Our religious leaders have come up with a very questionable prescription to problems that dog the nation. Unfortunately, as their index fingers point at us, the residents, four fingers put the blame squarely on them.
Just to put you in the frame, government mobilised some members of the clergy: gave them fuel to drive to Lilongwe, accommodated them in nice hotels besides giving them the reward of a prophet that came in a form of hefty allowances. But dining with the devil requires a long spoon: the clergy had to help the government placate the suffering masses by threatening them with the scriptures.
As expected, “the people of gold” donned their shiny, over-sized suits and blamed everyone except themselves and the ruling party elite.
They manipulated the scripture telling us that Malawi is poor, not because they rob us off our hard-earned money through a myriad of offerings and tithes, but because we have sinned and their gods are angry with us. Surprisingly, they did not outline any attempts that they made to appease their angry and merciless gods.
But these are the people who go for studies at some fly-by-night diploma mills, leaving God there and bringing back a collar with which they blackmail us. Chiefly, it is because of their greed that the country is in trouble.
Lap dogs
These clergy have danced with the leadership for the past 52 years. They learnt the ropes from their patriarchs. They know exactly what the leadership wants to hear. This is the reason why the one party state was shocked by an April 8, 1992 pastoral letter by the Catholic Bishops: the politicians were not used to frank prophetic utterances.
We also remember how another Catholic Bishop, the late Joseph Mukasa Zuza, rocked the boat when he told the then president Bingu wa Mutharika, right in the face, that any leader who thought that he was omnipotent and therefore needed no sound counsel and criticism, was a chindere chakufikapo (a complete and perfect fool).
Actually, our current clergy should know that Zuza’s voice was prophetic because the scripture states that any stiff-necked person shall be broken, suddenly and beyond remedy.
I sat in awe watching our so-called clergy outdoing each other in praise and worship: not to the Creator but to the graven images that spew silver and gold. Surely Democratic Progressive Party’s Charles Mchacha and Ecklen Kudontoni must have shifted in their seats at the empty and sacrilegious rhetoric that the clergy made.
For the “people of gold”, this was their opportunity to display how low they could sink in order to be considered for political appointments.
Need I refer these “gold diggers” to the book of Ezekiel, Chapter 34, which admonishes the greed of our clergy who live luxurious life style akin to that of some rock-stars? Ezekiel likens these to watchdogs who cannot bark. Their presumed heavenly master is unhappy that his self-acclaimed stewards are busy feasting on fatty foods in hotels and dressing in fine wool when His flock is being dissipated by carnivorous political leaders.
Oh! How I wish we had just one pastor who would behave like Prophet Elijah whose yes and no were as distinct as day and night.
Elijah remained truthful and honest in the face of 400 “prophets” who told the feared King Ahab the truth. King Ahab himself confessed his hatred for Prophet Elijah saying “he does not tell me what I want to hear”. King Ahab even called Elijah the troubler of Israel (enemy of the state). Unfortunately, our “people of gold” always tell the king what he wants to hear and the selection of the preachers could attest.
Why the clergy must repent
The clergy gave us a litany of sins that we need to confess if their gods are to smile back at us. But they forgot about how some of them have preyed on the widows and the fatherless, forcing them to abort in some instances. What about those members of the clergy who have lost property through usury, a practice that is condemned in the scripture?
Have these “people of gold” forgotten how they pick and choose which political administration they should rebuke and which one to dance with? They behave as if they have a roster, giving each other turns to prostitute with the leadership of the day. If you open your eyes, you will notice that each administration comes with its own cadre of “people of gold”. This is not supposed to be the case as the clergy are supposed to outlive political administrations.
Then there are those clerics who strip us off the last penny, telling us that our treasures will be stored in heaven, yet they are busy sending their children to study abroad, building themselves mansions as if the Lord has postponed his return and scrambling for the latest four-wheeler on the market.
Why is it that there is so much hatred and jealous among the clergy? Each of them believes they are the best preachers Malawi ever had. No wonder there is no anointing in their sermons since they are mere public social lectures.
Perhaps I should remind the clergy that they should also learn to stomach constructive criticism and not threaten us with the tired “don’t touch the anointed” mantra. But it is such aversion to criticism that makes them good bed-fellows to the corrupt politicians for evil thrives in darkness.
Rebuilding Malawi
But as they say, after all is said and done; much is said than done. The clergy should go back to their divine call. They should study the instructions of their heavenly Master and practise them. They should stop dwelling in the dens of wolves that devour the innocent sheep.
Our clerics must remind us that while God feeds all the birds; He does not drop the grains in their nests. The clergy should remind our Cabinet Ministers not to steal as if they were Ananias and Saphira but to behave like good stewards of the common treasure.
I sincerely pray that the clergy should know the Man of Calvary who had no form and countenance that men would admire and stop their wild-goose chase for worldly wealth. Did someone just say: Amen?!
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