For years, syncretic religion has been a major global force in opposing the advancement of the Kingdom of God. Did you know that only 25% of the estimated 12,6 million Zimbabweans are Christians? This means that just over 3 million people are sincere worshippers of God and the rest; 9 million are yet to be born again. Such information should send the evangelists to the streets and communities, the intercessor on her/his knees and elbows and the rest of us into aggressive witnessing. Whereas the report says a quarter of the population are of faiths that do not believe in Christ, my major concern today is 50% or 6 million souls that belong to syncretic religion. As we shall discover, these are neither hot nor cold; they are the so called part time Christians. You can only be either for God or Satan. The kingdoms of God and Satan are two distinct and opposing kingdoms, you cannot have dual citizenship.
Syncretic religions are those that have come into being by combining two or more different belief systems into one. In many parts of the world, Christian syncretism has been because of contextualisation or inculturation, which is the practice of making Christianity relevant to a culture. In Zimbabwe and Africa in general, this arose from the misconception that Christianity is not faith in God and the biblically practiced way of life, but a tool by the West for colonisation and neo-imperialism. I am not going to argue this in this article, but suffice to say that students of liberation theology will tell us that Africa can identify with Christianity more than the Western countries which are thought to be pioneers.
Christianity is not part-time vocation; it is full-time life commitment. It is not a means to life but it is the life. We do not join Christianity to get some human needs and wants then go back to our evil ways after acquisition of fleshly desires. From a cultural perspective, Christianity does not deprive you of your identity. If you are black, coloured, white, Ndebele or Shona or from any ethnic group and culture you remain so after accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. You can still eat your sadza, macimbi or nhopi. Jesus was born a Jew and lived a life that any culture can follow and be led to God. This is the reason He says in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the father, but by me.” So whatever tribe or ethnicity, Jew or Gentile, you have to be born again to access God through Jesus alone.
According to earlier mentioned statistics, 75% of people that gather as Christians to worship are not true Christians. This is worrying. If you fall into any of the following description you are not a Christian. If you go to church and after that visit a witch doctor or a spiritualist you are on the side of the devil. It is not proper to join a church prayer and fasting programme to seek the blessing of the Lord then after that visit a traditional healer to exorcise bad omen. After worshipping God you cannot then go to worship ancestral spirits through kurova guva. When a person dies, she/he cannot come to help the living. Ecclesiastes 9:5 says in part, “But the dead know not any thing.” Do not even bother yourself by visiting a witchdoctor to seek explanation to the cause of death, a practice known as gata. I heard a funny teaching of some cult the other day. They purport to be Christians but teach that there are issues that need traditional healers. When you are in Christ you are a new creature that has benefit to be protected from things that follow the blood or ancestral line. There is nothing impossible with God and nothing is too hard for Him. If you think He is not able then do not even use His name. He is not dictatorial. You have a choice to freely follow Him if you want and you reserve the right to worship the devil if you choose, but don’t mix the two.
I always hear people say that their God and their ancestors will keep them. You have to make a choice. Deuteronomy 4:24 clarifies, “For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealousy God.” Have no other gods besides Him (Exodus 20:4-5). Don’t harden your heart but repent and serve God with one mind. God is calling you in Ezekiel 33:11, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live.” Choose this day God or the gods (Joshua 24:15), light or darkness, life or death. You cannot remain on the fence, you are going somewhere.
All Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.
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