Fearful church dropped the Gen Z baton, resumed business as usual

A youth carries a national flag during a church service at Holy Family Basilica church, Nairobi on Sunday, June 23,2024 in support of anti-finance bill protests. [Collins Kweyu,Standard]

The Church in Kenya is made for times of peace. It is clueless in chaos. It is afraid of demons. Evil welcomes a fearful church. It does not threaten it–it befriends it. How else can enemies of the people show up in church at the height of their attack on citizens, and feel comfortable about it?

This is the same church that casts out demons! Which brings the thought–there I need to clarify what typology of demons the church so loudly binds. It seems in the process of casting out the demons, the church cast out a chunk of its own identity.

Unlike the Lord of the church who demons see and beg for mercy, sponsors of evil get front-row soft seats in the church–they do not fret an inch. So forgive the people when they ask, “When is the corruption demon deliverance session if not when the publicly known oppressors are in church?”

Powerful man of God, because you have the power, why are not dealing with the powers in power when they visit your premises?

The church has a bigger name which it has inherited from its past. But as it is, where people expect them to impact, they are nowhere to be seen. The contemporary church gets honour because of honourable prophets in its past, a type of “but because of my servant David…”  The present church leaders are yet to earn significant honour of their own. People today put hope in the church because of what they have heard it did in the past. The contemporary church boasts a historical glory. It runs on dividends of investments made by prophets who have long retired or died.

Seeing the journey to an improved Kenya as a relay race, the church is that well-built racer, outwardly looking as one to easily win their part of the race. But the church drops the baton due to poor changeover skills. The church must recognise that trust in it is rapidly declining. People’s expectations are waning fast. We have reached a point where any notable action by the church surprises people: “Oh! The church can actually do that?” What should be normal has become exceptional. Just like a football team that loses points for not showing up, the church’s repeated no-shows have accumulated.

Churchgoers are now more radical than the pastors. They are informed and aware of what other churches around the world are doing for their communities. So when they expect a response from the church, it’s based on informed expectations, not mere imagination. In matters affecting the public, people expect a sharp-edged church. Apologetic and appeasing gestures will not suffice, bishop!

It is no surprise that the youth named the church as part of the ‘occupy’ destinations. The demand was that the church de-platform the politicians. They know what righteousness looks like and they will not stand the host sharing the heist in the holy place. They own up and say silence is not solving but is nurturing the ill. At the height of the ‘occupy’ call, even politicians confessed of having abused the church and were ready to reform. But there was no priest to guide them on how de-platforming was to play out. The church has since re-platformed them! The congregations are clapping for them just like old times. A chance lost.

But did the church receive the ‘occupy’ call as a chance in the first place? If it did, why did it let the chance slip through its fingers? Like the people who drank cheap liquor, lost their sight then asked the den owner to switch on the lights, the church is blind to her own blindness. When some churches heard of ‘occupy’ Sunday, they responded just like the government–increasing security! One would think that an institution founded on divine love would think of hospitality instead. But the church was afraid–and rightly so because the guilty are always afraid.

Prosperity church  

We expect too much from the church but it cannot be delivered in the church’s present form. We expect it to fight theft in high places and win. We expect it to rally and organise the famous “75 per cent of Kenya’s population” as a pro-integrity army and succeed. But the church of present-day Kenya is cut for the good times–not cartel times! The church does not do trenches–only prosperity.

This underwhelming performance, despite numerous opportunities to redeem itself, points to a structural problem. There is a vast chasm between the church as it is and the church as it should be, driven by an identity deficiency. We have a church that doesn’t protest; it is allergic to the streets.

One place to trace this fault line is back in the early days of the church’s foundation. The missionaries could not teach the church how to protest against oppression because they were under the protection of colonial power. It was up to the African church to learn protest on its own—a lesson that has taken too long to grasp. Missionaries taught the locals every aspect of church life, but there was one thing they never taught: how to stand against an oppressive system.

To this day, the Kenyan church lacks a mainstreamed voice against colonialism and thus struggles to speak out against government oppression. How can the church so confidently bury the dead, yet lack the courage to speak to the killers? It is dead itself! The church is pleased that peace has returned so it can resume its normal activities without the ‘occupy’ noise. It even praises the State for restoring calm!

How can the church be so passionate about leading people to heaven when it has neither mind nor heart to get young protesters out of a nearby police cell? It is shackled in a cell of its own! As long as the priest is afraid of the policeman, impressed by the politician, and driven by the payslip, they will never protest the system.

Reading the times, the opposition and the ruling party have united to progress their agendas. In the meantime, the fragmented church watches on while doing nothing about itself yet still expecting to be a force! The church must learn from the world the irreplaceable power of unity.

The prophetic voice stares as the political force reinforces itself. It claps and prays for the new union.  Political enemies come together in unity, while church denominations take pride in their division. It is a waste of hope to rely on a church that does not recognise the oppressive government as an enemy!