Missions 101

This is the first of a series of posts on the presence of false teaching in the church, and the church’s response to it. My approach is 1) to give a glimpse into one location where this is a reality (Cameroon), 2) give excerpts from students research on actual false teachings, 3) take a look at how biblical authors dealt with false teachings, and 4) the role of the church in responding to false teaching.

The Situation of False Teachings in Cameroon: An Introduction

I am supervising the theses of two students at the Cameroon Baptist Theological Seminary, Ndu, Cameroon, West Africa. One is writing on “The Centrality of the Gospel in Galatians” and the other on “Paul’s Motivation for Preaching the Gospel.” In order to do this, they have had to look at their own context to see what is preached and how that relates to the truth of Scripture. They took time and watched many television programs that broadcast “Christian Programs” and claim to be preaching the gospel. They have found that these television stations are “Christian” only in name and not in content. What is proclaimed on these stations is appealing to people, and they receive it as the gospel. Even people who attend regular church services are looking for what the television preachers provide and promise, and some pastors are moving toward becoming like the television preachers. The most common evidence of this move is their constant emphasis on health and wealth gospel: promises that faith in Christ brings many physical blessings from God, that any situation of poverty is never from God etc.

From my own time of serving in Cameroon, I observed the popularity of the false gospel and its destructive nature. Its promises are sweet and its claims unattainable, but all is done under the premise that it is the revelation of the Spirit to men of God, who now pass it on to the people. I attended a service where a pastor unashamedly was preaching that faith in Christ means that health, wealth and prosperity is the portion of believers. At the same time, he was assuring the people that he was not preaching a health and wealth gospel.

One day in class a student objected to my interpretation of a passage. I asked him the source for his view on the text and he quoted a prosperity television preacher whom he watched religiously. I realized that some of my students would sit in class and listen to me but get their actual knowledge of what is true from the “men of God” as they call them. We regularly met people who were sick but would refuse to accept that fact. Some would refuse to consult and receive treatment. Their response was, “This sickness is not my portion ‘in Jesus name.’” I learned they were simply repeating what they were hearing on television. 

The church in Cameroon is not adequately addressing these issues. There is unexplainable silence and this, I believe, is destructive for the health of the church. The presence of false teachings in the church is not a new thing. What is new is the silence of the church in responding to them.  If the church in Cameroon and throughout the world is to maintain the purity of the gospel and help her members keep from being blown away by false teachings, she must respond to such teachings. The question then is, what ought to be the response of the church and how should it be carried out?

Next week’s post will include excerpts from the two students on their findings about false teachings.

I’m going to relate two experiences I had on a recent trip to Cameroon, West Africa. See if you can identify what the situations have in common and the solution to the problems raised.

On March 17th, 2012, I boarded an Amour Mezam bus from Douala to Bamenda. The 7 hour trip (with many stops on the way) was daunting but entertaining in a sad way. Within 10 minutes of leaving the station, a young man in a suit stood up and called on all people to bow their heads for prayer. Really? I thought. Yes, really and everyone bowed their head for prayer. The prayer was not bad, but I thought, “Is everyone here really a believer?” After the prayer, the young man proceeded to preach a sermon he had prepared. I wondered what he was seeking to accomplish with such a message: a guarantee to all on board that Jesus has saved them and will protect and provide for all their needs. After half an hour of preaching, he sat down and I was relieved. Did I say I was relieved? I was wrong. About 30 minutes after he sat down, another preacher stood up and preached a similar message except this sermon was 45 minutes long. Then he sat down and I thought, now we are done. Thank God.

Enter the Medicine Man

Four hours into the trip, we stopped for food. When everyone had reboarded the bus, I noticed a new passenger, well dressed. He refused to take a seat though there were empty seats on the bus. He stood for 15 minutes and then started his own show. No!! He was not preaching. He was selling medicines for all kinds of diseases. Name it, he had a cure for it. He had the attention of almost everyone on the bus. He argued that before the white man came to Africa, our forefathers used natural herbs to cure diseases. It is time we return to nature and have nature heal us. Is this man serious? I thought. Yes he was. After making his arguments for returning to nature, he called out the recipes for some herbal medicine to cure rashes, cough etc. Then he pulled out his bag with leaves and barks of trees and some smelly liquid stuff in small bottles. He explained what each of those could cure; anywhere from sexually transmitted diseases to cancer and AIDS. He took the bark of the tree and ate a little piece. He then offered it to people to eat and I was shocked to see how many people took it and chewed it right there on the spot. He brought out the liquid stuff and then people sniffed it and nodded in approval. Then the leaves came out and people ate in hopes of getting healed. Then, the real business started. He offered the stuff  they had just tasted for sale and many bought. It was good business for him. After an hour and a half on the bus, and after collecting much money, he got off the bus to join another one.

