WEST AFRICA HOLY SPIRIT CONFERENCE 1988
(WAHSCON ’08)
CONFRONTING THE ISSUE
CONFRONTING AFRICA’S ISSUES: THE CHURCH’S PROPHETIC MANDATE

SYNOPSIS
This message challenges the African Church to use the Holy Spirit and the Word to
confront culture and establish Christ’s true Lordship

PREAMBLE
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
The times we live in are great but dangerous times. We are witnessing tremendous strides
in Church growth in Africa. But the spiritual advances are taking place in the midst of
serious political, economic and social problems. The harsh pressures of life are also
intensifying superstition, leading to the unfortunate rise in Satanism, idolatry and
plurality in religion on the continent, particularly on the West Coast of Africa. This throws
a great challenge to the Church in Africa.
There are crusades, prayer meetings and Church conferences all over the place. There is
rising awakening in evangelism and teaching, and prayer to establish and deepen faith
and equip for service. However, there is much work to be done in teaching and missions,
in positive engagement with culture, with all reality in Africa. Indeed, the Church in Africa
is yet to take up missions, or the Great Commission in its fullness.
As we mentioned in the Keynote Address this morning, two issues need to be examined
in this respect: –
1) The acceptance of the word of God in its fullness as a basis and only basis for
Faith, Life and Work; the acceptance of the Holy Spirit for the Church’s Witness in
the world; and aligned with this is
2) The acceptance of the fullness of the Church’s Mission in building The Kingdom of
God on earth so the will of God be done on earth as it is in heaven.
The problem with theology, and doctrines, particularly the doctrines of the ministry of the
Holy Spirit, and the Kingdom of God have caused gulfs and high denominational walls
preventing unity in and effective ministry of the Church in human affairs. It is a fact, is it
not, that the Church be one? That, it is in Unity that the Church can experience
perfection, the Church can have encounter with the devil and man in rebellion and nature
and establish the New Social order of Love, of Peace and Goodwill towards man?
However, the Church seems to lack the will and indeed real desire for the Unity in spirit
to be translated in practical terms in purposeful action. It appears therefore that with
such profound internal problems, the Church has not, indeed cannot meaningfully
undertake the Great Commission in the world and glorifying God. It is obvious that if the
Church, her message and ministry will have any impact on society, the church must
consider seriously her role in society and address herself to issues in a meaningful coordained manner, from a Biblical perspective.
Thus, not only is there a great need for unity in the Church, for a clear definition and
agreement on the Church’s role in society, there is a need for deep search into scriptures
for acceptable God-honouring theological and spiritual bases for social action. This Bible
says.
“When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land
or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will humble
themselves and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear
from heaven, and will forgive their sins and heal their land.” (2nd Chron. 7: 13-14)
This places much responsibility on the Church. But the Church’s cry will ascend to
heaven when in Unity of Worship and Purpose, in Righteousness and Humility approach
the Sovereign Lord for Healing and Deliverance for our people and land. God must first
hear the prayers and be satisfied with the hearts and minds of the saints to act to honour
His Name among His people and bring glory to His Name.
“Then the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him; I have heard your prayer,
and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. For now I have chosen and
sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will
be there perpetually.” (2nd Chron. 7: 12, 16)
The issue of social righteousness and works of evil apart, the Church has even greater
responsibility and concern for religious and cultural matters. In West Africa, although the
Christian Church is witnessing strides, there is also upsurge in activities and growth of
other religions, old and new, traditional and foreign, African and Asian, Sects and Cults,
and all. Some of there are very aggressive, borrowing evangelistic ideas, methods and
language from the Christian Church. For example, Islam, Eckanckar and recently the
Mormons. To be sure, the pressure of politics and social change, coupled particularly
with the harsh economic conditions are contributory factors to this phenomenon. Where
there are social pressures, superstition prospers, men run helter skelter seeking answers.
People with empty bellies are grateful and may be subservient to any benefactor. Thus,
religious groups alert to their surroundings and active can always take advantage of times
of distress. Whilst the Christian Church should not be seen to be opportunist and
oppressive organ, she cannot allow other religious groups to take advantage of the
poverty and helplessness of our people and herd them into spiritual and moral bondage.
The Church must stand up.
