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Worshipping money: 

Rise of new age pentecostalism

Many of today’s religious leaders have shunned the humility and simplicity once preached by the Church and are are only out to enrich themselves. A congregation of believers. Pentecostals now represent at least a quarter of all Christians worldwide, according to the World Christian Database, ranking second to Catholicism in membership. 

In Summary

Money has become the top priority for many of these preachers, who are willing to go to great lengths to cash in on the desperation of their followers.

The behaviour of such leaders has made sceptics turn to atheism and disregard Christianity, but despite their behaviour, many of them still have near-fanatical followers. Pentecostals now represent at least a quarter of all Christians worldwide, according to the World Christian Database, ranking second to Catholicism in membership.

The 21st Century has brought a lot of changes, the most celebrated of which are tehnological.

But it has also seen the emergence of a brand of religion that sharply contrasts with that of the early Church, where virtues like honesty, humility and consideration for others have been thrown out of the window by pastors who once considered the conscience of society.

In the early days, pastors were highly respected but in the past few years, the supposed shepherds have a done a lot to muddy their reputations in the eyes of their flocks.

Money has become the top priority for many of these preachers, who are willing to go to great lengths to cash in on the desperation of their followers.

And while they claim to be guided by the Holy Spirit, some of them have not sought its intervention to help them keep their sexual habits in check.

In the 1980s, church leaders in Kenya were so irreproachable that they could take the government on regarding its violation of human rights.

During that period, mounting opposition to then President Daniel Moi came from church leaders, notable among them Anglican clerics David Gitari, Alexander Muge, and Henry Okullu, together with their Presbyterian counterpart, Timothy Njoya.

In contrast, some of today religious leaders hit the headlines for facing claims of extortion, fraud and sexual harassment.

FANATICAL FOLLOWING

The behaviour of such leaders has made sceptics turn to atheism and disregard Christianity, but despite their behaviour, many of them still have near-fanatical followers.

The answer theology experts give to the question of when the rain start beating the Christian church is an oxymoron: the Pentecostal movement that placed Kenya and Rwanda in religious history books is the genesis of all the questionable behaviour of some church leaders.

Prof. Charles Oduke, Head of the Department of History Religion and Philosophy of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology points out the irony of the situation:

“Because of Pentecostalism, the rules guiding worship were removed because they hindered spiritual growth, so this would allow the workings of the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, quack preachers took over the Church armed with a standard answer for all their activities: “The Holy spirit told me to do it.”

EASE OF BUSINESS

Retired president Daniel Moi, an active member of the African Inland Church, made things worse when he came to power and scrapped the legal barriers that previously made founding a church a tedious, nerve-wracking process.

Save for a few established evangelical churches with structural systems that keep thelr pastors in check by auditing church finances and demanding certain qualifications from them, the neo Pentecostal churches that sprung up after the Pentecostal wave operate independently.

Many of their leaders say it is not necessary to attend a theological or Bible school arguing, “The Lord does not call the qualified; he qualifies those he calls.”

According to the Pew Forum, an American Think-tank that conducts research on religion and its impact on public life, the “Pentecostal wave” that swept across the world from America came to Africa through Rwanda and Kenya in the early 20th Century, emphasizing the authority of the Holy Spirit over the church, and the urgency of the second coming of Jesus.

With this urgency, Christians began preaching the Gospel, speaking in tongues and performing healings, which they considered proof of the Holy Spirit’s workings.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit, as recorded in the Bible in the book of Acts chapter s2, 4 and 17, when Christ’s apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem during the Pentecost, signifies one’s readiness to work for God.

The wave began in 1901, with Charles Parham, a Bible school tutor in Topeka in Kansas in the US. It later reached Azusa Street in Los Angeles in 1905 thanks to the efforts of William Seymour, an African-American preacher.

In its edition of April 18, 1906, The Los Angeles Daily Times reported this spiritual awakening on its front page:

“Breathing strange utterances and mouthing a creed which it would seem no sane mortal could understand, the newest religious sect has started in Los Angeles.”

PENTECOSTAL WAVE

From Los Angeles, the wave quickly spread across the United States, then to the rest of the world, reaching Kenya via Rwanda in the1930s, resulting in the birth of many independent churches that are not affiliated to the traditional protestant churches.

