Churches Aren't Equal

Demographic reports on the size and distribution of the world's Christian population reveal that Pentecostals and charismatics make up more than a quarter of all Christians. I am comfortable indentifying myself with them. There is a lot of good that has come out of this movement. Leading sociologist of religion Professor Peter Berger has shown in his studies how the Pentecostal and charismatic movement is associated with a desire for education, a strong work ethic, individualism and an affinity with democratic politics. You can imagine how disappointed and horrified I was when I heard abour pastors calling themselves Pentecostal or charismatic, feeding congregants snakes and grass, all in the name of God. While every movement has its own extremes, recent happenings like the ones of snakes and grass have never been seen before in our country. What is happening within the Pentecostal and charismatic movement calls for an analysis of what has gone wrong, and urgent steps to rectify these.

For starters, there has been a proliferation of churches in our country. To the extent that this promotes the growth of Christian evangelism. It is good. But the excess of some of these churches - accompanied by what I call an "unregulated proliferation" - are worrying. Churches are by nature non-profit organisations. In order to operate, they need to register according to the Non-profit Organisations Act 71 of 1997 and obtain an NPO status. I have not seen any audit of how many churches are registered according to this act but I have my doubts whether some of the churches that mushrooming all over do comply. And this is where I say the growth, welcome as it is, must be regulated. But it does not stop there. According to the country's tax laws, churches that want to enjoy preferential tax treatment must apply for and be granted approval as public benefit organisations (PBOs).

Therefore, the non-payment of tax by churches or any religious organisations is not a given. Critically PBOs are required to submit to SARS annual income returns. Whereas the bigger religious organisations attract the scrutiny of SARS on these matters. I have the distinct feeling that "informal" or smaller organisations don't. And there lies the problem. Because of lack of accountability and hierarchial structure, the abuses and excesses tend to take place in the informal or smaller organisations where lines between self-economic interests and public benefit activities are often blurred. To clean up the mess that is going on within the Pentecostal and charismatic movement, our tax authorities will need to crack the whip - at least from a regulatory and compliance point of view. It certainly does not inspire confidence and encourage compliance when others are expected to play by the book while some are allowed to operate with wanton disregard for the laws. We need to bring back accountability.

But such accountability is not confined only to the laws of the country. Internal accountability is equally important and here church leaders need to step up to the plate. It should be difficult for anyone to simply start a church without submitting to an organisation or structure that can exercise authority over that person. Leadership without accountability is as dangerous as authority without submission. The problem we have with pastors today who can do as they please with congregants - serving them snakes, giving them petrol to drink and abusing them financially - is because these leaders account to no one. They excercise authority over people without themselves submitting to any authority. I urge religious organisations suchs as the South African Council of Churches, International Federation of Christian Churches and the Christian Indigenous Churches Association, to intervene and rectify the situation.

As for the bizarre miracles reported in the media. I call upon our people to apply common sense - which can be an effective antidote to gullibility. Biblicallly, miracles do take place and they are a super-natural intervention meant to solve a problem in the natural realm. Critically, they are meant to glorify God. One does not see how eating a snake or drinking petrols solve a problem in the natural realm and how it glorifies God. But then sometimes nonsense in the church is so good only because commen sense is limited among congregants.