today, due to the gospel of intimidation, blind obedience is hovering around our necks. Christians are forced to obey because they have the mind of Christ and they know the word of God. It is like disobeying a pastor is disobeying God.

Eschatologists have established that many pastors are taking advantage of the signs of end times to use as a weapon to intimidate Christians. This has killed the will to search for God in earnest, but with ‘diabolical’ intimidation.

Spiritual manipulation has taken center stage, where the pastor uses his or her position/power to dictate the outcome; here the Holy Spirit is removed from being the convictor and judge; and manipulating to build one’s own fame or kingdom.

My stand here is urging all spiritual fathers and mothers to be conscious that they are only messengers and a messenger doesn’t do what his master hasn’t told him to do. Taking advantage of people’s spiritual ignorance to reap them off is dangerous and inhumane. I am not trying to judge anyone, but re-directing ourselves to a better goal. Let the gospel bring good news to the hopeless and the needy as it is purportedly coined in.