In the ’60s and ’70s, other churches such as Deliverance Church and the Kenya Assemblies of God were founded. An American survey says that the Assemblies of God is Nairobi’s fastest growing denomination, with an annual growth rate of 38 per cent.

By the 1980s the number of protestant churches had doubled, televangelism, prosperity theology and crusades by Western preachers become more frequent in the country, and Kenyan preachers followed suit.

Pentecostals are a diverse and dynamic group, a characteristic that makes it difficult even for religious scholars to describe them.

They include two major groups: Pentecostals and charismatics.

The Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements defines Pentecostals as “Members of denominations that emphasize the gifts of the Holy Spirit, including the belief that speaking in tongues is necessary evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.”

The Pentecostals belong either to one of the historical Pentecostal denominations, such as the Assemblies of God and the Church of God in Christ, which trace their origin to the aforementioned American religious revivals of the early 20th century, of the largely independent indigenous churches, which are newer’.

Meanwhile, charismatics share many of the experiences that are distinctive to Pentecostalism such as practising the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but remain members of mainstream Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox denominations, such as those Catholics who say they are born again.

Pentecostals now represent at least a quarter of all Christians worldwide, according to the World Christian Database, ranking second to Catholicism in membership.

According to Joseph Wambua, senior pastor at Heaven’s Gate Worship Centre in Naivasha, the spiritual renewal was a much-needed awakening within the older church.

OVER-AWED, LAZY CHRISTIANS

Unfortunately, notes Prof. Oduke thanks to the reverence that Kenyans, and sub-Saharan Africa in general, has for God, it has been easy for religious leaders to manipulate them.

According to the 2010 census, 87 per cent of Kenyans are Christians, 62 per cent of whom are Pentecostals.

And since many Christians are way of opposing “God’s anointed,” they remain unwaveringly loyal to errant pastors, even where there is glaring evidence.

This fear, coupled with the fact that most of them do not take the time to read the Bible and understand their faith, they believe whatever their pastor tells them.

Fundamentalist Protestants believe the Bible is to be taken literally, maintain strict separation from those who hold different beliefs.

But Pastor Elisha Odero of Mustard Christian Centre in Kisii differs, describing this simplistic perception of the Bible as silly:

“Selecting one portion of the bible without considering the context in which it was written and building one’s action around it without considering the other verses…that is cultic,” he says.

Of the aforementioned Pentecostal and charismatic members, only 39 per cent read their bible at least once a week, yet a remarkable 95 per cent attend church every Sunday and tune in to religious media to listen to televangelists.

Thus exposed to agents of brainwash and manipulation, and with little knowledge of the Bible, many people have donated generously to the Church and only grown poorer in the process.

PSYCHOLOGICAL ABUSE

But there is an even bigger problem: psychological abuse.

Psychologists have warned that pastors are using persuasion and other powerful psychological and social skills similar to those employed by sales and marketing executives to brainwash their believers to submission.

Some neo Pentecostal preachers have rallied their congregants to donate or pledge money to projects that never saw the light of day.

And when members fail to pay their tithes or the pledged money, these preachers deliver sermons hitting out at those who do not give.

Many people will probably recall a bizarre incident in Nakuru a few years back, when members of Kingdom Seekers church prayed fervently for three days for the resurrection of a dead pastor, to no avail.

Remarkably, even with evidence like the one they witnessed first-hand, the members remained loyal to their faith.

Dr Eliezer Kibaara, a counselling psychologist in Nairobi, describes as “spiritual abuse” a situation where a religious authority manipulates his congregants psychologically under the guise of obeying the Holy Spirit.

Indeed, an American sociologist, Ronald M. Enroth, has written a book titled Churches that Abuse, which documents the gradual ways, both overt and subtle, in which spiritual abuse take place and how it is found even in mainstream evangelical and protestant churches.

Pr Odero says that when recruiting members, most of the religious groups that later turn out to be exploitative appear well meaning.

“They are kind but have a controlling nature that is imperceptible in the beginning.”

He adds that these preachers “love-bomb” new members, giving them lots of attention and catering for their every need.

He notes that while no one is immune to this kind of manipulation, certain conditions make a religious person an easy target for abusive religious leaders.

