Beware of so-called prophets of God who mislead the naive
EVERYONE is a prophet nowadays.
With the wave of Protestant churches – headed by male prophets – popping up on every street corner, every Tom, Dick and Harry can now claim to be a man of God – with “God” pronounced in that Rebecca Malope South African accent trying to be African American.
Any listening ear would be forgiven for hearing “man of Gawd” rather than man or woman of God.
In the name of forgiveness and maybe second-language difficulties, one can try to stifle a chuckle at these pronunciations, even though it comes across as rather dramatic.
To be honest, Protestant churches have a flair for drama and glamour. The singing, the dancing, the speaking in tongues and people falling in the name of the Holy Spirit takes some getting used to if a congregant is used to the traditional and conservative churches.
Then there is the pastor calling someone to the front of the church and trying to show his spiritual prowess by pushing someone to the floor and calling it the Holy Spirit.
“Fire,” they shout. And if the congregant refuses to fall, they risk being accused of being disobedient to the spirit of God and are pushed to the ground by the praying pastor, with ushers rushing to cover up the women with cloths.
Men are hardly ever covered.
I digress, but who wants to be falling in front of everyone in their expensive dress, stockings and high heels?
And these are the moderate antics.
Enter the likes of Nigerian prophet Tim Omotoso and these antics go up a notch.
Like most self-ordained prophets, he arrives to preach flanked by bodyguards and oozing bling-bling money in a flashy car, while some congregants arrive in a skorokoro or by foot.
But not the man of God.
In the recent exposé by Special Assignment on television, Omotoso is seen preaching wearing sunglasses indoors.
One could be forgiven for thinking the pastor is a hip-hop rapper, just short of the nude-clad girls gyrating next to him. Unlike hip-hop male artists, who objectify women of age, this prophet has been accused of molesting girls as young as 14 in his Umhlanga rented home.
This is why it’s shocking to see some women defending him, in a similar fashion to women at a salon I was in, who were blaming the young women.
The women chirped, “Why did they agree to go into his private room? Why did they not meet him in his office? Why could they not say no? They wanted the money that the pastor was giving them.”
No amount of reasoning from my side that abuse always happens where there is an imbalance of power made any difference.
In this case, power and by extension more responsibility is towards the man with power.
“He was a father to them, meaning there was trust involved,” I reasoned, trying to hold my anger.
“They trusted him for spiritual guidance, protection and, yes, economic help, especially if one is poor, without having to be violated.”
The women who defend this man, if he is indeed guilty of what he has been accused of, clearly skipped the biblical verse “to whom much is given, much more is expected” or “men should be protectors of women”.
It is deeply sad to see that the patriarchal ideology that men’s morality rests on the shoulders of women is still largely entrenched in women.
Even more shocking was the exposé on SABC 1’s Cutting Edge where the girls’ accounts of the alleged molestation begin with Omotoso’s alleged request to massage his feet first and move to more sexual extremes. In a nutshell, the girls shared similar experiences of his alleged molestation methods.
I paraphrase, but it more or less went along these lines: “Thou shall massage the feet of the man of God, move onto my genitalia and I shall be a blesser [of your economic needs] unto thee.” It is despicable. No wonder my concerned Anglican priest dad usually warns, “Ulumkele uphambana kwezi cawe zoomoya” (be careful of losing your mind in these Protestant churches).
Who can blame a parent or anyone of being suspicious when, as has previously been reported, people are sprayed in their faces with Doom meant for insects and convinced to eat snakes in the name of religion?
But what draws people to these churches when they are becoming cult-like?
They speak to the economic challenges of people in return for their tithes and offerings.
Sadly, this is where many of the churches have become lucrative businesses rather than places for the upliftment of people and their social needs.
Very few churches are transparent about where the money from their congregants goes to.
As these churches rise, it is becoming harder to distinguish which churches are genuine, making it fertile ground for the likes of Omotoso.
So-called prophets like Omotoso are here to teach South Africans the hard way that the notion that one must crucify any sense of reasoning to be a good Christian devotee is dangerous at best.
Arrested at Port Elizabeth international airport wearing his Shakespearean outfit and signature pointed shoes (no wonder his feet were sore and needed massages) – one can only hope the justice system does right by our girls and women and that, if he is found guilty of what he has been accused of, karma serves Omotoso all the massages he needs in a jail jumpsuit.