Sometimes the criticism is unwarranted. People project their issues onto a congregation or onto the church, which is never healthy.
And, as a matter of course, the church will inevitably run into criticism as it has always been ever since. What the church is doing is counter-cultural and will never be met with universal applause. The Gospel, even when powerfully shared, got John the Baptist, the Apostle Paul, Jesus and the prophets killed, just to name a few. While it seems strange to say it, even love, when seen fully and magnificently, gets rejected.
Yet, other times the church absolutely deserve the criticism that comes its way. Often these days, it seems, the church is not ridiculed or persecuted because they are fighting so nobly. Nay, sometimes they just shoot themselves in the foot. Viz, most of the unpleasant things said about some churches are verifiable and they are called for by them, like self-infliction.
From the stunting online preachers, political commentators, poorly conflict handlers, to doom-spraying folks and child molesters – the house of God has been making headlines for ill-considered reasons.
Well, because church has become the gift that keeps giving scandalous and hot topics every day, this week abuzz on the interwebs is an unidentified Man of God who is alleged to have asked a female barren congregant to take off her undergarment and open her legs wide before the congregation so he could pray for her panties for her to conceive. It’s not clear where this preacher is from exactly, as various media outlets have claimed that he’s Zambian while others are saying he’s from Nigeria.
One Zambian site quoted the preacher saying:
“My daughter, in the realm of the spirit, I heard God telling me that your barrenness can only be overcome if I pray for your under panties, please undress so that I can pray for it”, the prophet told the woman and she gladly accepted as she was desperately looking for the fruit of the womb.
The woman in question is rumoured to have been in a marriage for 5 years without a child, hence he visited this pastor who clearly did not wary about her decency and asked that she undress and open her legs so he could order pregnancy to enter inside.
A lucky fellow who was in attendance captured the undignified moment on a smart-phone and shared it around. Since then the picture has since gone viral, causing outrage on line.
Which world are we living in now?
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