Rev. A. L. Fant Writes: IS The Church Really Useless?

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THEME: IS THE CHURCH REALLY USELESS?

Acts 8:3 KJV;
[3] “As for Saul, he MADE HAVOCK OF THE CHURCH, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.”

Matthew 16:18 KJV;
[18] “….. I will build my church; and the gates of HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST IT.”

In recent times, I have come across several attacks on the church on social media by some misguided or misinformed critics. These attackers have sought to create the impression that “the Church is a useless or worthless institution.” This is gradually and subtly sinking into people’s minds. Social media is commonly being used to bring disdain on men of God and the church. Whilst many incredible things are being done by churches, the media has chosen to keep its eyes on a few ‘clergy’ men who are out of line.

In the wake of the Corona Virus Pandemic, someone posted on Facebook: “We said your pastors should build HOSPITALS instead of Churches, you called us Antichrist. Now your churches are all closed down, Hospitals are still opened.”

In the first place, this argument is flawed. This argument is like saying during a time of war that “we said you should build military academies instead of factories. Now your factories are closed down, military bases are still opened.”

Most Critics of the Church talk as if the presence of the church is the reason we don’t have research institutions, and enough hospitals. This is wrong. Beside churches, sports stadia and airports are also being closed down. Does it mean these places are also not important? Then why have they singled out the church to attack? The gates of hell shall not prevail!!

Another Facebook post said: “We need more hospitals than churches in Africa. Convert some of those churches to hospitals, schools and homeless shelters if God really called you.”

If the real motive of this post is for us to have more hospitals, She could simply appeal to churches to build more hospitals instead of saying we should turn churches into hospitals.

I think that in recent times, there have been some excesses in how some church leaders have utilized resources, nonetheless, the Church has arguably done more to alleviate the sufferings of our people than you think. Much as we should address these challenges, we should not misguide people into throwing the baby away along with the dirty water.

One of the biggest mistakes that the church has made overtime is that we haven’t been telling our story SO LOUD. And as the saying goes; “Until the lions have historians, the hunters will continue to take credit for every kill.” We lighted our candles and kept it under the table. As a result, men have not seen much of our work. It’s time however that we tell our story. Let’s allow the facts and figures to speak for us.

THE IMPACT OF THE CHURCH
Consider this: The British Government assumed colonial authority of the Gold Coast colony (now Ghana) in 1874. By 1881, that is 7 years later, there were 139 schools. Three were managed by the government, one in Cape Coast and two were in Accra. The rest of the schools (136) were run by missionaries of the gospel. The Basel Mission run 47 schools. The Wesleyans run 84 schools. The Bremen mission had 4 schools. The Roman Catholic Church had 1 school. Remember to keep the scores: 3 for government, 136 for the church. Wow!! 👏👏👏👏👏 Churches remained the main provider of formal education until independence. And after independence, the contribution of the church hasn’t declined. As it stands now, for every two schools established by the government, there is a school established by the church.

We have more Church based Universities, and training colleges than government owned in Ghana. The critics pretend not to know these things. Now tell me, is there any of Ghana’s Big Six who didn’t attend a Missions school? None! Nkrumah even attended a seminary. So why are we pretentiously denying the impact of the Church on Ghana’s development? Let’s not bite the hands that fed us and continues to feed us.

In the health sector, the story is not different. According to the Ghana Health Service report captioned “The Health Sector in Ghana, Facts and Figures, 2018”, out of the 23,829 Hospital beds in the country in 2017, Government Hospitals had 13,564 representing 56.9% whiles the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG) had 6,980 representing 29.3% of total beds. This means that for every two hospital beds that the government of Ghana provided, the church in Ghana provided one. In Ashanti Region alone, CHAG facilities had 1,274 hospital beds whilst Government hospitals had 1,543 beds, a difference of 269 beds. Critics of the church pretend not to know these facts.

In the Brong Ahafo Region, government hospitals had a total of 973 beds in 2017 whiles Mission Hospitals had 1,611 beds, a difference of 638 in favor of the Church. Again, the critics have closed their eyes to these facts. On the surface, we can infer from these statistics that the church has done more to provide Health services to the people of Brong Ahafo Region than the government. And when I speak of the government, I don’t imply the present government, I mean all governments from Dr Nkrumah till date.

