Witchcraft International Church! You wonder where that is located? Don’t wander far, they are everywhere in Nigeria. Just attend any Church’s revival or prayer service and watch out for their attributes, for as Jesus said, “by their fruit ye shall know them” (Luke 6:44).
Let me take a detour. During a Sunday School class titled ‘God’s Kind of Love’, we studied and discussed the commandment “be ye perfect as your father in heaven is” (Matthew 5:48) for “without holiness no man will see God” (Heb 12:14) and this led to the question “can we really be perfect?” In our pursuit of perfection, Jesus admonished us to love our neighbours as ourselves and that admonition adds to the long list of requirements for Godliness as recorded in Matthew chapter 5.
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| Should Christians prays for those who persecute them? |
How different are we from others if we love only those who love us, even pagans do so. And to hate those who hate us is paying evil for evil. Then someone asked: “Do you mean we should love and pray for these “Boko-Haram guys?”. The whole class was thrown into confusion and heated argument ensued.
In Matthew 5: 44 Jesus said: “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” But, why should I love my enemy?
I thought of the “causal theory” of moral law. Proponents of this theory posit that “some human acts are caused by forces beyond the control of the actor and that actors cannot be blamed for such acts. Paul, a man well versed in law and equally filled with the Holy Spirit, said in Ephesians 6:12 that we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places (forces beyond the actor’s control).
Although Jesus’ commandment may be hard to follow for a canal man, it should not be for a spiritual man (a Christian). Jesus has not called us to a “tea party” in this world. Without mincing words, he said that we will be faced with tribulations in this world but we should be of good cheer for He has overcome the world (John 16:33).
Now, back to the topic. All the admonitions above were either not in some people’s Bibles or they bore other interpretations, especially for the Pastors and members of “Witchcraft International Churches”. To them, all their enemies must die in the flesh. Have you ever being under a revival service and the “revivalist” asked you to pray: “You will call Holy Spirit three times, Holy Ghost fire three times and say... anybody, be it in my father’s house or my mother’s house, related to me by blood or not, trying to victimise me or standing on my way to prosperity, fall down and die within 3 days in Jesus name! Holy Ghost, take their lives.”
What follows is well known, thunderous noise and shouts in prayers demanding the Holy Spirit to do the killing. Somebody once asked: “Do people think the Holy Spirit is a hired assassin?” Where then is the love Jesus commanded us to have for our enemies?
Some people even go home and keep an ear close to the ground awaiting the demise of the suspected enemy in their compound/family. But when the pastor calls for a prayer for Nigeria everybody would pray in quiet tones.
This witchcraft doctrine is propagated mostly by new generation pastors but the orthodox seem to be catching the trend too, in order to keep their members. Jesus knew this when He asked in Luke 6:39: “Can the blind lead the blind? Shall they not both fall into the ditch?”
I have discussed this issue with some friends and some were quick to point out the songs and prayers of David, especially Psalm 35, but I always ask them: “Didn’t Jesus know this when he taught us in what manner to pray?”
Remember what Christ said in John 15: 12 and 14: “This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you… you are my friends (a Christian), if ye do what soever I command you.” No man or church can claim to be Christian (Christ-like) if such cannot practice what Christ commanded. We'll rather call you Witch(es).
This article was first published in Daily Times
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