Has the church forsaken Christ? This is among the questions that thinkers of modern times have to grapple with as evangelical ministries spring up at a rapid pace- And in this great race to inflate their congregations and win more followers, and even possibly the offering basket , the ‘modern church’ has been seen to adopt unorthodox ways of wooing the masses into their sermons.
Televangelism for instance has become among the most popular trends particularly for the houses of worship in urban settlements. While this incorporation of telecommunication technologies has indeed helped spread the gospel, the spanner comes into the works when half of the sermon is transformed into a frenzy of advertisements for the sale of DVD’s , CD’s and books authored by these men and women of the cloth. This scenario rings a bell dating back centuries when Jesus walked into the temple at Jerusalem only to find its’ inner walls transformed into a commercial center for trade.
The thin line between the gospel and secularism is increasingly getting blurred. Indeed it is a “blurred line”. Celebrity churches is another in-thing in Nairobi for instance as throngs of youth clamper to share a pew with their favorite artists and actors. This then begs the question: When did people stop going to church because of Christ? When did it stop being about the quest to quench spiritual thirst and the longing to be at peace with God and oneself? At what point did we miss this timeline in history?
Only recently, on the Twitter handle for its teens ministry, a local church posted a rather controversial poster featuring a man embracing a lady with her legs raised high in a provocative manner and controversial lines like “You can gerrit!” and “Shades of grey” embedded on it-words acquired from a once locally banned music video and an erotic novel containing sexually explicit material. In its defense, the church protested that it picks people from where they are in culture then leads them to where God would want them to be. An interesting question was asked in response to this defense by the church: “What would Jesus have done?”
It goes beyond controversial posters on social networks. The music videos and lifestyles of some self-proclaimed gospel artists have raised questions on the level of genuine spirituality manifested through these products. Is society being too harsh and judgmental or is it that indeed, the church has reached a mind-boggling crossroads? One thing’s for sure, the moral compass is not giving direction.
Multimedia University Journalism Club 