The dark site of Mega churches in Africa.
The term “megachurch,” which is commonly used to refer to a church (nearly always Protestant
Christian) with a regular attendance of at least 2,000 people, is still relatively new.
While there have always been places of worship with huge memberships, the earliest groups
that may be considered megachurches didn’t exist until the middle of the 19th century.
Even still, these gigantic churches remained outliers and exceptions for more than a century.
The concept of megachurches emerged in the middle of the 20th century; almost all of
the congregations that are currently categorised as megachurches were founded after 1955.
However, it wasn’t until the 1980s that these large places of worship really took
off.
Since then, both the number of megachurches and the size of their typical congregation
have grown yearly in the United States.
Numerous people believe that megachurches are beneficial for both those seeking spiritual
connection and the communities they serve.
Megachurches draw people together by transforming worship into an exhilarating, magnificent
event.
But as the phenomenon has become more well-known, issues have emerged.
Any significant movement or organisation will inevitably have drawbacks, but given the “mega”
in megachurch, these drawbacks can often be rather significant.
Hi guys!
In today’s episode, we will be looking at the dark side of megachurches.
Take time to watch this video and find out more.
Major reasons why these Megachurches are considered darksided include;
The Preaching of the Prosperity gospel.
Most likely, when you see megachurches, you picture a polished, smiling pastor standing
in front of a sizable congregation while most likely donning a really fine suit.
And since many megachurches are affiliated with what is known as the “prosperity gospel,”
it is likely that the pastor flies around on a private jet and resides in a mansion.
The prosperity gospel is a belief that, if you pray fervently enough, God will make you
wealthy.
It can be summarised as the idea that God rewards faith with material success.
You would be right if you thought that went against some fundamental Christian beliefs
because it excuses any systemic injustices and places the blame for poverty squarely
on the individual.
It is implied that if you are suffering, your faith is insufficient.
It offers preachers who are avaricious cover.
Because their wealth is merely a reflection of their holiness and faith, men like David
Oyedepo, pastor of the megachurch, Winners Chapel Int in Nigeria worth approximately
$150 million, don’t need to hide the money they receive from the church.
People who believed in the prosperity gospel may have contributed to the subprime housing
crisis of 2008 by taking out loans they couldn’t afford because they believed God would reward
their faith, according to some theories.
And it’s not just a problem in the US: According to Reuters, the riches of megachurch pastors
in Africa has long been a source of debate.
These Megachurches have Eroded Our Sense of Community.
Services take place in a conventional church, which is very small.
A few dozen to several hundred members, many of whom are neighbours, may make up the congregation
of a small-town church or even a neighbourhood church in a big city.
On the other hand, in a megachurch, literally thousands of people attend extravagant, professionally
staged services, with more often than not, television viewing.
This mostly serves to promote “spectator worship.”
Because of the size of the crowds, most visitors do not actively participate, let alone get
to know one another.
The anonymity that attendees enjoy is viewed as a strength of megachurches since it makes
entering for the first time a secure and pleasant experience.
However, it also implies that there isn’t much of a sense of community.
The experience is more like going to a performance; in fact, most megachurches spend a lot of
time and money providing their attendees with passive entertainment.
Because they can blend in with the audience, take in the show, and feel free to not participate,
this encourages people to keep to themselves.
At a megachurch, tens of thousands of people may attend services over the course of a week,
but they seldom ever interact with one another, which undermines any sense of community.
They Turn Worship into Entertainment.
Anyone who was raised a Christian likely remembers being bored to tears at church as a child
and possibly receiving a reprimand for making a scene.
Worship services are not meant to be entertaining or thrilling; rather, they are meant to be
edifying, to unite people in their faith, and to reaffirm Christian principles.
However, as reported by Religion News, megachurches have developed to resemble entertainment centres
more and more.
They frequently stage their services in enormous theatres and arenas that can hold a large
number of worshippers and have very high production values.
As a result, church services and entertainment are increasingly confused in society.
We can observe how increasingly ridiculous stunts have been undertaken by megachurches
to amuse their followers, such as the megachurch that dropped Easter candy from a helicopter
or the one that arranged a Christmas party starring characters from the animated movie
“Frozen.”
