The fast growth of the church in Africa
The church is growing very fast in Africa. This shows how mission work in Africa has been successful in one way or another. But we have to go beyond this achievement and ask ourselves whether this growth is without problems.
Although the mainline historical churches (Anglican, Lutheran and Roman Catholic) are growing, the Pentecostal and Charismatic churches are growing faster.1 Many Christians from the mainline historical churches join the Charismatic churches in order to quench their spiritual needs.2 This challenges the mainline churches to know what has gone wrong in their approach to doing mission in Africa and elsewhere in the world.
The Charismatic churches emerged mainly in the African cities and towns in the early 1980’s. Most of these churches have had financial support from the USA, Canada and Scandinavian countries.3 These movements attracted many people with modern media and communication systems while addressing people’s needs and expectations. As far as Tanzania is concerned, this movement came when the country was experiencing economic hardships which resulted from the oil crisis and the failure of African socialism. These Charismatic churches promised people a good life if they believed in Jesus Christ, fasted and prayed for healing miracles. They went on to say that even students could pass their examinations if they prayed. Since people were needy, they joined these movements with expectations that their needs would be met.
In fact, when you tell people who have no food to fast, such people will accept your appeal not only because of religious factors but also because of economic
1 Klaus Koschorke, “Introduction” in Klaus Koschorke (ed.) African Identities and World Christianity in the Twentieth Century, Hamburg: Missionshilfe Verlag, 2002, p.233-234.
2 Edward D. O. O’Connor, The Pentecostal Movement: In the Catholic Church, Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 1971, p.239-262.
3 Jesse Mugambi, From Liberation to Reconstruction: African Christian Theology after the Cold War, Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers Ltd, 1995, p.68-70. Also Wilson Niwagila, “Charismatische Bewegung in Tansania”, p.1-9, in: Das andere Afrika: Impressionen, Reflexionen und auch Visionen aus dreißig Jahren kirchlicher Arbeit in Afrika, ed. by C. Friedrich Durst, Neuendettelsau: Erlanger Verlag für Mission und Ökumene, 2004, p.168-171.
hardships as they will take fasting as a way of economising their consumption of food.
Again, when you tell people who have no possibility of accessing health services to pray only for healing miracles, your message will be accepted since people have no access to medical facilities anyhow. They are even not ready to go to the traditional healers who charge them money for their healing practices.
This was already a challenge to the mainline historical churches which had established centres for health services that serve those who can pay for medical treatments.
The mainline churches stress medical services with less emphasis on prayers for healing, a weakness that makes their Christians leave their denominations and join the Charismatic movements. Moreover, the challenge that faces the mainline historical churches is to empower people to be in a position of improving their economies so that they may be able to pay for health services.
At least nowadays the mainline historical churches empower the Christians and the entire community through savings and credit cooperative societies (SACCOS) through which members can access credit and produce to meet their daily needs including health services.
Religion and society are inseparable. The question is how this relationship can be well utilized to bring about social, mental, economic and spiritual development without jeopardizing the integrity of people. This leads us to the challenge of doing mission in a holistic way, addressing both the spiritual and material dimensions of the people. Both the Charismatic churches and mainline historical churches are challenged to address the needs of people without concentrating on one aspect of life, since people have spiritual and material dimensions of life. A good example can be taken from Jesus Christ who preached to people the good news of salvation for the forgiveness of sins while at the same time feeding and healing them.
Theological differences between the mainline historical churches and the Charismatic movements
The role of the Holy Spirit
The difference between the mainline historical churches and the Charismatic movements is mainly found in their understanding of the Holy Spirit and his functions in the church. The mainline historical churches have mainly emphasized the person and work of Jesus Christ with less emphasis on the person and work of the Holy Spirit.4
Marie-Henri Keane poses a similar challenge:
4 Lesslie Newbigin, The Relevance of Trinitarian Doctrine for Today’s Mission, London: Edinburgh House Press, 1963, p.77-78.