One of the major objectives of WAHSCON ’88 is t bring awareness to provoke discussion
on issues and challenge to Christian witness in the sub-region. To do this, the Church
also needs to examine the foundational beliefs and practices in the Church, examining
all areas of the church’s mission so as to establish a Sound Spiritual, Theological and
Moral Standard for the Church’s Worship and Witness in Africa. The seminars will take
care of the issue of STANDARD, spiritual, theological and moral, the Workshops are to
bring awareness and challenge, whilst the evening session lead us in spiritual Cleansing,
Renewal and Power for Service.
INTRODUCTION
Our concern this afternoon is to open up the discussion of issues under the topics: –
CONFRONTING THE ISSUES. We will base our discussion on the scripture on Isaiah 62:10
“Go through, Go through the gates; Prepare the way for the people; Build up, build up the
highway; Take out the stones, Lift up a banner for the peoples!”
The vision of God for Israel is Righteousness and His Glory in the land. He has set His
mind to bring this about mainly because He has chosen Jerusalem to dwell there. His
Temple is in Jerusalem. It is therefore His mind to pour His blessings upon the city, to
adorn her with His glory and make her a praise in the world. The central and major factor
of His glory is Righteousness in the land.
Accordingly, He has not only set watchmen upon the walls of Jerusalem, which shall
never hold their Peace Day nor night till righteousness is established in the land, for Him
to make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
Thus, spiritual intercession is the basic and fundamental task of the Church if
righteousness is to be established in the land and God’s glory of blessings, peace,
righteousness, justice and prosperity be experienced by a people. Until intercession rises
and descends to confront principalities and powers of darkness, holing men in bondage,
unrighteousness, evil drought, famine, violence, wars, deaths, political instability,
economic chaos and social injustice shall be the order of the day. But the Church’s task
shall not be watch night service and spiritual warfare alone. These need to be followed
with concrete social action. Whilst exhorting and confronting the people to wait in
patience for the deliverance of God, it is necessary to go through all gates, of the city, all
the power base and sectors of society, to examine, amend and remove every obstacle
hindering national progress. The Church must Cast Up a Highway and Raise a Banner for
the people to rally round and establish a Standard for the people. The banner we have of
course is JESUS CHRIST AND THE CHRISTIAN FAITH, the Highway to be cast up is
Righteousness leading our people to the Peace, Righteousness, Justice and Progress
of the Kingdom of God and His Christ.
When we consider the times in which we live, we can say that in spite of the revival in the
Church, the walls of our nations are totally broken down. They need to be rebuilt as in the
days of Nehemiah. Before the Nehemiah’s work would take place, however, the Temple
in Jerusalem had to be rebuilt first. Haggai, Ezra and Zachariah provided the spiritual and
moral leadership to the people. Ezra was particularly concerned with the Ministry of the
Word and Worship.
That is to say, the revival in Africa must take seriously the Teaching Ministry and Effective,
Meaningful, God-Glorifying Worship if the revival and Church growth taking place will
last. These are issues of real concern which need to be examined during this conference.
It is our prayer that participants will take these very important issues into prayerful
deliberations particularly as Church or Christian leaders.
There cannot be any meaningful social action until the Church returns to the Truth of the
Faith and Living Principle of Kingdom (Nation) Building. Christian leadership and the
Church’s contribution to social progress will be meaningless, indeed betrayal of God,
Christ and the Faith, unless all processes are determined and undertaken in the context
of the Kingdom of God or Biblical principles. Otherwise, the nation and people will not
receive the due divine blessing of peace, righteousness and justice and prosperity. There
might be economic prosperity, but it might be fraught with oppression and injustice, with
unrighteousness and wickedness, with faithlessness and base moral values, with social
distress and hopelessness such as is being witnessed in the advanced nations.
The new Africa, the Church must help build, must be a city for the praise and glory of God.
There is need then for the church not only to be conversant with Kingdom Principles,
every gate, every social sector needs to be examined and reviewed in accordance with
Biblical principles. When the walls of Jerusalem broke down, Nehemiah’s first task was
to examine the gates and walls of the city, before causing various classes of people to
build the gates and walls of interest and close to them.