EASY TARGETS

For instance, a person going through a crisis such as the loss of a loved one, a source of income or is suffering from a terminal illness or feeling guilty about a mistake they made can be easily ensnared in this web of abuse because they are seeking for a solution for their pain.

For a while after one joins the church, the leader ensures that everything the believer needs is provided.

He is encouraged to speak about himself and his listeners show genuine concern for his litany of problems.

Pr Odero explains that this show of interest is a strategy the leaders consciously use to create an unhealthy form of spiritual and interpersonal dependency, where the person depends on the leader to make any decision.

“These spiritual power holders become strong role models, and their dogmatic teaching, boldness and arrogant assertiveness become powerful means of influence,” Pr. Odero adds.

Their sermons invariably dwell on submission, loyalty, and obedience to those in authority while criticising non-members.

It is notable that, in contrast to this, some churches have pastors go through each other’s sermons before they deliver them.

For instance, pastors in the churches under Christ Is the Answer Ministries (CITAM) go through each other’s sermons on the Wednesday preceding the Sunday it is to be delivered.

According to Dr Kibaara, spiritually abusive groups routinely use guilt, fear, and intimidation to control their members.

They might base their sermons on a biblical verse, which they support by interpreting it in a manner that resonates with the congregation, and in some cases questionable facts, such as the number of members who have been cured of serious diseases.

RUNNING ON EMPTY

Gradually, the leader erodes members’ sense of autonomy and personal identity.

At this Point, Pr. Odero and Dr Kibaara say, the believer is no more than an empty, brainwashed shell who does whatever they are told to do.

Researches by many theologians and sociologists indicate that Kenya is a landmark in the history of Pentecostalism because it is where the wave of the 1920s stopped after arriving from Rwanda.

Following the Pentecostal wave, some shunned the rules that previously guided the church, saying that since the spirit of God was now in control, it would speak directly to God’s servants.

According to a 2007 survey, there are more than 5,000 Pentecostal groups in Kenya, compared with 27 registered with The National Council of Churches of Kenya.

In 2007, there were 8,520 registered churches in Kenya, with more than 7,000 awaiting official registration at the Attorney General’s chambers.

Pentecostal prosperity, the report says, has been the greatest demerit of the religious wave, with preachers exploiting their congregants financially, claiming that they are working under the direction of the Holy Spirit.

Eventually, the believer experiences serious social and psychological alienation.

DE-PROGRAMMING

Unfortunately, there is no place in Kenya that offers counselling to victims of religious abuse, and most counsellors are not trained to handle such cases.

The process of de-socialization, where the individual stops identifying with the religious group and moves towards reintegration into the mainstream culture, requires them to confront a number of emotions and needs that emerge during this transition.

Dr Kibaara advises that, irrespective of whether such people show any emotions, they desperately need empathetic and objective individuals who will not treat them like spiritual pariahs or paranoid storytellers.

“It is advisable to take them through a deprogramming with a counsellor who is familiar with the Bible,” he says.

Coming out of an environment where they were highly dependenent on someone else, they are extremely suggestible and vulnerable to those whom they feel they can trust, be it a counsellor, immediate family member, or pastor.

“The main aim should not be getting them out of the church but helping them regain the ability to act autonomously,” he explains.

Betraying that trust can wreak havoc on them, only validating the warnings of their previous leader concerning the “outside world,” and perhaps driving them back into another (or even the same) regimented environment where they feel they can at least control some of the variables.

It is notable that this negative aspect of Pentecostalism and spiritual abuse is not limited to the Third World.

DYING FOR FAITH

The worst documented abuses have been in the US.

A case in point is that of People’s Temple, the infamous cult led by Jim Jones, which came to the international limelight when about 900 of its members were found dead in their compound, in Jonestown, Guyana.

There was also the case of Heaven’s Gate, 39 of whose members died in a mass suicide in 1997.

Robert Caldini, an American sociologist who has studied the art of persuasion and how it is used to get people to act against their will, says that abuse will persist because there is lack of critical thinking in today’s generation because not many people can debate with their minds and reach an objective answer.

There is also so much more to focus on in today’s world than in the last century; many people are multitasking, giving them very little time to think critically.

-verah okeyo