“Christ was never forgotten, the God who sent him was never overlooked, but what is surprising is that we who believe in a triune God should have grossly neglected the life-giving Spirit, especially since we know that we cannot say
‘Jesus is the Lord’ or call God ‘God’ unless this grace is given to us through the Spirit.”5
In showing how pneumatology has been neglected or marginalized by some churches, Elizabeth Johnson quotes leading theologians who comment that the Holy Spirit has become “half known God” (Yves Congar); “watered down from its Biblical fullness” (Wolfhart Pannenberg); “homeless in the West” (Joseph Ratzinger); “faceless” (Walter Kasper) and “shadowy” (John Mackuarrie).6 At least Reformation theology puts it very clearly that people by their own reasoning ability and strength cannot believe in Jesus Christ except through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is responsible for calling, enlightening, sanctifying and preserving the believers in the true Christian faith. Moreover, the Holy Spirit forgives sin and is expected to resurrect and provide the believers with eternal life.7 The Danish scholar Regin Prenter argues that Lutheran theology gives much attention to the Holy Spirit since it maintains that both justification and sanctification are the work of the Holy Spirit.8
However, other functions of the Holy Spirit such as healing through prayers, speaking in tongues, and prophesy (charismatic gifts) have been marginalized or even neglected by Lutheran theology because charismatic gifts are not central to the salvation of people and are not upholding the theology of the cross, instead, they are confined within the theology of glory.9 But the theology of the cross is not only meant for those who suffer but also those who prosper since both sides are challenged to go beyond their situations and reflect on God’s grace of saving humans through Jesus Christ. In addition, the cross does not only imply spiritual aspects of life but also socio-economic and political arenas of life since Jesus’ death on the cross was caused by his challenging
5 Marie-Henri Keane, “The Spirit of Life” in: Doing Theology in Context: South African Perspectives, edited by John W. de Gruchy and Charles Villa-Vicencio, New York:
Orbis Books, 1994, p.69.
6 Keane, 72.
7 Martin Luther, “The Small Cathechism” in: The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, ed. Theodore G. Tappert, Philadelphia: Muhlberg Press, 1959), p.345.
8 Benard Holm, “The Work of the Spirit: The Reformation to the Present” in: The Holy Spirit in the Life of the Church, edited by Paul D. Opsahl, Minneapolis: Augusburg Publishing House, 1978, p.100-103.
9 Karlfried Froehlich, “Charismatic Manifestations and the Lutheran Incarnational Stance” in: The Holy Spirit and the Life of the Church, edited by Paul D. Opsahl, Minneapolis: Augusburg Publishing House, 1978, p.136-145.
actions and constant sermons about God’s kingdom that challenged exploitation, oppression of people and religious legalism.10
But as people, we encounter diseases, pain and death. Jesus himself prayed in Gethsemane to avoid torture and death, but he prayed while letting the will of God to be done.11 That is what he taught his followers to pray by saying “Thy will be done”. In spite of his prayer, he was confronted by torture and death that was meant for the salvation of humans. On the cross he complained to God as to why he had forsaken him (Mark 15:34-36). But afterwards he placed his soul in the hands of God (Luke 23:46) and died. In this context, we ought to accept the reality of being humans who ought to carry the cross with the hope of resurrection. Otto Markmann says that the Charismatic movements tend to overlook the cross and live as if Christian perfection was possible here on earth, while in reality Christian perfection is expected after resurrection of the body and life everlasting as we read from Philippians 3:12 and 1 John 3: 2.12
Some Christians in the Charismatic movements have been tempted to perceive healing as a necessary phenomenon to those who pray and believe.
They forget that even those who believe cannot avoid the reality of death. The teachings about charismatic gifts need special theological attention and clarification in doing mission in the light of the Biblical teachings and evangelical theology, lest people are misled by wrong teachings.
Other theological differences
Another problem is related to the understanding of God from the perspective of the Trinity, whereby every denomination tends to emphasise only one aspect of the Triune God with less emphasis on the other aspects of the Trinity. For example, while Lutherans put much emphasis on the person and works of Jesus Christ (solus Christus), the Roman Catholic Church emphasises the aspect of God as Father. The Charismatic churches stress the works of the Holy Spirit who is associated with the events of healing, prophecy, speaking in tongues, visions and dreams without attention to the other persons of the Trinity. As such, Lesslie Newbigin challenges all denominations to have a Trinitarian approach in doing mission, an approach that will help the Christians to have confidence in God as creator, redeemer and sanctifier. The balanced Trinitarian aspects in the task of doing mission will also help the church to overcome the challenge of secularism13 as long as God is involved in all dimensions of life as creator, redeemer and sanctifier.
10 Jürgen Moltmann, The Crucified God: The Cross of Christ as the Foundation and Criticism of Christian Theology translated by R. A. Wilson and John Bowden, London:
SCM Press, 2001, pp.46-50, 128-147.
11 Mark 14:36- 15:47.
12 Otto Markmann, “Die Charismatische Bewegung”, Berlin, 1987, p.31.
13 Newbigin, op. cit., p.77-78.
Hans-Peter Grosshans observes that the Charismatic churches emphasize living out the faith without focus on the theological reflections about faith. For them theology is unnecessary and seems to be a disturbing activity. He admits that there are ways of doing theology which are far away from living out faith, but he maintains that there is also good theology that does not oppose faith.