Our task in the seminars is to examine the major four pillars and gates connecting the
walls of the city, in Christian Witness and Action. In the workshops, we shall examine the
conditions and repairs necessary to the gates and walls, pray over them in serious
intercession, leaving the actual rebuilding of preaching, prayer and concrete action to our
return to our respective stations and nations.
This morning, we identified the four broad pillars or areas of enquiry in the Church’s
mission – The Faith, The Spirit World, The Religious World, The Politico-Economic and
Socio-Cultural World. These four areas shall be the subjects of closer examination both
in the Seminars and Workshops, in our deliberations and private discussions, Bible study
and prayer. Let us seek the Lord’s face and will on these subjects and the specific tasks
to be undertaken. What we will do now is to raise these pillars again for considerations as
issue areas, not for the gem of Truth and Faith as such but as areas of action.
BACKGROUND
A. The Great Commission has established The Church as a Missionary Movement of
Evangelism and Kingdom Building: –
− Evangelism lead to Church Planting and Education to establish saints in
Truth, Faith, Righteousness and Service and The Hope of the Gospel.
− Kingdom Building involves encounter with the devil, man and all reality with
the Gospel in the Power of the Word and Spirit to establish a new social
order after God and Christ.
B. The Earth or World is one of Rebellion and Curse of Sin, Corruption and Death.
− Rebellion started in heaven against God
− Lucifer against God’s Supremacy and Authority
− Eve & Adam against the Word of God and Human Dependence upon God.
C. The Church – (i) The People Redeemed from the curse of sin and the
consequences of unbelief, corruptibility and mortality of man brought into Light: –
− Knowledge of God
− Wisdom, Knowledge and Understanding from above
− Faith and Trust in God, taking care of the rebellion in dependence upon God
− The Word of God handed down in Written form and oral transmission
through prophecy
− The Holy Spirit given for Power – Access to God and the Love, Faith and
Hope of God.
− Supernatural abilities – The gifts of the Holy Spirit.
(ii) Sent Out in the World of Sin, Evil and Demonic Oppression to liberate and
deliver man and creation, cast out the devil and destroy the works of evil,
subjecting all things under Christ Jesus, building the Kingdom of God.
D. The Weapons of the Church
− The Word of God – creative utterance
− The Name and Blood of Jesus Christ
− The Power system of the Holy Spirit – Prayer, Gifts of the Holy Spirit (The
Holy Angels in waiting)
From the foregoing we can trace one fundamental element – FAITH……. found in and
buttressed by our
i. Belief in the Existence of God
ii. Trust in His Supremacy
iii. Belief and Trust and Confidence in His Word
iv. Belief and Trust in the Testimony and Name of Jesus Christ
v. Belief and Trust of the Holy Spirit
vi. Ability to Stand in and Exercise the Faith in God.
Thus, the Church’s work, as in individual life is faith in God, His Word, in Jesus Christ and
The Holy Spirit. In this system, the contact point is The Word, which is the source of
knowledge and faith. Acceptance of the Word would not only lead to knowledge and
understanding of God and His will but also the wonderful position of Jesus Christ in Divine
Revelation, in affairs of Creation and above all in Redemption of man and nature. The
greatest problem in the Church and the world therefore is the position of Jesus Christ and
the holy scriptures as recorded in the Christian Bible.
In examining the four pillars of concern, let us always have Christ, and the WORD in the
background. The Holy Spirit works in the name of Jesus Christ. He does not seek His own.
But a rejection of the Holy Spirit according to Jesus Christ is an unpardonable sin. Talking
of Jesus Christ therefore subsumes the work of the Holy Spirit.
1. THE CHURCH AND THE FAITH
In our morning paper, we raised four main issues under this topic: –
a) The Place of the Word of God in the Church
b) The Place of the Holy Spirit in the Church
c) The Elevation of human knowledge and wisdom to a position of idol, above
scriptures revelation, detriment to both Truth and Faith.
d) The Non-acceptance of the Holy Scriptures as the fullness of revelation of
Divine Wisdom and Knowledge sufficient for confrontation of all reality in
the world. That is, The rejection of the Biblical World View of Church and
World.
