If the Gospel is the bread of life, there is growing concern among believers about the quality and safety of the loaf being served in some religious outlets. If the clergy are the shepherds, suspicion is rife that some are wolves in sheepskin out to prey on the very flock they pretend to be taking care of.
The concerns and suspicions are not far-fetched. With the unprecedented mushrooming of churches, most of which are splinter groups of mainstream denominations, the variation of theology has grown at a similar pace. So much so that the more critical believers are beginning to wonder if the core message has not been distorted.
The variation is manifest in the way churches are run, particularly in regard to financial management and the general approach to issues of money and material things. The rise of the prosperity gospel, for example, is being fuelled by questionable teachings and conduct by the clergy.
Where humility was once the hallmark of the shepherd, the extravagant display of wealth is the standard practice in the age of prosperity preaching. And with this swagger is the tendency for the latter-day pastor to exude raw power—physical not spiritual.
It is the kind of power that the Kenyan media have been treated to in recent days as some clergymen react to criticism of the behaviour of some of their colleagues and the suspect theology that has gained traction in some strands of Christianity.
It’s the power that has caught the attention of the Media Council of Kenya, the Kenya Union of Journalists and the Kenya Correspondents Association, who yesterday issued a statement warning religious leaders against interfering with the work of the media.
Just like the power politicians wield, we know that the threats to journalists or media houses, in private or in public spaces, including on social media, can easily turn into physical harm.
Issuing threats or trying to harm journalists is the very antithesis of Christian values, of which tolerance and forgiveness are cardinal. And if the modern clergyman is loath to turn the other cheek, such actions are still against the law of the land.
There is no doubt that there are still many religious organisations and clerics who play by the Book. But the actions of the leaders of a rapidly growing commercial, if not corrupt, brand of Christianity call for regulation, if for nothing else to save the masses from greedy, money-making schemes.
It is time someone stormed the temple and drove away the charlatans who have turned God’s house “into a den of thieves”.