Summer time is here and the temperature is very high especially during day time. Last Friday evening, I decided to take an evening walk around the neighbourhood to enjoy the cool evening breeze.
As I passed an area which has a number of church buildings, my eyes fell on one huge unfinished structure. This structure has been like this for the past 3 or more years. Looking at this unfinished building, one can see that this was meant to be a very beautiful and an expensive church if it was fully completed.
I started wondering what the problem was for the building project to stall like this for all these years. How can someone start a building and then fail to finish it? Did they run out of money? If that was the case then I would laugh at whoever was in charge of this for their bad planning. No one can embark on such a huge project when they know they had no money to complete the building.
This unfinished building was also going to be the biggest of all the structures lined up in this street. The other church buildings in this area were fully completed and I could see people inside attending evening service. Some of these buildings were new projects started less than 2 years years or a year and they have been successfully been completed.
It is not very strange in Zambia to see an unfinished church building. Most of them have been in a static state or they take years and years being built at a snail's pace. I have also seen many Churches finish their building projects in just a year. So what is the problem with these other churches that struggle to finish their projects?
When a person wants to build a house, the first thing he must do is to organise some money. When the time for building comes, he has to look at a plan that will meet his financial strength. No man can start building a 4 bedroom house when he only has money to build a 2 bedroom house.
I know you may think a church needs a bigger building because many people are expected to go inside that building. I agree with you but it is still unwise to start a project and have it stall because you have run out money.
Some wise church leaders make plans for building small churches that will accommodate a good number of people. The first group will have its service in the morning at 8:00 hours and after 2 hours another group can go in, and a third group will go in after that. This helps to decongest the church and save the congregation from erecting very costly gigantic structures which risk being unfinished when the money stops coming.
When I posed the question to my friends why many church buildings stall after reaching a certain level, one of them said, "Because some crooked pastors take the money we put as offering to do the work. God cannot come and collect the money. God is ever rich and gave us everything that exists so where does the money go?"
This sounds a bit harsh but it may have an element of truth. Some pastors are not honest. The Post newspaper on Tuesday October 15 carried a news story headlined "Some pastors fear to lose big tithers, says Sichilongo". The article reported Kitwe's Pentecostal Holiness Church Reverend, Ospeck Sichilongo saying, "We have pastors who are fearing to talk about the sinful actvities of their members especially if such members are big tithers and offereing contributors."
This reminds me of what my friend told me last year when he was invited to attend a church service by one of his neighbours. He was surprised that the pastor spent most of the time preaching about money and material blessings. He said that at one point the pastor was telling the congregation that they should take good care of him and his family because he cannot be poor when the God he serves is a rich God.
As I passed an area which has a number of church buildings, my eyes fell on one huge unfinished structure. This structure has been like this for the past 3 or more years. Looking at this unfinished building, one can see that this was meant to be a very beautiful and an expensive church if it was fully completed.
I started wondering what the problem was for the building project to stall like this for all these years. How can someone start a building and then fail to finish it? Did they run out of money? If that was the case then I would laugh at whoever was in charge of this for their bad planning. No one can embark on such a huge project when they know they had no money to complete the building.
This unfinished building was also going to be the biggest of all the structures lined up in this street. The other church buildings in this area were fully completed and I could see people inside attending evening service. Some of these buildings were new projects started less than 2 years years or a year and they have been successfully been completed.
It is not very strange in Zambia to see an unfinished church building. Most of them have been in a static state or they take years and years being built at a snail's pace. I have also seen many Churches finish their building projects in just a year. So what is the problem with these other churches that struggle to finish their projects?
When a person wants to build a house, the first thing he must do is to organise some money. When the time for building comes, he has to look at a plan that will meet his financial strength. No man can start building a 4 bedroom house when he only has money to build a 2 bedroom house.
I know you may think a church needs a bigger building because many people are expected to go inside that building. I agree with you but it is still unwise to start a project and have it stall because you have run out money.
Some wise church leaders make plans for building small churches that will accommodate a good number of people. The first group will have its service in the morning at 8:00 hours and after 2 hours another group can go in, and a third group will go in after that. This helps to decongest the church and save the congregation from erecting very costly gigantic structures which risk being unfinished when the money stops coming.
When I posed the question to my friends why many church buildings stall after reaching a certain level, one of them said, "Because some crooked pastors take the money we put as offering to do the work. God cannot come and collect the money. God is ever rich and gave us everything that exists so where does the money go?"
This sounds a bit harsh but it may have an element of truth. Some pastors are not honest. The Post newspaper on Tuesday October 15 carried a news story headlined "Some pastors fear to lose big tithers, says Sichilongo". The article reported Kitwe's Pentecostal Holiness Church Reverend, Ospeck Sichilongo saying, "We have pastors who are fearing to talk about the sinful actvities of their members especially if such members are big tithers and offereing contributors."
This reminds me of what my friend told me last year when he was invited to attend a church service by one of his neighbours. He was surprised that the pastor spent most of the time preaching about money and material blessings. He said that at one point the pastor was telling the congregation that they should take good care of him and his family because he cannot be poor when the God he serves is a rich God.
