Winning souls or public nuisance?
Jesus Christ admonished his followers to go out and make disciples of all nations and that is exactly what they are doing.
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They lead sermons from the cathedrals, chapels, lorry parks, markets and even in moving vehicles. Others have earned the title ‘tele-evangelists’ or ‘radio evangelists.’
Some are divinely called and have shaped lives with their wisdom-laden sermons. Some are also helping society by healing the sick, performing miracles, singing inspirational gospel songs and supporting the disadvantaged in society.
The Bible, however, admonishes Christians to be wary of false prophets or wolves in sheep’s clothing. Indeed the actions and public posturing of some men of God have raised questions.
Among the several caustic criticisms levelled against some of these men of God is the numerous titles they have conferred on themselves – namely, apostle, bishop, general overseer, prophet, reverend, pastors, prophets, and evangelist as well as some spurious PHDs.
If you are a regular trotro or commercial vehicle user then you will always chance upon some of these preachers .
They will usually draw the attention of exhausted passengers with exhortations, the ‘holy spirit’ and commit the drivers and passengers into the hands of the Creator, followed by animated preaching and finally entreat passengers to part with a few cedis as offertory towards God’s work.
However, many people have expressed a mixed reaction about that style of ‘winning souls’ for Christ.
Nana Kwaku Preprah, a student at the University of Cape Coast, told The Mirror that he had no problem with anyone preaching a message that would criticise appalling behaviours and transform minds.
He, however, believed society was now being poisoned with so many charlatans who use such platforms as a means of making money from innocent passengers.
“It is good to support a good cause but many of these people preach about only prosperity and the need to give out without talking about salvation which is the core of Christianity,” he noted.
Karim Adams, a National Service person, noted that Ghanaians were generally religious and, therefore, such charlatans would always appeal to their religious sensitivity to make money from them under the guise of preaching.
“Even though I’m a Muslim, I don’t have a problem when someone gets up to preach, especially in moving cars but sometimes some of them try to attack other faiths or religious denominations. One such preacher criticised Jehovah’s Witnesses and I really felt peeved with that,” Adam noted.
Christopher Nyame, a teaching assistant at the University of Cape Coast, also noted that propagating the gospel in itself was not a bad thing but felt it was not proper to do so in a moving vehicle because it could distract the driver or passengers.
For Kwabena Boateng, a broadcast journalist and a Christian, it is good to share the gospel of the Lord but preaching in moving vehicles is quite excessive and distractive.
“Ghana is a secular society and, therefore, you don’t enter a car and preach to distract everybody. Besides, some of these guys behave like beggars when they finish preaching and this makes me even doubt their genuineness,” he added.
However, Patience Gyasi, a trader, was of the view that the word of God should be shared everywhere and so society must encourage and support such preachers.
She says even though at times it is difficult to determine whether they are genuine preachers, it is better for people to preach and demand money than engage in other social vices.
For his part, Abraham Quansah, a commercial vehicle evangelist who often preaches in Kumasi-Accra bound vehicles at the Neoplan Station in Accra, said society should give them a chance to win souls for the Lord.
“Because of the difficult economic situation in Ghana, most people do not have the time to go to church on Sundays and, therefore, preaching to such people when they board ‘trotro’ would help them draw closer to God,” he noted.
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On the issue of preaching only on prosperity and demanding monies from passengers, Mr Quansah retorted that “the one who shares the good message eats from the message,” adding that since most of them did not have any other work apart from preaching, it was fair that they demanded money from passengers.
He, however, insisted that most of them preached not because of monetary considerations but he could not rule out a few bad nuts.
Pastor Obek Owusu Barnie, an assistant pastor at the Adentan Assemblies of God, also said such preachers should be given a chance.
He said evangelism was a calling and one may never know who was called and who was not. Passengers should, therefore, treat such people with dignity and the respect that they deserve.
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