According to Christian doctrine, which holds that your acts are meaningless without faith
and humility, this emphasis on performance and spectacle is contrary to Christianity.
Additionally, it causes worship to lose all significance as entertainment value increasingly
takes precedence over spiritual content in an effort to keep worshippers entertained.
What does worship mean anymore, after all, if you can’t tell if you’re at church
or watching “Frozen on Ice”?
They Turn Pastors into Celebrities.
The celebrity status of the pastors is one of the most obvious distinctions between megachurches
and more traditional churches with smaller congregations.
Pastors like Enoch Adebayo, TB Joshua, Johnson Suleiman and others have constantly remained
in the spotlight.
It stands to reason that someone who performs daily in front of a crowd of thousands, as
well as on television, would eventually become somewhat famous, the unfortunate side effect
of this celebrity status is that a startling percentage of pastors really disintegrate
as a result.
Many times, being the pastor of a megachurch is compared to being the CEO of a company,
and many pastors experience tremendous pressure.
Being in this role is also incredibly lonely because it involves the church and its members
in almost every part of your life.
The pastors of these megachurches receive celebrity treatment at the same time.
The Churches are Runned like Corporations.
Given how much money megachurches handle (some bring in hundreds of millions of dollars annually,
mostly from voluntary contributions known as “tithes”), it shouldn’t come as a
surprise that they’re frequently run like companies.
However, since every church encourages members to give, it shouldn’t come as a surprise
that megachurches get the benefits of economies of scale.
According to Forbes, these churches’ pastors behave more like CEOs than spiritual leaders,
and megachurches frequently create media and publicity teams to assist in maintaining and
even expanding their membership.
In fact, a whole business has developed around making megachurches even bigger.
Megachurches, however, have two advantages over regular corporations: first, they get
tax exemptions on a number of items, and second, they enjoy the support of a sizable number
of unpaid volunteers who frequently commit a significant amount of their time to working
on the church’s behalf.
This corporatization of religion has a negative aspect because of how driven by expansion
the megachurches have become.
According to MSNBC, a few megachurches are considering opening satellite locations that
operate much like franchises, which could have a “Wal-Mart Effect” by drawing worshippers
away from the local church’s more traditional settings.
Megachurch Pastors are Increasingly Political.
Politics and religion have always been interwoven, and religious leaders have always attempted
to sway their flock on a variety of issues.
It is one thing for a pastor to urge his flock to vote in accordance with Christian principles;
it is quite another for him to use his position to further a particular agenda.
But how their pastors are immersing their congregations in politics is one disturbing
facet of the megachurches’ expanding influence.
We wouldn’t go on without mentioning the political saga with late Prophet Frank Ndifor
of the Kingship Ministries in the 2018 presidential elections in Cameroon.
Prophet Frank convinced his supporters that he was sent by God to be the Messiah that
would liberate Cameroon from the old regime.
They Encourage Selfishness.
It’s natural to believe that those who attend megachurches are fervently spiritual and devout.
After all, churches have historically served as the hubs of communities, making church
attendance part of the fabric of American society.
Megachurches are given a phoney look of piety by the notion that only good, devoted Christians
find the time to attend church sessions.
The traditional Christian idea of service and charity is frequently at odds with the
teachings at megachurches.
Megachurches, on the other hand, promote a self-centered and self-centered view of worship.
Megachurch congregations frequently teach their members to concentrate on their own
lives and issues rather than seeing themselves as servants who should care for others.
In turn, they are prodded to see God as a means of achieving their goals.
This is consistent with the prosperity gospel, which is frequently at the heart of megachurch
doctrine and holds that God rewards faith with success and material wealth.
Megachurch congregations are typically younger and more likely to be single than traditional
churches.
Most alarmingly, 45 percent of megachurch attendees don’t volunteer to help their
neighbourhood, highlighting the massive services’ celebration of the self.
This is just a summary of the many things that contribute to the dark side of the megachurches.
Thanks for watching.
Do not hesitate to subscribe to Africa Reloaded for more information.