I used to be a devoted Christian, went to church every Sunday and I was an active member of the church. That all ended in 2008. Here below is one of the reasons I stopped going to church, the offering time!
“Offering time!!” the MC would say and we would respond in a chorus “Blessing time”, that was never an issue with me as I was going to a church in Sunnyside every Sunday and I was even in the praise and worship team. That was back in 2004 and 2005 when I started living in PTA from EC. I would give to the lord with all of my heart and I would believe that the lord would bless me.
In 2005 June I moved to Soshanguve and I used to go to the SCO at TUT Sosha. I was an active member there as well. In the choir, praise and worship team, the drama group, an intercessor. It was a school service and every now and then they would tell us where all the offering go to. The choir/worship team had proper musical instruments; we would get preachers from outside every Sunday and the offering would cover that too. SCO campaigned in the SRC elections; the offerings would help there as well. You could not really get away with chowing student’s money in the name of God. At least you could try and hide it, unlike most pastors.
I did SCO until 2007 December, then 2008 I moved to live in the township and started to go to another church that was in Sosha instead of SCO. What I saw in this church shocked me. Here let me narrate a particular day.
The MC stands up and starts talking “Hallelujah Bazalwane” (please note that I am not going to make anything up and I am not going to exaggerate; those who have been to this kind of church will testify!) “I greet you all in the name of Jesus Christ Amen. Today as I stand before you I would like to testify the greatness of God. He is indeed mighty and he continues to bless me all the time. GOD IS GOOD!” “All the time”. “Bazalwane I have been praying so much to God to bless me with a house and I give all the glory to him today as I am now living in Midrand in a house that God blessed me with. Hallelujah!!!” “Amen” *Applause*
“I would like to call upon Sister Nokuthula who is sent by God today to give us announcements.” Sister Nokuthula goes up and starts talking “Halleluja! Ngibabingelele bonke abathandekayo ngegama lika Jesu, Amen! Bazalwane I know some of you already know but God is good all the time! He is worthy of all our praise Amen.” This sister went on and on about how God blessed her with a new car that she had been praying about and I was there wondering if someone who does not have money or rather who is no blessed by God is allowed to stand in front of people. Everyone who stood up and addressed the congregation had some thing to brag about which God blessed them with.
The one who also amazed me was a lady who stood in front of us and told us that God told her to open a credit card account for Ma Mfundisi (pastor’s wife) while she (the lady) will pay every month and the card did not have a spend limit. She was not ashamed to tell us that her own mother (who by the way was part of the church and was there in that service) does not have a credit card. But she said she is following the bible where it says you should leave all you earthly possessions and focus on your spiritual self. That was why she was spoiling her spiritual mother.
That was not the end of it, here below is the reason why I am not ashamed to say imali yabazalwane ilahlile (believer’s money is loose). It was pastor’s birthday in a month or so and on that day when I was there we were requested to form mini groups, the women, the men, the youth and Sunday School. All those groups had their own meetings where they discussed what they were going to buy uPastor for his birthday. Let me mention that upastor is a South African, I think he was Zulu or Tswana.
At the end of the day the groups came together and they all decided to buy Pastor a house in Sandton, cash. Let me mention that the church is in Soshanguve, a township. There is high possibility that amongst those people deciding to buy uPastor a house was someone who went to church hungry or slept in a mkhukhu. But would you voice out your hunger to all those people? I mean in that church when paying a tithe you were supposed to walk with it for everybody to see and only put it in an envelope when you get to the front. I don’t think that was even a rule but those people were so full of smug that they did that anyway.
So imagine me with my R1500 salary, would I have guts to lift up my R150 for all to see how much I get payed? I don’t think so. The whole church service was about bragging “God has blessed me more than you, God gave you a BMW while he gave the previous speaker only a Yaris. My prayers are more powerful that is why!” that is the kind of vibe you get from everyone at church.
All of the above happened in one church, the specific incidents might have been on different days but the above could pretty much happen in one day. I attended that church for a few more weeks then I gave up on it and went to look for another one. I moved back to PTA CBD and decided to go visit my old church in Sunnyside… Boy did I get a shock!