Preach the gospel in church, for social media updates we have data

Like many devout Christians, I usually dedicate the 40 days of lent to prayer and fasting. This time around, however, I regularly found myself far from my home church so I would end up going to some of the many churches around the city centre. To say that I was shocked by the tone and content of their gospel is an understatement. One time I felt such a holy rage that I was afraid I was going to start throwing things as Jesus did when he threw the money changers out of the temple court. 
At one church, the pastor’s core gospel is inspired by the art of witchcraft. I was told he is popular because he is able to identify and liberate those under the spell. On my first day there, he asked everyone who had seen a crow lurking around their homes to go to the alter for intercession; three quarters of the church went forward. Of course everyone has seen a crow because this is a land of crows. But according to the pastor, those were not crows but satan’s messengers sent to sow seeds of poverty, illness and strife. 
The next alter call was for everyone who had been asked either by friends, neighbours or workmates who they think they are. The remaining quarter of the congregation sailed forth. Although this is a common statement in use today, the pastor claimed it was loaded with evil intentions and those who had made the statement meant to do harm. At some point, I was the only person left behind. 
But before the deliverance prayers could commence, the pastor started dividing his sheep either according to their spending power or their level of gullibility; depending on which side of the cynic coin you look at it from. He asked those willing to offer Shs200,000 for the special prayers to line up first, followed by those with Shs100,000, then those with Shs50,000 and the ones of Shs20,000 last. If you did not have any money, it meant you were “doomed” and there was nothing the pastor could do to save you. 
I watched all this in disbelief and started wondering whether I had inadvertently wandered into a shrine. After the prayers had been paid for and offered, the pastor went into the body of his message which one could tell was mainly gleaned from social media. He talked about wealthy people he knew personally who had got their riches from the devil and now had to pay by doing the most demeaning or evil things. He told us of someone who can only eat from a latrine and another who shares his partners with a snake. Then off he trailed to his own life; how he drives a Shs300m vehicle and wears a Shs3m suit because he had found true wealth in Christ. 
Because that was my first time, I reserved judgement, thinking it was probably a special themed prayer session and next time, we would hear a message from the Bible. But all the messages were still the same for the two subsequent times I went there. I made up my mind never to darken the threshold of that church ever again. I feel sad for the many people that have been completely brainwashed by this character who is either a brazen thug or a recruiter for the devil. His message seems more tailored to show the powers of the dark arts than God’s glory. He preys on his congregation’s ignorance, fear and desperation to enrich himself. 
But, I also realised a deeper impact of his message. Because he continually talks about the wealth that can be got from the other side, it is possible that many of his congregants, impatient to wait on God’s timing will be forced to go there to try and get rich. I am not sure whether he is aware of it but what he is doing is what psychologists refer to as information fallacy. This is when false information is constantly being presented as truth until the consumer believes it to be true. It is a powerful trick used by Hollywood, cult leaders and the advertising industry. 
For example, closer to home, a group of 270 Ugandans from Soroti is said to have travelled and disappeared in Ethiopia trying to escape the doomsday that they had been told was close. The group belonged to a certain church where the pastor encouraged them to sell all their earthly belongings and move to Ethiopia which would be the only country saved from the apocalypse. 
Some family members who refused to buy into the madness were left with nothing because the family heads sold the family property in order to fund the trip. Others such as Salome Asayo (brilliant girl), ran to court to stop her husband Pastor James Eretu from selling their property to join the cult. Had the court not ruled in her favour, she and her 10 children would be among the many who are now destitute.
Life lessons
All these experiences stress to us the importance of being careful about what and who we expose ourselves to. If you surround yourself with people who have no respect for their partners, do not be surprised if you begin to undermine your own relationships. Your life is a manifestation of the small choices you make; if your influences are wrong, your life will turn out to be difficult, but if you continually seek the right kind of influences, your life will not be a walk in the park but it will be fulfilling and manageable.