These four broad problem areas may be considered in terms of their consequences
on the Church’s position in Society as Teacher of Truth, as
Spokesman of God and Producer of Kings, Prophets and Priests for Church and Society.
a) The Place of the Word of God in the Church
The Fundamental to the Church’s life and work is Belief of, Obedience to and
Dependence upon the Word of God.
In this connection,
i. Theological gate – the Church in Africa has to re-examine issues such as
Inerrancy of the Scriptures, Liberal Theology and problems of
interpretation which ascribe meaning and application of the scriptures to
generation-culture. What is the fundamental spirit and effect of these
ideas with respect to Faith, and Ministry. What will be the basis of
Evangelism and Church Establishment? What place of doctrines in the
light of traditional beliefs, customs and other religious systems. Is the
scriptures truly the revealed Will of God, to all mankind, all creation? Are
they subject to Human Interpretation and hence choice as to obedience
and application?
ii. Doctrines – more man-made than divine since they are selective in
interpretation.
b) The Person and Ministry of The Holy Spirit
The basic issue with the Church’s acceptance of the Word of God and hence
of Jesus Christ is the rejection of the Holy Spirit’s ministry in the Church.
Human mind and reasoning power has been elevated above the Holy Spirit.
Thus, Holy Spirit Ministry in preaching and teaching (John 15: 26) in
evangelism (John 16: 8-11) in Church administration and Ministry (John 16:
13-15; 1st Cor. 12: 1-11) and all have on the whole been ignored. The day-today dependence upon the Lord by the working power of the Holy Spirit – an
access to God through prayer, Bible Study, revelation, prophecy and
direction has been abandoned by most people to the extent churches have
rejected Christ as the Head of the Church. Church leadership, councils,
offices and ministries are appointed and established without reference to
the Lord Jesus Christ who having ascended alone gives and is to give men
unto the Church (Eph. 4: 8-11).
There is indeed denial of Jesus Christ and the Ministry of the Holy Spirit in
many places, even among the Evangelicals and Pentecostals. Human
knowledge and wisdom is elevated above the Holy Spirit. Men have taken
upon themselves the glory of Jesus Christ, appointed themselves into
various Church offices, and ecclesiastic orders and given themselves names
as it were, above Jesus Christ.
c) The idol of Human Knowledge
Thus, Human knowledge and wisdom seem to have on the whole been
turned into an idol in the Church. Not only are the gifts and skills of the Holy
Spirit turned into personal attainments to be exercised according to the
desires of those who command them, the Church has been drifted into
extolling the virtues of human faculties and academicism, appointees to
Church orders must bear academic credentials without reference to calling,
the hand of God on the person and effectiveness in ministry. The idol of
academicism and the name or fame that go with it has become such a pull,
even ministers who, with due respect to your sensibilities and in all humility
before God, may He forgive me if I am mistaken, and I would be happy to be
mistaken, ministers who do not appear to have attained such academic
heights are calling themselves “Doctors and Professors.”
We need excellence in both education and ministry all to the glory of God.
Let us seek the Word and the Spirit and honour Jesus Christ, the Lord and
Master.
d) The Holy Scriptures and all Reality
One of the consequences of the idol of human knowledge and wisdom is the
rejection of Biblical principles in solving human problems the unrestrained
use of human ideas, philosophies and skills in Christian life and even Church
administration and Ministry. Spiritual principles imparted by the Holy Spirit
have been observed and recorded for general guidance without reference to
the leading of the Holy Spirit in individual cases; psychology and the social
sciences now provide the framework for decision making. The Biblical world
view has consequently been rejected. Happily, the Church is now bringing
attention to Kingdom Principles. There is now a call to Return to the Biblical
world view in view of the inevitable triumph of evil made possible by the
abandonment of Faith and Trust in God. The Headship of Jesus Christ in the
Church and hence the Position of the Holy Spirit as the Representative of
Christ and General Superintendent in the Church, Ephesians 1: 4-6, 20-23
Colossians 1: 12-19.
The church is not just preaching or testifying and glorifying Christ. Christ is
the head of the church. is the church working in true submission to Christ
and hence the holy spirit?
• John 5: 19-23, 30-34, 26-47
• John 7: 16-19
• John 6: 7-15
THE CHURCH AND THE SPIRIT WORLD
The most important and crucial subjects worthy of prayerful considerations under this
sub-theme is:
1. The Rebellion in the WORLD – Lucifer and Hosts, and Man and the Kingdoms,
Systems, Structures thereof.
