A RECENT Sunday World article raised some pertinent questions about the mushrooming "charismatic churches" using the country's tax laws to amass tax-free wealth for their leaders.
South Africa, like the rest of the African continent, has seen the proliferation of African charismatic churches.
This is a label given to neo-pentacostal churches, the theological characteristic of which is coloqually referred to as the "theology of prosperity" or the "health and wealth gospel".
This is the kind of gospel that teaches that Christians have a right to success, and plenty. They can achieve this by giving to God and the inevitable functioning of the "law of sowing and reaping" will bring them wealth.
This means in order for one to see a constant flow of the blessings in your life, there must be a constant flow of sacrifice from the person. For example, there are reports of individuals having to sacrifice their entire salaries in order to be blessed. It is the "sowing" that has led to the massive explosion of these churches throughout the continent, with their leaders, who live in the lap of luxury, as symbols of the spiritual and physical achievement that the followers can attain through faith.
Another key characteristic of the "health and wealth" gospel is deliverance theology, which helps explain why some individuals are more prosperous than others.
The theological explanation is that a Christian's right to prosperity is often blocked by negative or evil spirits, which the believer might be unaware of, but which can be diagnosed by a pastor. The pastor can exorcise these evil spirits. All that is needed is for the believer to have faith in the pastor's ability as an anointed man of God.
The notion of the pastor being an anointed man of God arises from these churches' belief in continuationism.
This is the belief that the Holy Spirit that inhabited the Apostle Paul and gifted him with supernatural abilities, still moves and works in the contemporary church. Continuationists believe the pastors in these new churches are the ones chosen by God to receive those powers.
Hence the usual reference to their religious leaders as "prophets".
Another major common factor is that these churches are almost invariably founded by charismatic individuals (usually men, though occasionally women), in most cases with considerable leadership skills.
The challenge in dealing with these churches is that constitutionally individuals are entitled to practise whatever religion or faith they deem fit.
This means those who do not believe in the teachings and theology followed by the these churches, cannot impose their own views on the believers.
Having said so, there are some worrying tendencies practised by these churches, which tend to undermine their followers' material wellbeing.
A socio-economic analysis of these churches will reveal that it has drawn many followers from the black middle class. It has also become popular among the poor. Given the country's history, the most probable logical explanation is that both groups seek personal and social advancement.
The black middle class is chasing the dream of being like the Patrice Motsepes of this world, while the poor are chasing the dream of being gainfully employed. In both cases it can be argued that these churches are driving believers to be aspirational.
One of the criticisms against prosperity gospel is that it tends to depict failure as a sin.
For example, some churches tell their unemployed congregants that through their "sowing" and faith they can get jobs.
When these congregants fail to get the promised jobs, they are told it is because they did not have faith.
In an article titled Did Christianity Cause the Crash, Atlanticcontributing editor Hanna Rosin relates an interaction she had with a pastor of one of the prosperity gospel churches operating in Latino communities in the US.
After a sermon on Father's Day, she asked the pastor how the gospel was holding up in the recession.
The pastor said the recession had not hit his church. He then reminded Rosin that when, during the sermon, he asked how many people were out of work, only four people out of 100 had raised their hands.
"But in a church where failure is seen as a kind of sin it seems credulous at best to expect an honest response to that question. I later met at least one person who did not have a job, but hadn't raised his hand, because he thought he'd 'have one lined up soon'," wrote Rosin.
On the issue of financial accountability there is also a need for intervention.
Currently our tax laws allow religious organisations to operate tax-free with little transparency or public accountability, a status that sets them apart from other nonprofit groups and charities that must file detailed financial annual reports to the SA Revenue Service.
It is obvious the situation is inadequate when it comes to dealing with the churches' financial accountability.
Church business and it's tax free
A RECENT Sunday World article raised some pertinent questions about the mushrooming "charismatic churches" using the country's tax laws to amass tax-free wealth for their leaders.
South Africa, like the rest of the African continent, has seen the proliferation of African charismatic churches.
This is a label given to neo-pentacostal churches, the theological characteristic of which is coloqually referred to as the "theology of prosperity" or the "health and wealth gospel".
This is the kind of gospel that teaches that Christians have a right to success, and plenty. They can achieve this by giving to God and the inevitable functioning of the "law of sowing and reaping" will bring them wealth.
This means in order for one to see a constant flow of the blessings in your life, there must be a constant flow of sacrifice from the person. For example, there are reports of individuals having to sacrifice their entire salaries in order to be blessed. It is the "sowing" that has led to the massive explosion of these churches throughout the continent, with their leaders, who live in the lap of luxury, as symbols of the spiritual and physical achievement that the followers can attain through faith.
Another key characteristic of the "health and wealth" gospel is deliverance theology, which helps explain why some individuals are more prosperous than others.
The theological explanation is that a Christian's right to prosperity is often blocked by negative or evil spirits, which the believer might be unaware of, but which can be diagnosed by a pastor. The pastor can exorcise these evil spirits. All that is needed is for the believer to have faith in the pastor's ability as an anointed man of God.
The notion of the pastor being an anointed man of God arises from these churches' belief in continuationism.
This is the belief that the Holy Spirit that inhabited the Apostle Paul and gifted him with supernatural abilities, still moves and works in the contemporary church. Continuationists believe the pastors in these new churches are the ones chosen by God to receive those powers.
Hence the usual reference to their religious leaders as "prophets".
Another major common factor is that these churches are almost invariably founded by charismatic individuals (usually men, though occasionally women), in most cases with considerable leadership skills.
The challenge in dealing with these churches is that constitutionally individuals are entitled to practise whatever religion or faith they deem fit.
This means those who do not believe in the teachings and theology followed by the these churches, cannot impose their own views on the believers.
Having said so, there are some worrying tendencies practised by these churches, which tend to undermine their followers' material wellbeing.
A socio-economic analysis of these churches will reveal that it has drawn many followers from the black middle class. It has also become popular among the poor. Given the country's history, the most probable logical explanation is that both groups seek personal and social advancement.
The black middle class is chasing the dream of being like the Patrice Motsepes of this world, while the poor are chasing the dream of being gainfully employed. In both cases it can be argued that these churches are driving believers to be aspirational.
One of the criticisms against prosperity gospel is that it tends to depict failure as a sin.
For example, some churches tell their unemployed congregants that through their "sowing" and faith they can get jobs.
When these congregants fail to get the promised jobs, they are told it is because they did not have faith.
In an article titled Did Christianity Cause the Crash, Atlanticcontributing editor Hanna Rosin relates an interaction she had with a pastor of one of the prosperity gospel churches operating in Latino communities in the US.
After a sermon on Father's Day, she asked the pastor how the gospel was holding up in the recession.
The pastor said the recession had not hit his church. He then reminded Rosin that when, during the sermon, he asked how many people were out of work, only four people out of 100 had raised their hands.
"But in a church where failure is seen as a kind of sin it seems credulous at best to expect an honest response to that question. I later met at least one person who did not have a job, but hadn't raised his hand, because he thought he'd 'have one lined up soon'," wrote Rosin.
On the issue of financial accountability there is also a need for intervention.
Currently our tax laws allow religious organisations to operate tax-free with little transparency or public accountability, a status that sets them apart from other nonprofit groups and charities that must file detailed financial annual reports to the SA Revenue Service.
It is obvious the situation is inadequate when it comes to dealing with the churches' financial accountability.
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