Oh No. The Preachers Again?

With the medicine man now gone, the preachers reemerged. This time, the messages were different. They were no longer preaching God’s protection on the journey (maybe because we were close to our destination) but this time they seemed set to outdo the medicine man. They declared how it is not God’s will for people to be sick. Any sickness can be healed in Jesus name! Poverty is due to a lack of faith! They had people write their sicknesses on pieces of paper and hand to the preachers. They had them write what they wanted God to do. There was no limit to what you could claim. After collecting the papers, they prayed and declared, “IT IS DONE IN JESUS NAME.” Then, just when I thought it could not get worse, they brought out a basket to collect offerings and many people gave money. Why? Following the offering, they handed out a number for people to call so they could be blessed by God. Those who did not have money on the spot could call the number for further information.

What is the difference between the preachers and the medicine man? Not much difference. I do not think that the medicine man was interested in people actually getting healed. I also do not think that the preachers really cared about people having their sins forgiven through faith in Jesus Christ. What both cared about was money and money is what they got.

In talking with a few people on the bus, I learned that they are believers (they say) and members in their local congregation. When I asked why they found nothing odd with the preachers, they answered, “These are men of God and we have to listen to them.” I realized that the problem was not so much with the people who listened and tasted and wrote down their requests. The problem lies in a lack of knowledge of what is truth.

So I concluded that until pastors take theological education seriously and pay attention to what their people are believing, they will continue to be “children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes” (Eph. 4:14). People have itching ears only wanting to hear what will benefit them (1 Tim. 4:3) and most do so because they lack knowledge of the Truth.

Pastors in Cameroon and other countries have a duty to address these issues in their churches through teaching their people the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27) and helping them learn to obey all that Jesus commanded (Matt. 28:20). They need to help their people (most of whom live in poverty) understand that the answer to poverty is not quick fixes (God never promised that). Rather, they should embrace the truth that godliness with contentment is great gain (1 Tim. 6:6). In fact, I Timothy 6 has much to say to people in this context.

Yes, theological education is the answer to such a situation. Let us not grow weary in training pastors who will in turn train others in the churches. In so doing, they will fight off false teachers one at a time with the Word of Truth.

Every Training Leaders International (TLI) trip is different. The context, as well as the class composition, makes each trip unique. This trip to Douala, Cameroon is no different. TLI is here to help train French speaking pastors through the Dale Kietzman University of Douala. It has been a unique trip. Most unique about this trip is that we have been invited to provide training for pastors who are all from Pentecostal backgrounds, and we are three Baptists and a Reformed Church pastor. From the very first day of class, we established the fact that what matters is not so much our traditions, but what the word of God says. Throughout our teaching time, we came to see that if people can see what a text in the Bible actually teaches, they will generally accept it, even if it goes against their church traditions. Our students put aside their Pentacostal tradition and focused on the text of Scriptures. We saw them eager to abandon tradition and embrace the word of God for what it says and to pass it on to others at all costs. We have been moved by the hunger for the word and the humility of the pastors who attended our course on Hermeneutics. Below are comments from some of our students. They highlight why TLI is a strategic mission agency in the training of pastors around the world. 

Student testimonials:

What is your name and thoughts about this course on Hermeneutics?

“I am Rev Young, a student of this school (Dale Kietzman University). So far I have appreciated this course, Hermeneutics, immensely. I want to thank the teacher for making the course so simply and understandable. He has helped us to learn very fast and understand the rudiments of biblical interpretation. We appreciate you very much. It is going to help us a lot in our churches.”

Would you like to see your Pastor Dave come back here?

“Yes! Yes! Yes! We will love to have pastor Dave come back to teach us. He has become a friend and I love the way he interacts with the students. He made the atmospheres very comfortable for everyone and he gives room for questions and interaction in the class.”

Pastor Dave is a Baptist and you are from a Pentecostal background. How has it been having a Baptist teach you?

“It has not been a problem at all. One thing with our pastor Dave is that does not get into some church dogmas. He is always in the Scriptures. He pins us in the Scriptures. In fact, during class discussions, when we want to take him out into church background issues, he always brings us back to the Scriptures to answer our questions and that is good.”

How do you see this course on Hermeneutics helping you in your pastoring?

