You may remember my post about Lesego here. Although I "applaud" the "efforts" of the Greater Vaal Pastoral Forum, it is as one comment says, "[t]he insane calling the insane, insane."
A video showing Pastor Lesego Daniel, of the Rabboni Centre Ministries in Ga-Rankuwa, urging congregants to drink what he says is petrol and tastes sweet, like pineapple or a cold drink, has gone viral on YouTube.
The outraged Greater Vaal Pastoral Forum has called on church leaders to stand up and defend the Christian faith.
“The reports about church congregants in Ga-Rankuwa being made to drink petrol, after they were recently encouraged to eat grass, points to the growing problem of religious cultism masquerading as Christianity,” said Bishop Vincent Jones, chairman of the forum.
“The cultists, who falsely claim to be intermediaries between the faithful and God, and often indulge in harmful practices and profiteering, alienate God’s people.
“They bring the wider church community into disrepute and hinder its spiritual mission.”
Jones said the forum wanted to restore accountability and rekindle the spirit of fatherhood in the church by educating people and encouraging the discernment of such practices.
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In the YouTube video, members of Daniel’s congregation are seen clamouring to drink the petrol, while the pastor encourages them and preaches.
Jones said such “unseemly acts, coupled with the pervasive crass commercialisation of the Gospel, impact negatively on the Christian faith”.
He said disunity among church leaders and the lack of accountability of some of them were responsible for the rise in “harmful cultism” .
“It’s also desperation – there is high level of desperation due to the socio-economic situation in our country.
“People are seeking answers to poverty, unemployment and sickness, to redress their situation. It’s a tragedy when they find desperate pastors who give them theological misrepresentation.”
‘Cultism’ sticks in clerics’ throats - Gauteng | IOL News | IOL.co.za
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