This kind of theology, he adds, is part of faith or its instrument. Grosshans points out that we need some distance from living out the faith and experiences of the Holy Spirit in order to see and understand what is going on in the church and society. Theology is necessary if at all we want to know and reflect the foundations of our faith. Charismatic churches are interested only in the immediate, direct experiences of the Holy Spirit without theological reflections on the foundations of what they are believing in.14 Since the Charismatic movements have a negative attitude towards theology and theologians, there has been tension between Charismatic Christians and mainline clergy or theologians. In this context there is a need for dialogue in which the clergy ought to listen carefully to the challenges of the Charismatic Christians who want to freely express their faith and experiences of their lives in the Spirit. At the same time, Christians in the Charismatic movements should be able to see the relevance of theology in clarifying the foundations of the Christian faith.
Church history tells us that there are times when faith without theological reflections leads to danger and death of people. A good example of faith without reflection is when some Charismatic preachers tell people to only pray for healing without going to hospital. As a result, some people have lost their lives because of faith that lacks theological reflections. Thus, Christian faith must be based not only on the immediate experience of the Holy Spirit but also on the theological reflection for the sake of clarity, certainty, pursuit of truth, salvation and liberation of humans from obstacles of life by relating faith to socio-economic and political aspects of life.
The context of African traditional spirit beliefs
The challenge which faces the church in Africa today is caused by what John S.
Mbiti observes, namely that Christianity has failed to relate and interpret the Gospel in the context of African spirituality.15 Since the Gospel was not interpreted in the African cultural and religious context, African Christians became Christians during the day but in the night they became adherents of
14 Hans-Peter Grosshans, “The Work of the Holy Spirit in Christian Life and in the Church: Lutheran Theological Reflections” in Lutherans Respond to Pentecostalism, ed.
by Karen L. Bloomquist, Mineapolis: Lutheran University Press, 2008, p.119.
15 John S. Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy, London: SPCK, 1969, p.237-238.
their African Traditional Religion (ATR).16 In African Traditional Religion every aspect of life has connection with the spiritual world hence there is an interrelationship between the material and spiritual dimensions of life.
The emphasis of the Charismatic churches on the functions of the Holy Spirit appeals to many Africans whose traditional spirit beliefs are associated with the miraculous aspects in life.17 This leads us to the need of interpreting the doctrine of the Holy Spirit in the socio-religious settings of Africans without jeopardizing the essence of the Gospel. Gwinyai H. Muzorewa argues that the role of the Holy Spirit correlates with that of the ancestral spirits in the African Traditional Religion.18 This implies that Africans whose traditional religion maintains that the ancestral spirits can heal people will likely feel at home when the Charismatic movements emphasize that the Holy Spirit is responsible for healing sick people. The same applies to the functions of the Holy Spirit in prophecy, speaking in tongues, counselling etc. African ancestral spirits are also involved in prophesying in the sense that they enable those who are possessed by them to predict what will happen in the future. In addition, there are beliefs among Africans that the ancestral spirits can make people speak in a language that is foreign to the hearers.19 The traditional healers use the ancestral spirits to acquire knowledge for counselling people regarding their needs in society.
When the Bible talks of the Holy Spirit as the one who has power to counteract the evil spirits, African traditionalists talk of good spirits as protectors of people against them. When the Charismatic preachers emphasize the role and functions of the Holy Spirit against the evil sprits and other calamities in life, their message is well perceived.
The question is why are Africans interested in the Holy Spirit if they already have ancestral spirits which play a great role in their lives? The Christian message attracts Africans when the Holy Spirit is presented as God, a message that shows that the ancestral spirits are inferior to God. While the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, the ancestral spirits are spirits of humans. This is accepted in African Traditional Religion in which the spirits are graded below God. Thus, the traditional ancestral spirit beliefs should not be an end in themselves, rather, they should be perceived as a background through which the doctrine of the Holy Spirit as God can be interpreted in our endeavour of doing mission in
16 Israel Katoke, “The Coming of the Gospel and African Reaction” in Essays on Church and Society in Tanzania, ed. by C. K. Omari, Arusha: Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, 1976, p.112-113.
17 Abednego Keshomshahara, “The Lutheran Doctrine of the Holy Spirit and the Challenge of the Traditional Spirit beliefs among the Haya People”, M.Th Thesis, Makumira, 2000, p.1-6.
