Do you believe in God? (Part 2)

New Years Eve 

For those of you who know me, you will often find me falling, or being kicked out, of clubs at some ridiculous hour and New Years Eve is no different, if not worse. But not this year. No this year I spent my evening at the Accra sports stadium.

What was I doing there you ask, raving at a concert perhaps? No. I was  being led in worship, along with 40,000 others, by a pastor to crossover into 2014, drinking a thimble of wine and eating dissolvable paper (meant to stand for bread).

It was an experience like no other I have ever had and honestly I actually found it quite uplifting. In the fifteen minutes leading up to the clock striking twelve we were instructed to pray for all the things we wanted in the new-year. So I closed my eyes and began to think.

Suddenly the stadium erupted into a ripple of chants. I opened my eyes and everyone was waving their hands in the air, dancing and shouting their prayers. Their eyes were closed so tight and their fists were thrusting with so much passion you could tell these people wanted their prayers to come true more than anything in the world.

The explosion of Christianity in Africa has meant the number of churches in Ghana has been doubling every 12 years. Many argue the proliferation of churches in the country is gradually undermining Christianity. People are calling themselves men of God when they have no understanding of the roles of such men and it would seem taking advantage of their position

Some colleagues told me about a church congregation that was being broadcast on television. A woman had come forward complaining of a pain in her breast. The pastor asked the woman to take out her breast (on live TV), which she did and he performed some sort of spiritual healing on it using his hands. Now one has to question the morals and motives of this man of God.

One of thousands of chruches

Sadly churches are increasingly becoming a commodity. Pastors are no longer solely interested in getting people to Heaven; they’ve devised intelligent ways to make good money while reaching out to souls to pay for their fleets of cars. 

And while the bible expressly states that salvation is free, at times it comes with a cost: offerings, tithes, gifts to spiritual leaders, and a directive to buy literature and other products created by men of God.

It is sad to think vulnerable souls, desperate for financial breakthroughs, miracles and healing, who all rush to the church for redemption are being taken advantage of. But I like to think this is only a very small minority. Step out of your front door on a Sunday and the streets are near to empty, pretty much the entire population of Ghana is at church or at least following a ceremony on television or the radio.

While I admire their faith and respect their beliefs and join in the odd prayer now and again I don’t think I will be becoming a fully-fledged Christian any time soon. People thank God for their success and while that’s all well and fine (each to their own), I thank my parents for giving me a fabulous upbringing and a fantastic start in life oh and of course myself, for working bloody well hard. 

Wish you were here xoxo