“It is very very important. It is very very good because without understanding biblical interpretation, you cannot rightly divide the word of truth. This has given us the tools to help us rightly divide the word of truth.”

What is your job right now?

“I am the senior pastor of a church. Our church has up to 400 to 500 people.”

--

What is your name and what do you do?

“My name is Mugey Michele. I am an assistant pastor in our church of 60-70 people.”

Why did you decide to take this course on Hermeneutics?

“I came to take this course to know better about God and the word of God. I think that this university will give me enough to help me know more about God.”

Tell me how you see this course helping you in your ministry.

“This course has helped me to know how to interpret the Bible, how to make the best study of a passage in the Bible. I have been very blessed since the beginning of the course. Yesterday I was preaching in our church and I see the difference. I saw the difference in my sermon. I found that I was connecting the passage with the rest of Scriptures. In this course I have learned that interpretation is not a simple task. I learned that good interpretation requires humility on my part. Sometimes we become proud thinking that we know what the Bible says. I have learned to ask key questions to know more about God and the word of God. I have found that the teacher are very good, vibrant and there is life in the class room setting.”

 --

“My name is Rev Simon DJAOUE. I am the Senior Pastor of the Centre de Ressources  Chrétiennes,  CBC – Congregation Baptiste Cameroun based in Makepe Rhone Poulenc, Douala, Republic of Cameroon. I am also a Mission Director of The Timothy Initiative, Central Africa Region (Cameroon, Central Africa, Congo, Gabon, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, etc).  It is an international church planting organization which was established with the purpose to train and equip “Timothy’s” (Pastors/Church Planters). Being an interdenominational Bible School, currently, we have 20 Districts leaders who help me train Church Planters throughout Cameroon with a vision to raise 500 church planters in 2012.

I am in Dale Kietzman University to equip myself for the service of the Lord to better serve Him in my teaching ministry. I want to build a network of leaders in Africa and beyond. The international teaching staff of DKU is an avenue to create a synergy for my network of leaders to get further training.

This course on Hermeneutic has helped me to understand the principles of Bible Interpretation.  I have learned how to be biblically sound in my doctrine being convinced that the Bible is the final authority. This course has helped me to remain christocentric in my messages.  I have learned how to preach staying in the context as it is usually said ‘a text without a context is a pretext’. Obviously, my church and Bible student will also appreciate that Observation, Interpretation, Application are keys for a balanced inductive Bible study.”

--

“My name is Ndifon Arix. I am a jurist by profession. I have been very blessed by this course. It is my first time of hearing something about Hermeneutics and it has given me a wider knowledge on how the Bible is to be read and interpreted. I was amazed by our teacher pastor Dave because each time you asked him a question, he would look at about 4-5 different Bible passages to answer the question. It gave me the impression that to really know how to interpret the Bible, we must know all of Scriptures and the themes at various levels. Overall, I have learned so much.  Have learned to dig deep into Scriptures and without it we cannot go further.”

-- 

“My name is pastor Milong. It has been a pleasure for me to witness and be part of what has been one here. Hermeneutics has been a blessing to us because we learned the rules and principles that govern the interpretation of Scriptures. We need to allow the text to speak for itself and we need to get to what the author had in mind. We need to avoid bringing our own impression to the word so that the word of God will have effect on the individual only when it is done according to the intention of the author who wrote the text. We also came to see our need for the attitude of humility and not make ourselves bigger than the word of God. We are thankful for our teachers who have come to teach us.”

 --

General question: Most of you come from Pentecostal background. Now that you have taken this course on Hermeneutics, what do you see to be some of the challenges you will face in your churches?

“My name is Asomo Abraham. I come from Winner Chapel International. Formally, I thought, from the teachings I was receiving, that the Bible contradicts itself. From the teaching I have received from this course on Hermeneutics, I now believe that the Bible is truly the word of God. From this course, I have come to the conclusion that the Bible does not contradict itself. I believe also that the word of God should be taught by those who have been trained and who really know the word of God. From what I have received here, I want to continue in this training.”

 --

“My name is pastor Milong. As one from the Pentecostal background, there is an impression that they Pentecostals have which says that they have arrived. They do not give themselves to study the word and to be disciplined and to come to the word and allow it to speak for itself. Studying Hermeneutics helps us see the need to be grounded in the world. Sometimes there is too much noise, too much hallelujahs. We tend to make a lot of noise thinking that the more noise the more anointing. People need to be fed the word of God and that is what will make a change in the lives of the people.”