18 Gwinyai H. Muzorewa, The Origins and Development of African Theology, New York: Orbis Books, 1985, p.43.
19 Keshomshahara, op. cit., p.50ff.
Africa and elsewhere in the world where people still have ancestral spirit beliefs. While there are special traditional spirits for specific purposes like hunting, fishing, farming and having children, the church failed to address the needs of people by asking the Holy Spirit to guide and help them in such daily needs.
African theology has tried to express Jesus as a “proto-ancestor” bearing in mind that the ancestors play an important role in the lives of the Africans. But the task which ought to be given attention as far as the Charismatic movements are concerned is the correlation between the Holy Spirit and the ancestral spirits. When we do mission in Africa we should always be careful regarding the aspect of salvation and miracles in view of the role of the Holy Spirit.
Although the Bible talks about the aspects of miracles, its essential message is about the liberation and salvation of humans in and beyond history; it encompasses history and eschatology. It is here that we should differentiate between the temporal and eternal needs of humans.
We have to understand that the Holy Spirit provides for temporal and eternal needs in life. Ibrahim Bitrus challenges the historic churches to review their curricula in theological seminaries and universities in order to encounter the challenges of Charismatic and neo-Pentecostal movements by adding courses concerning charisma, Spirit baptism, speaking in tongues, healing and deliverances, dynamics of worship, job and wealth creation and capacity building.20 Galana Babusa Yako depicts how the historic churches in Kenya have started to adjust themselves to the challenges of Charismatic movements by praying for people who have special problems during worship services. He adds that once per month during Sunday sermon, the preacher leads a discussion with members of the congregation on topics such as the Holy Spirit whereby they are given a chance of sharing their views and understanding with one another. Other strategies include allowing lay Christians to preach and the opportunity for afternoon fellowships in which pastors are present to learn from people and help them in their spiritual growth.21 It is very interesting to note that historic churches which respond to the spiritual needs of their Christians have succeeded in retaining their Christians. Even some of the Christians who leave historic churches and join the Charismatic movements come back when the spiritual needs are met.22
20 Ibrahim Bitrus, “The Influence of Neo-Pentecostalism in Nigeria” in: Lutherans Respond to Pentecostalism, edited by Karen L. Bloomquist, Mineapolis: Lutheran University Press, 2008, p.88.
21 Galana Babusa Yako, “One Church’s Response to Pentecostalism” in Karen L.
Bloomquist, op. cit., p.89.
22 Ibid., p.89.
The attractiveness of Charismatic movements
Other reasons that make African Christians leave mainline churches and join the Charismatic movements include that of seeking a place where they can freely participate in the worship services without depending on pre-determined liturgies. Ibrahim Bitrus observes that liturgies in the mainline churches are associated with cold formalism rather than vibrant worship that is found in the Charismatic and Pentecostal churches. He adds that many worship services in the mainline churches are still centered on the pastor rather than the whole congregation. As a result, the congregation becomes passive rather than being active participants in the whole process of worshipping God.23
Worship services in the Charismatic movements have room for simple songs that can be sung without hymn books. Such songs can be sung while dancing, twisting, moving and clapping hands, creating an atmosphere of joy and participation. Such worship services attract many youths who like dancing and singing. This, again, is a challenge to the historic churches. It is in this context that creativity and innovation of things that are attractive to Christians in worship should be encouraged to avoid worship services that are boring. Such innovations include liturgies that are flexible and appealing to people. This should go hand in hand with encouraging active participation of all Christians in the worship services. The priesthood of all believers as upheld by the Lutheran doctrines seems to have been marginalized since the participation of all Christians in the Lutheran churches and other historic churches is not encouraged.24
Christians in the Charismatic and Pentecostal churches encourage relationships in the sense that they care for one another, unlike some large established historic churches which may not even know their church members.
In addition, Charismatic churches are concerned with solving individual socio-economic and spiritual problems.25 The fact that Christians in the Charismatic movements participate in the ministry and feel responsible to visit the sick people and pray for them makes Christians in the historic churches leave their churches and join a Charismatic movement. This is a challenge to the mainline historic churches, which ought to involve the Christians in the ministry by encouraging them to visit, counsel and care for one another without waiting for their pastors to do such duties.
23 Bitrus, op.cit., p. 86-87. Cf. Musawenkosi Biyela, “In Spirit and Truth: Liturgy in Dialogue with Pentecostalism” in: Karen L. Bloomquist, op. cit., p.95.
24 Ibid., p.87.
25 Ibid., p.87.