Matt. 4: 8-10
2
nd Cor. 4:4, Eph. 2:2
There is a call for STANDING UP primarily because of this. Because of the work of
the enemy in the Church and Nations, the world.
2. THE POSITION AND NAME OF JESUS CHRIST
The Bible teaches; –
a) The Pre-Eminence of Jesus Christ – Col. 1:12-28
b) The Position, Power and Authority of Jesus Name – Rev. 22:16; John. 1:12-13;
Eph. 1: 21-22; Phil. 2:9; John 14: 13-14; Acts 4: 12; Mrk. 16: 17-18
What is the spiritual significance of the Name of Jesus Christ for the saint –
John 1: 12-13; Mark 16: 17-18; John 15: 4; Philippians 2: 9-11.
3. THE PERSON AND MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Connected with the Position of Jesus Christ is the Person and Ministry of the Holy
Spirit.
− The Deity and Equality of The Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son.
− The Holy Spirit as Ambassador of Christ in the Church – Acts 1:8; John 14:
16-18, 26
− The Holy Spirit as the Brain, Inspirer and Teacher of the Word – 2
nd Pet. 1:
20-21; 2nd Tim. 3: 16-17; John 16: 7-15
− Another Consideration
• What position other deities, their names and systems and fruits that
follow them.
• What deities in African religion and
• What deities in other religions
• Are there any spirits behind African cultural practices? Are this
acceptance unto God and hence, will the saints not be offending
the Living God when engaged in African traditional religion and
certain cultural practices?
• What power does the Church have regarding these other spirits?
− Angels – Heb. 1: 7-8; Col. 2:18
− Fallen angels and demons – Luke 10: 18-19; Mrk 16: 17-18;
Matt. 12: 28
− Holy Angels – Allies Rev. 22:9; 1st Cor. 6:3
The Church must not lose sight of the presence and activities of spirits in the world, their
influence on human affairs and hence the Church’s need TO STAND against all
principality and power and their manifestation thereof in her mission in evangelism and
social action.
THE CHURCH AND THE RELIGIOUS WORLD
In this world, men are always seeking answers to their daily afflictions, their spiritual,
physical, emotional and social problems. Life is full of problems. They need something
to believe in, something to hold on to as anchor in life. To believe in one’s own ability is
faith. But all men, all reasoning men know that their abilities are limited. Not only is life
more than what one hears, sees, touches and experiences, life is a matter of trust and
dependence of fellow men and when one finds God, of God, Supreme Being with lifegiven, life-sustaining power. It is the dependence factor in the human system that is
responsible for the pre-eminence of religion in human affairs. Religion shall cease only
when man and society reach perfection in the Kingdom of God.
However, religion’s major pre-occupation should not be life-conditions as LIFE ITSELF,
which we find in man’s reconciliation with God through faith in Jesus Christ. Where
religions dwells upon physical and material well-being mostly and the faculties of man in
solving human problems, it is paganism. Where it seeks life and power from sources
other than Jesus Christ, it is anti-Christ and hence part of rebellion against God. Such a
system can only provoke Divine wrath in the end, that is the wrath of Jesus Christ, to
whom the Father has granted power to give life and judge all things by His world (John 5:
26-30; 12: 44-48). With this in mind, it is necessary for the Church to adopt a sound
spiritual and theological standard in establishing ecumenism in the Church and in
undertaking evangelism and mission in the world.
Three spirit-forces have been identified in this regard as systems of ANIT-CHRIST in the
world.
i. Spirits and religions that openly reject the deity and teachings of Jesus Christ
Islam, Jehovah Witness, African Religion, Asian religions.
ii. Spirits that pretend to accept Christ, imitate His teachings and ways, but do
not wholly go by New Testament Teachings and Practices rejecting the Name,
Cross, Blood and Practices of the New Testament Church permits or involves
in the power of other spirits such as with occultism, spiritism, human intellect,
spirit or mind power, such as with Christian Science and so-called
Pentecostals thereby with oils, incenses, water, sacrifices etc. all for sin,
human afflictions and spiritual upliftment.
iii. Religious systems that make God of man – atheism, humanism, etc.
