My high School reverend

Bishop Dr Prophet Pastor Victor Kanyari. Well what a mouthful. Well I don’t know who decided that people should award themselves titles just because they can. People work hard to earn titles especially that doctor title. Medical school is no joke and getting a PhD is not a walk in the park either. So “Dr. Kanyari “ please show some respect before declaring how you can just award yourself a title because that is what people do. I don’t know who these people are.

While every other Kenyan is mad at this pastor we are missing the whole point here. What this pastor did is a trend in churches. How many pastors in Kenya have undeserved titles? Even in your local church I can bet your pastor has some fancy title like doctor, Nabii or Kuhani. It’s a way to get respect and trust from the flock. When I hear my pastor is Pastor Rev. Dr. Odero. I am more likely to believe he is credible than if he was just Pastor Odero. Its psychology, we tend to trust people who are learned. Explains why we trust doctors (pun intended) and many pastors have these Daktari title. What is wrong with this picture? This is the first step to hoodwink the flock. This does not mean every pastor with a fancy title is a liar. There are those who genuinely have a PhD or are medics and therefore were awarded those titles by credible institutions all around the world. Those who decide to give themselves these titles should be flogged for not showing respect to the individuals who worked hard to get this Dr.title.

Pastor Kanyari really emphasized the Malachi 3:10 verse. “Toa sadaka ya 310 na uone kama hutabarikiwa.” Well this is also nothing new in our Kenyan churches especially. How many times has your pastor read that verse and spent two hours preaching on that verse alone? I do not know how a single verse can be turned in a two hour sermon but somehow our pastors do it. After the sermon we are all ‘touched’ to tithe. If you ask me, it is pure blackmail. You are on a tight budget then suddenly because your pastor gave a two hour sermon on 10% you decide to remove a certain amount on that particular Sunday when it was not part of your plans for the month. Then you spend the rest of the month struggling to get through, meanwhile your pastor takes a trip to Egypt with his wife and children all thanks to your ‘tithes’.

 I remember when we were in high school, our dear Reverend decided to read this particular verse and went ahead to tell us that we should consider giving 10% of our pocket money as tithe. It is also good to note, Malachi is in the Old Testament. Of all the verses in the O.T. why do pastors especially emphasize this verse? Why not emphasize any of the other verses in the Old Testament? Why this one that has to do with money and percentages? While we are on this issue of tithing where in the New Testament is a verse on tithe? I will admit, I am not very familiar with my Bible but as far as my knowledge goes I do not know of any verse in the New Testament that talks about tithe. Now do not get me wrong, I have nothing against giving a tenth of your income; but if you decide to tithe, do it from the heart. Do not do it under compulsion or a sense of duty. God loves a cheerful giver.

I absolutely refused to contribute 10% of my pocket money as tithe. The last time I checked pocket money is a small amount of money for day-to-day spending, incidental expenses, etc while income is money received, especially on a regular basis, for work or through investments. I do not know in which universe my weekly allowance for expenses is counted as regular money from work or investments. Dear high school Reverend POCKET MONEY is not INCOME.

I was and still am a firm believer of fides et ratio. This means faith and reason. I believe if something is not logical then it must be a lie. That was the sole reason why no pastor would convince me that pocket money and income is one and the same thing. Faith and reason are essential together. Faith without reason leads to superstition. On the other hand reason without faith leads to nihilism and relativism. It is because of my belief that I believe in evolution, aliens, heaven, hell, the resurrection of Jesus and many other things that would make Christians raise their eyebrows. So I will not get into all that for now. Now on this issue of miracles, it is actually quite impossible to be convinced of many of the modern day miracles and revelations. Personally, any revelation or miracle must be backed by logic. Yes, you were healed of cancer, how come none of your relatives knew you had cancer. If I found out I had cancer today, I would first of all call my mum or sister. Oh, you say there are needles in my body? Why is it I have not experienced any pain? You claim someone bewitched me? Why is it I have been feeling just fine? If it is not logical then you are definitely lying to me.

What pastor Kanyari did is not new. A lot of pastors in our local churches do the same exact thing with just more finesse. Why is it that we are asked to raise money every other Sunday because inafaa tujengee pastor nyumba sababu mchungaji hawezi kuishi kwa nyumba ya one bed room? Why is it that our pastors will spend over thirty minutes telling us how God has blessed them with material things and personal success because he is a man of God? Why do they emphasize the M-pesa number and not the sermon? What’s with the two hour testimonies in church then immediately after tunatoa sadaka? Why does Brother Zephaniah start an entirely new church just because he got a private revelation from God? Why move from Church A to Church B just because Pastor Zephaniah gets private revelations from God? What answers are these we are looking for? What do we think we will get from Pastor Zephaniah’s church that is not in Pastor Obadiah’s Church?