It pays to be skeptical

It is considered disrespectful to openly challenge your pastor or religious leader. We have grown up with the notion that our religious leaders communicate to us what they hear from God Himself so we do not question their word even when their actions tell us otherwise.

Recent happenings have left many shocked about what these men and women of God are capable of. But it pays to be skeptical, brothers and sisters.

The late Marugu, the first oldest pupil, when asked why he would consider formal education at his age, his simply said that he wanted to know how to count his money and read his Bible.

We probably laughed. But here was one resolute person who not only enrolled but went on to study until death stopped him.

One of my pastors perennially insisted that we read the good book for ourselves. People might have found him deranged because he would issue verses every week and insist we memorise them.

Once, he stood at the door and asked us to recite a very common verse. Though no one was locked out, the message was well taken. One thing we must realise is that our religious leaders are human. They have the same emotions, temperaments, likings etc that we have.

They cry, laugh, and smile like we do. They experience their up and down moments. They also make costly mistakes, but repent and bounce back to fruitful lives like we do. So it is absolutely wrong to accept everything and anything without verification or cross checking. When one pastor’s infractions were exposed last year, there was an uproar.

There were those who were castigating the government for not clamping down on these miscreants while others were condemning the naïve, gullible members of the congregations who obey without question.

This is not a call to disobedience but I tend to believe that if people would discover for themselves what God says, it will be very difficult to fall for conmen masquerading as servants of God.

Anyone deeply grounded in the word of God will quickly spot a lie, and make an informed choice whether to walk away or accept to ride with the leader on that lie.

When Paul preached the gospel to the Bereans, they were gentle and kind to listen to him but told him to give them time to search the Scriptures to be sure of what he was saying.

If we will do land searches, earnestly consult Google to ascertain certain information, why are we lazy about reading and internalising the word of God which is powerful and sharper than a double edged sword?

Then even these so called religious leaders would be wary of taking advantage of us. Do not take every word you hear as gospel truth — ascertain its validity first before believing and acting on it.