The Church need to stand up clearly with the Banner of Christ and with it, The Cross,
Blood and Name of Jesus in her preaching, teaching and dealing with other religions, so
as not to confuse people about the issues at stake in religion and not mere physical,
emotional and material comfort.
THE CHURCH IN AFRICA
• Acts 26: 18
• Luke 4: 18-19
• Isaiah 61: 1-4
CHURCH UNITY
• John 17: 18-26
• Ephesians 4: 1-7
The uniqueness of the Christian Faith, bringing all into the unity in the Church is an issue
of crucial importance.
• Christ’s Prayer in John 17
• Foundation of the Church in Mission
• I AM GLORIFIED IN THEM (Verses 6-10)
• John 16: 13-15
• Ephesians 3: 21
The calling and perfection of individual saints is possible only within the context of the
Body (Eph. 4: 12-16). Similarly, effectiveness in ministry is possible only in Body context
(Rom. 12: 4-10; 1st Cor. 12: 12-28). The idea of “distribution of labour” in one Church can
be extended to the Body as a whole each with ministry and ministry gifts of the Holy Spirit,
hence each with specialized field of activity supportive of other. There is room for
duplication and multiplication of ministry in a city, nation and the world. Yet each is not
wholly independent and separate in calling, mission and goals. The term Body-Church as
one Body, is used only in functional sense – to emphasize Interdependence.
The underlying cementing element in the Church
1. The Spirit of Christ (John 17: 23; Eph. 1: 23)
2. Love the brethren (John 17: 24-26; 13: 34-35)
WHAT AWARENESS?
No individual or group can reach perfection outside the Body………John 17: 21-23. The
Church must be viewed in Body sense only when considering the Great Commission
i. Unity in Spirit: – True Birth, Faith and Practice.
This appears not to be in Dispute. However, the Truth worth examining is whether by
the Word (John 17: 6-11, 16-18; 1: 12-13; Rom. 8: 9-10, 14; Eph.4:4) people belong
indeed in the Spiritual Body…….by confession and practice.
ii. Unity in Action
a) In Mission – Evangelism and Social Action (Eph. 1: 17-19; 3: 17-19)
Establishment in Faith is essentially a local (congregation) affair…. though there
are the Ascended Gifts that build the Body in the Unity of the Faith (Eph. 4: 11-
16). (Education, Literature, Seminars, Conferences, Revival Mission etc.).
b) The Spirit of co-operation is a Spirit of Love, Righteousness and Perfection
• John 17: 22-26
• Eph. 4: 11-16
• 2nd Cor. 5: 18-20
• 1st John 4: 6-13; 5: 1-5
• 1st John 3: 10-19
i. Unity through Love -1st John 4: 7-13, 16
ii. Unity through Humility- Phil. 2: 1-8; Rom. 12: 3-11
iii. Unity through Commitment- Acts 2: 24-27; 4: 32-35, John 17: 26
THE CHURCH AND THE POLITICO-ECONOMIC SOCIO-CULTURAL WORLD
The Commission of the Church is to Evangelize the World and Build the Kingdom of God.
Evangelism brings and establishes in faith; Kingdom Building subdues all reality under
Christ for the glory of God.
First and foremost, the Church should define Her Mission in two broad areas of activity
of Evangelism and Social Transformation which together will lead to the Kingdom of God
in nations and among the peoples of the world (2nd Cor. 5). In this connection we need to
define afresh the Church ‘s position in Society. As royal priesthood, priests and kings, salt
and light in the world. The priesthood has received much attention, indeed overly
attention to the seeming negligence of Kingship, the determination of the life-conditions
and lifestyles of people through Preaching, Teaching and Social action and Training and
Equipping men for leadership in society and vehicles of liberation, social change and
progress (Ish. 61: 1-4, 6; 9: 6-7). It seems that the Church has not only shield away from
social awareness and responsibility but have actually abandoned Christ’s Lordship in
human affairs. The extent it has accepted the notion of dichotomy between secular and
ecclesiastic worlds as if the people’s lives can be easily divided between God on one
hand and Satan and Man on another.
Secularism has gained currency when the Church got lost in internal squabbles, lost the
vision of Christ’s Lordship and consoled herself in pious but empty isolationism, and with
regard to political and social matters.