Incase you think the church is so rich, let me help you do the analysis. 72% of the populace are Christian. We can give a generous estimate in favor of the critics that out of this 72%, only 50% attend church regularly. I’m just trying to favor the critics with these estimates. Being a pastor, I can CONFIDENTLY tell you that averagely, only about 10% of Christians pay tithes. To be generous to the critics however, let’s double that estimate to 20%. This implies that only 20% of 50% = 10% of Ghana’s population pay tithe. Now think of it, the church is largely financed by the tithes of these 10%. The government on the other hand has up to 50% of the populace to tax besides the oil, gold and other minerals. Together, the revenue raised by government will exceed the taxes of 100% of the populace. The government has power to tax companies and businesses also. Now, if with 100% and more (loans, donations, bonds, grants, etc) the government has 56.9% of Hospital beds and the church with 10% has 29.3%, the implication is that (holding all factors constant), if the church had 100% of the government’s resources, it would have established 29.3% x 10 = 293% of the present health facilities. Now, 293% /56.9% = 5.1. Based on this rather simplistic analysis, It follows that the Church is 5.1 times more EFFICIENT in the use of resources than the government. If for economic reasons, the critics have never called for a nation without government then why are they wishing for a nation without churches? This must be DEMONIC!! There is a war against the church. The devil is stirring up hatred against the church of Jesus Christ.

The impact of the church is not only limited to Ghana. It’s a global fact. When you think of education in the UK, Cambridge and Oxford Universities can’t escape your mind. At least, we owe the Church a thank you. Britain is just a tiny little country but at one point or the other, it colonized 200 countries of the world. When asked the secret of England’s achievement, Queen Victoria said “that book, the Bible, accounts for the supremacy of England.”
Think of it! As at 1892, of the first 108 colleges and universities founded in America, 106 representing 98.15% were founded as Christian schools. Of the first 126 colleges to be established in America, 123 representing 97.62% were Christian colleges. Yet some people think the church is a mistake. It’s a shame!!
If 98.15% of the first 108 Universities and 97.62% of the first 126 Colleges founded in America were established by Churches, then what was the tax payers money used for? The critics don’t care enough to ask. All they keep their eyes on is the tithe.
In 1636, Harvard was established as the first University in the United States. One of the founding rules of this university was: “Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well, the main end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life, (John 17:3), and therefore to lay Christ in the bottom, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning.” Harvard has since produced five United States Presidents out of the thirty three presidents who had a University degree.
In 1701, Yale University was founded by Congregational ministers in the name of the Protestant faith. Yale has since produced three United States presidents. In 1746, Princeton University was founded by Presbyterians. Rev. Jonathan Dickinson, the University’s first president is quoted to have said “cursed be all that learning that is contrary to the cross of Christ.” Given this kind of background, the founding fathers of America were TAUGHT AND GROOMED by Christian Universities. It’s not a mystery therefore that when America produced its coins, they inscribed on it: “In God we trust.” Later on, it became the motto of the nation. Yale like Princeton has also produced three of the United States presidents.

The world’s number one hospital is the Mayo Clinic. Can you talk about Mayo without the Church especially the Sisters of Saint Francis? We could go on and on, to talk about the impact of the church on water and sanitation, agriculture, child development, moral education, etc.

CONCLUSION

The church like every other institution that involves men would certainly have a share of its deficiencies and shortcomings. It’s common knowledge that many charlatans have crept into the ministry work and have made merchandise of the gospel. They use the offerings and tithes in ways that are unacceptable. This we are aware. Nonetheless, the church generally has significantly contributed to the growth of the country. It is therefore mischievous and demonic to constantly lambast the Church on social media because of a few uncultured pastors. I am not trying to justify the few bad nuts, not at all. I do feel that we could equally acknowledge and talk about the impact of the church rather than making it look evil just because of our disappointment or disapproval for a few pastors. I could push my argument to cover many other areas but that will require a whole book. Ecclesiastes 12:12-13 says;

[12] “And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

[13] “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”

THE CHURCH IS MATCHING ON……………..!!!

 

Written by Rev. Aaron Lambon FANT
Snr. Ps. Santuary of Wind & Fire Assemblies of God- Tamale