I grew up a church going boy. I happened to be among the few in my generation to have felt the real spirit of the old church. Each moment I stayed in the church there was always this touch of God’s presence;
-on the happy and truthfully delighted faces of people around me
– in the solemnity of their movement and dressing, like people who have come before a might deity.
– in the hymns that we sang and chants from the book of worship
– in the voices of the priests and the harmony of the choir
-in the harmony and orderliness of the whole process, like in the stories we have been told of heaven from childhood
– in the many visits of the priests to our house to check on us and pray with us.
There was just God everywhere. Even when we prayed at home, when my mama used to sing church hymns.
Suddenly things changed. I do not see the difference between our current church setups and the disco parties out there. Everyday I weep when I look at churches. I feel heartbroken when I see;
– the use of ungodly songs in the presence of God
– the mode of dressing in God’s presence. The solemnity is not there anymore. I see women with low cuts, different styles of hair flying freely with loose strands that would even get into the cup of holy communion. Some wear different things that conflicted with the atmosphere that is expected to be in the presence of a great deity. Imagine that people now get horny in the house of God!
– use of hip-hop and ungodly chants during worship and praise
– church has now turned into a ‘FAST AND FURIOUS’ money making venture. What happened to the humble gathering of brethren where people gathered and prayed and broke bread together and encouraged one another? Now it’s only rich people that get recognized in church. The rich keep getting richer while the poor are robbed of the little that they have, in endless streams of offerings and donations.
– church has become a serious political battleground
I am heartbroken. I have not gone to church in the past 5 years, and it keeps getting worse. How did we get here? The heart and conscience of the church has been stabbed. The edge of the knife of the modern world has been put into that which holds us together, and things have fallen apart.
Come o holy spirit and heal the hearts of the faithful