-- 

As you can tell from what the students say, TLI’s vision to train those who will train others is embraced here in Douala. We are learning here that what matters most is helping pastors see what the Bible actually says. We have also come to see that wrong doctrine is often a result of wrong exegesis. We were moved by the desire of these pastors to abandon their wrong theologies for the truth of the word. May God continue to raise up humble pastors who will seek to learn and to teach others. 

[3] For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, [4] that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, (1 Corinthians 15:3-4ESV).

 Can One Be Christian without Knowing the Gospel?

 In 2004, I preached at a youth camp in Cameroon, West Africa. One of my messages was titled “The Good News of Salvation.”  I began by asking  a series of questions, which follow with the answers the attendees gave:

Is the gospel message necessary for salvation?  Answer, “Yes!!”

You mean you cannot be saved without the gospel?  Answer, “Right!”

So you cannot be a Christian without understanding and believing the gospel?  Answer,

“Absolutely correct!!” 

Are you a Christian?  Answer, “Yes.” 

Do you believe the gospel?  “Yes, we do.”

What is the gospel, then? ---------  Unfortunately, I was met with blank stares.  No clue how to articulate the answer. They could not outline the gospel message.

This is troubling for two reasons: 1) These well-meaning young people believe that they are Christians and heading to heaven. 2) Yet, they do not know what the gospel is. So the question remains: can one be a Christian without knowing the gospel?

 The Problem

This experience highlights a problem in many mission contexts. While the church exists in terms of numbers, it is deficient in terms of the gospel message. If one asks people in the vicinity of the church, “What is the message of the church,” what will the answer be? If you were to ask members of the church what they believed in order to be saved, will there be a clear statement of the gospel centering around the death and resurrection of Christ? In most cases, one looks in vain. We need to pay attention to the gospel we preach, to put in place means of preserving it through the years so that future generations will not be in doubt as to what the gospel is. This is the task of the missionary. To bring the gospel to a people, preach it clearly, and train others to carry on the task of proclaiming the gospel as they received it. 

Growing up in a small village in Cameroon, West Africa, the only Bible I had seen was a very big one in our church. I thought that was the most holy Bible because it was so big. I even took pride in the fact that our church had the biggest one of any church around. The things I knew from the Bible were those that our pastor taught us. He was the one older person in our village church who could read. He read the Bible and taught the young people until he believed they were ready for baptism. I also thought that Bibles could only be found in churches and individuals could not own one. All that was to change one morning when I was about 10.

The day began like any other, with my mother leaving for the farm and giving me instructions on what to do during the day. When she left, I entered her room in our two room mud brick house. I noticed her suitcase under the bed. I knew that she kept her church clothes in it but I also wondered what else she kept in there. I proceeded to dig through and to my greatest surprise, I found a nice small Bible at the bottom of the suitcase. I thought, “A Bible in our house!” I was overcome with joy and forgot all about my mother having instructed me never to dig through her things.

When she came home that evening, I was eagerly waiting to announce the good news to her. As soon as she entered the house, I said, “Mother, you would not believe what I found.” I showed her the Bible and she said, “Where did you get that?” I replied, “Why does it matter, we have a Bible in our house.” After she disciplined me for disobeying, I asked her again why the Bible was hidden in her suitcase. She said the Bible was being saved for the day when I was able to read it to the family.

This little Bible that I found was a Gideon’s NT. For the first time, I began to read the Word of God and cherish it for myself. It contributed to my coming to understand better the teaching of the Bible, who Jesus is and who man is as a sinner. I started learning things I was not taught in church. I also began to see how my pastor was struggling in his own teaching. Much of what the NT taught, I had never heard him teach. I do not know how my mother got the Bible. All I know is that I found it in our house. What joy!!!

This is a simple story of a young kid in a village in Africa, but it points out the importance of having the Word of God and reading it for yourself. Until I started reading the Bible for myself, I did not know what it meant to be a Christian, though I had already been baptized. It also shows the importance of having a pastor in the village church who is able to read, understand, and rightly divide the Word of Truth. In my village at that time (and to some extent today), most people do not read. The only thing they know about the Bible is what the pastor teaches them. An ill-equipped pastor does more damage in such a setting. The story also shows the significance of owning your own Bible. This is taken for granted here in America but many people around the world do not own one. Even pastors struggle to own a good Bible for preaching. They are expensive and difficult to get. I was shocked a few years ago when one of our graduates wrote me a letter pleading for a complete Bible. He said that while at school, he owned a copy of the NT and managed with it. Now that he is graduated, he did not know what to do for preaching.