Africa-Press – Eswatini. Modern Christianity is mostly embedded in how much of a charade someone is willing and able to put on.
This is a charade in public, in church and sometimes even at home; or at least as long as there are people to watch and this is one of the things I believe have removed many people from church. The line between good people and bad people has, for the longest time, been drawn by religion – the assumption that when someone is religious then they are God fearing, which means they are the epitome of goodness and a worthy reference of goodwill. This is based on the lone fact that we often misinterpret the things that people do in the church and in association with the church as far as the church as a reflection of Godliness and good character.
Character
Instead of looking for religious partners in modern Christianity, we should be looking for good character because good character is seen through the actions and way of life a person chooses to live; and not in the performances that they do for the world. These are the actions done simply as a way to be perceived as the epitome of greatness and not because they are genuine and that is the problem. Doing things to prove that you are Godlike, to earn a sense of gratification and self-imposed importance and glorification. The constant need to be praised, to want people to love you, to want to be above everyone and wanting to achieve it through performances because it is easier to perform theatrics in the church than to be genuine. Perhaps this is a reflection of how much we can be so serving as people that we do not place limits as to how far we can go to serve the need to be placed on a pedestal.
Acknowledge
More often than not we are not even willing to acknowledge the parts of us that look to be satisfied through validation and unwarranted obsession of greatness. This is the motivation to constantly perform, and it is also why the church is full of people wearing masks – who are deceitful to themselves and to the world. The church is a place that is meant to change a person, and people go to church because they are not perfect, however, there is everything wrong about being devoted to the church and boasting to be a Christian for years and not the slightest of change for it. The change and work of God in a person is seen, it cannot be feigned as simply as theatrics can be. The screaming the most when praying, jumping up and down when singing – just to be seen – to be the best of them all in the wrong place and at the wrong time.
When women go to church, it is merely to walk up and down the whole service and compete for the pastor’s attention – if not the guest pastor visiting that week. On the other hand, men are holding the cup in as far as being the first to church, taking the chairs and offer to usher the pastor in hopes that these acts of service will be seen as a representation of dedication and good character. This is a mistake and it is also the reason why in bars and taverns there are far many people who are Godlike than we have in the church nowadays. Many are confused by the titles that they hold in churches, and assume they have won the eyes of the public – without keeping in mind that in every performance, there is an ending.
The respect and esteem that come with religious tags are some of the contributing reasons for theatrics, it is giving a man or a woman respect simply for the title that they hold and nothing beyond that; making people believe that church titles make them above everyone. As a result, it is hard for people to accept that a person can be an abusive husband or an absent father, an abusive wife or an absent son and still be the first ones to stand up when the pastor does something as little as scratching their hand – which they fail to do at home. They will go to church five times a week and fail to show up for their children’s school sports day, or even their birthday, but they are praised in church and held in high regards – yet they inflict pain on others as soon as they walk out of the church every day. A woman will cook for her pastor and not have the time of the day to make breakfast for her husband. She will be praised in church yet she creates misery at home.
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