Evangelicalism became synonymous with isolationism, pious spirituality in thinking of
only heaven and the Second Coming of Jesus, to be “so-called” rapture out of present
reality. The Pentecostal Movement with the unction of the Holy Spirit got hi-jacked on the
way by satanic materialism and paganistic showmanship – the theology of health and
wealth, self-esteem and ego-centricism, positive thinking, faith to claim, etc. the result
is the abandonment of the Cross by both sides. The Word in the Course of God – Another
Gospel. The acceptance of the CROSS would imply the acceptance of the Full Gospel
and particularly the Prophetic Role of the Church in Society, in standing for Truth, Liberty,
Peace, Righteousness and Justice in Society.
The Church’s Mission in the world is Encounter with all Reality and bringing all reality
under subjection to Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:10)
“And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church, and the
gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of
heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose
on earth will be loosed in heaven. (Matt. 16: 18-19)
The fullness of responsibility in Church Mission is that all gates in society must be
confronted with the Gospel of Christ, and the Kingdom Gospel or the Lordship of Jesus
Christ. Thus, the politico-economic philosophies, systems, and structures, the sociocultural norms and practices, the lifestyles and life-conditions of the people must be
reviewed and transformed in consonance with LIGHT, the Light of God and His Christ.
Two things have been of great hindrance to the Church in this regard: –
1. The Church has accepted the secularization of some aspects of life and hence a
dichotomy in Thought and Action in social matters as a whole. Human ideas and
political ideologies have replaced divine principles and Christian teaching. Thus,
a Christian aspiring for leadership or otherwise can consider himself Socialist,
Marxist, Humanist, etc. forgetting the spiritual underpinnings and hence rejecting
God, Christ and the WORD. One cannot build the Kingdom of God with atheistic
or humanist ideas. But suppose one is not involved in Kingdom Building, what is
the Christian doing in building satanic or human kingdoms in the first place? That
is not our calling. Indeed, it is a negation of confession of faith in Jesus Christ.
2. The Church has abandoned her prophetic mission in society, that is the crucial
importance of bringing the people to the Righteousness of God, in Faith, Culture
and Lifestyle and the consequent Spiritual Warfare and Stand against evil. Thus,
the Kingdom of God on earth, where the will of God on earth is done as in heaven
is a discarded theology/mission.
It is in this respect that we spoke of the theologies of Disengagement and
Prophetic Dialogue, and the Abandonment of the Cross by the Church because of
the pains that it might entail. But what shall separate us from the Gospel and the
love of God in Christ Jesus?
In short, the Church must help produce sound Christians, properly equipped in Faith,
Power and Love, Word and Spirit to provide political, economic and social leadership.
For example, the music world is entirely controlled by satanic music, to the extent in
confusion and spiritual blindness Christian musical groups and churches are now
borrowing hell music and dances into the church all in the name of modernism. Can we
modernize the Gospel and Jesus’ Spirit or re-direct the Holy Spirit in accepting the culture
and systems of the world which Jesus rejected at His temptation in the wilderness; for
which the battle lines have been drawn? Does victory in Jesus mean accepting demon
music and dances in the church……. or accepting the pouring of libation to mother earth,
or even for that matter the Living God? Is the Blood of Christ not sufficient and spiritual
at that?
Beloved, the political, economic, social and cultural gates in Africa must be fully
examined in the LIGHT of God and His Christ, not the Africanisation of Christ and the
Faith.
Finally, let us remind ourselves that Human Culture, after the Fall in Non-God Glorifying,
except so declared by God, that they are wrought in God (John 3: 19-20). There is need
therefore for much research, spiritual and theological examination before African Culture
can be determined, acceptable for adoption by the Church and Christians (The dance in
the morning, Africa culture foundation).
“THE KINGDOMS OF THIS WORLD
ARE BECOME THE KINGDOM OF OUR LORD
AND HIS CHRIST
AND THE HE SHALL REIGN FOREVER.”
(Rev. 11: 15b)

Delivered by;
Bro. Enoch Immanuel A. Agbozo (Leader GES)
Ghana Evangelical Society
P. O. Box GP 4393
Accra, Ghana