(WARNING! This is a very long piece, definitely not for the lazy reader!)
The church was filled to capacity. It was thanksgiving Sunday. We were
all charged up from the sermon and in preparation for the hour of praise
and worship when the Man of God (MOG) paused. He looked up at the
ceiling and down at the congregation and after a brief moment that
seemed like forever, he chanted "God said there are some people here
committing adultery and fornication, there are some womanisers and
manizers seated here and God says if you do not come out, you will not
be alive to experience the next thanksgiving service. No one came out.
The MOG continued. “If I didn't hear God I will not say I did." He
repeated himself. "God said there are some people here committing
adultery and fornication, there are some womanisers or manizers seated
here and if you do not come out, you will not be alive to experience the
next thanksgiving service." The church was silent, but for the
constricting sound made from the throat of some brethren swallowing dry
spit, and sound of some gasping for breath in anxiety and legs shaking
in fear. We were all engrossed in our thoughts. In moments like this,
you can't but thank God for the secrecy of thoughts. As the bible says,
"for as our faces differ so do our problems".
Since no one came
out because "we" or "they" were shy, the MOG announced that those
affected could come out at the end of the service during the altar call,
so no one could tell. And so with all heads bowed and eyes closed, the
man of God made the call again for the last time.
As people
reluctantly walked towards the altar, either out of the fear of death
before the next thanksgiving service or in true repentance, I sat glued
to my chair drained of the excitement that normally accompany praise and
worship. The insides of me churned, my palms were sweaty, a slight ache
danced around every part of me and lingered on my fingers and toes. It
was impossible to keep my eyes closed, with my head bowed, I looked to
my right at the brethren seated on my row. Some legs were shaking
uncontrollably, some sobbing, while some were praying inaudible sounds. I
turned to my left, the scene was the same. What were we thinking?
Probably "does the MOG realise that we are all saved by grace, Holy
Ghost filled, water baptised and heavenly bound". "Does he know we pay
our tithes and sow seeds?" "Does he know we are choir members, church
workers and titled elders in church?"
I could only imagine their
thoughts and wondered which group of adulterers and fornicators the Man
of God was referring to. Does the call include those of us that have
been married for years and our husbands stopped having sexual
intercourse with us years ago and have turned to our pastors and doctors
for both spiritual and sexual healing? Does the call include those of
us who don’t want to divorce our spouse because the pastors says divorce
is not of God but have found solace on the beds of our younger
employees? Is this call for those of us whose husbands have become
impotent, whose husbands can't get it up, and instead of exposing them
to ridicule, having taken the oath of for better or for worse, have
remained married in pain, with tears and in dissatisfaction? Is this
call for us lesbians and homosexuals? Can our act be categorized as
fornication or adultery? Does this call include those of us who commit
the adultery and fornication in our minds? Does it include those of us
that have to fornicate and commit adultery to keep our jobs? Is the call
referring to those of us that have only one boyfriend/girlfriend? Does
the call refer to those of us that have suddenly approached the
afternoon session of our lives with nothing to show from the journey, no
child, no husband and a dim future? Is the MOG saying we will not live
to see the next thanksgiving because we fornicate once in a while with a
married/single man? Which group are you referring to Man of God?
Yours truly was nicely seated and watched as the once empty altar
filled up. Indeed judgment will begin in the house of God. But who am I
to judge another man as the bible says judge not least you too be
judged.
But will this altar call stop us from committing adultery
and fornication? Will it stop us from womanizing and manizing? The
bible reports that, prophets of God have made similar calls but the
hearts and minds of the people in the church have remained hardened.
Apostle Paul made this call in his first letter to the church he had
set up in Corinth when he said that fornication was common amongst them.
According to him "it is reported commonly that there is fornication
among you". In the letter he stated that one of the leaders of the
church was having sex with his father’s wife and the church had done
nothing about it. He lashed out at the church elders for being puffed up
because they were also engaged in fornication. He further advised that
the church should flee fornication. Apostle Paul advised the church to
abstain from fornication or get married if they can't hold themselves.
If Apostle Paul was alive today I wonder what his advice would be. He
would see we still engage in the acts of adultery and fornication
covertly or openly even though we are proclaimed ‘born agains’. He will
observe that we have failed to renew our minds with the word of God,
because we still don’t understand that until we kill it in our minds, we
cannot kill it in our lives and so we unsuccessfully battle the devil
when the real enemy is within us. Until we renew our minds by hiding the
word in our hearts, we will continue to hide under the words of Apostle
Paul and helplessly declare that "the good deeds I want to do, I don't,
while the bad deeds I don't want to do, I find myself doing".
We
have become like Timothy said in the bible, "lovers of pleasure more
than lovers of God; having a form of godliness but denying the power
thereof - ever learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the
truth".
Adultery is mentioned 30 times in the bible and
fornication is mentioned 26 times. In all we are admonished to abstain.
We are told in simple sentences the punishment and rewards of committing
adultery and fornication.
Fornication or adultery are sins we
commit with our eyes open. Like the bible says. We fall because we are
tempted by our lust. It's never an error. Like every choice we make,
they have their consequences!
Back to the story, at the next
thanksgiving service, no obituary was announced. Did the man of God not
hear from God? I don’t know and I didn't ask but whether he heard from
God or not, heaven and hell is real. Whether we refuse to come out in
self-righteousness or we believe by God’s grace we will continue to
commit adultery and fornication and we will not die after all the Bible
says where sin abounds grace abounds even more, heaven and hell is real.
The message is the same. We all know the category we fall into,
no stone has been cast, as the bible says he that is innocent let him
cast the first stone. We all know what we do, the message is not to
point out our wrong (we already know our wrongs) but to point us towards
God. The bible encourages us to "Rejoice, O young man in thy youth and
let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth and walk in the ways
of thine heart, and In the sight of thine heart and thine eyes: but know
thou that God will bring thee into judgment.
Let us hear the
conclusion of the whole matter as the bible says: fear God and keep his
commandments for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring
every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or
whether it be evil. On the judgment day, there will be no Man of God to
call out those committing adultery and fornication to repent or die; it
is that if we die in our sins, we will spend eternity in hell where
there is no repentance. May God help us all in Jesus mighty name. Amen.
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