"My fellow Pastors are driving to church while I walk here every Sunday. Why should I walk when I serve a rich God? Why should I live like a beggar when I serve a rich God?"
The Pastor was telling this to poor members of his congregation who over 90% came to that morning's church service either walking or by using public transportation. This pastor uses a school classroom for his Sunday service. I can not avoid to think about what he would do with part of the money meant for building a church if that project was embarked on because already you can see that he wants to own a car.
His request also brings out another question. Is it the responsibility of the congregation to buy things like cars, houses, pay his children's school fees and so on? There are different views on this matter. Some people believe a pastor should not get rich through the church but through his own hard work like everyone else. Others think there is nothing wrong with the pastor getting rich through his work because he earns it through preaching.
His request also brings out another question. Is it the responsibility of the congregation to buy things like cars, houses, pay his children's school fees and so on? There are different views on this matter. Some people believe a pastor should not get rich through the church but through his own hard work like everyone else. Others think there is nothing wrong with the pastor getting rich through his work because he earns it through preaching.
Many pastors today are accused of preaching what is called "Prosperity Gospel". Their sermons have very little to do with salvation but they are full of materialism or "blessings". It is all about money, money, money and wealth. Many pastors who preach about worldly prosperity have massive pay cheques and own many properties and businesses suspected to have been gained through the church.
Of course there are many pastor who have gained their wealth through their own sweat and hard work but there are many more who are taking advantage of their positions to gain wealth.
The government of Botswana in May declared a pastor from one West Afrcan country a prohibited immigrant after his superiors from his country of origin told the Bostwana government that he was not remitting money to them as required. It is alleged that he was using this money for his personal gain and living a luxurious life. Why some pastors, who are the custodians of the word of God are so easily tempted is beyond imagination.
Many people who have travelled by bus especially between Lusaka the Copperbelt have seen preachers getting on the bus at the station to preach to passengers sitting inside the bus waiting for the bus to load. While it is not bad to preach the gospel to travellers, it all becomes suspicious when at the end of the short sermon, these preachers start demanding for money or "offerings" from the passengers. Does this money get to the churches that these people belong to if at all they belong to any? Are they just cleverly asking to be paid for preaching?
It is quite evident that the love of money has infected many pastors and this is what is leading to their downfall. When a person is so obsessed with money, he will not even see the small wrong things that he is doing for him to get that money. Many pastors are not employed or are paid little money which cannot fully sustain them in this hard economy where prices of commodities and services are rising daily.
Other pastors are power hungry. When they see a fellow pastor doing very well, they will mistakenly think his wealth is coming from the church and they will push their members to the limit in making contributions. This is where some pastors will even bring in projects like building, selling of literature, DVDs and so on. And what would be the best way to get money through a building project than coming up with a proposal to buid a very big church which will take more than two years to finish?
Unfortunately, after a few years when the buiding does not seem to be moving, the members of that church stop contributing as much as they used to in the building because they become suspicious. Maybe this is what leads to the building project coming to a standstill.
These greedy pastors must remember that the bible itself does not encourage such people to be leaders in church. 1 Timothy 3:3 tells us that the qualities of a leader must be "not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money."
Image courtesy of stockimages, freedigtalphotos.netOf course there are many pastor who have gained their wealth through their own sweat and hard work but there are many more who are taking advantage of their positions to gain wealth.
The government of Botswana in May declared a pastor from one West Afrcan country a prohibited immigrant after his superiors from his country of origin told the Bostwana government that he was not remitting money to them as required. It is alleged that he was using this money for his personal gain and living a luxurious life. Why some pastors, who are the custodians of the word of God are so easily tempted is beyond imagination.
Many people who have travelled by bus especially between Lusaka the Copperbelt have seen preachers getting on the bus at the station to preach to passengers sitting inside the bus waiting for the bus to load. While it is not bad to preach the gospel to travellers, it all becomes suspicious when at the end of the short sermon, these preachers start demanding for money or "offerings" from the passengers. Does this money get to the churches that these people belong to if at all they belong to any? Are they just cleverly asking to be paid for preaching?
It is quite evident that the love of money has infected many pastors and this is what is leading to their downfall. When a person is so obsessed with money, he will not even see the small wrong things that he is doing for him to get that money. Many pastors are not employed or are paid little money which cannot fully sustain them in this hard economy where prices of commodities and services are rising daily.
Other pastors are power hungry. When they see a fellow pastor doing very well, they will mistakenly think his wealth is coming from the church and they will push their members to the limit in making contributions. This is where some pastors will even bring in projects like building, selling of literature, DVDs and so on. And what would be the best way to get money through a building project than coming up with a proposal to buid a very big church which will take more than two years to finish?
Unfortunately, after a few years when the buiding does not seem to be moving, the members of that church stop contributing as much as they used to in the building because they become suspicious. Maybe this is what leads to the building project coming to a standstill.
These greedy pastors must remember that the bible itself does not encourage such people to be leaders in church. 1 Timothy 3:3 tells us that the qualities of a leader must be "not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money."
