The Anglican Primate of the Church of West Africa, the Most Reverend Professor Daniel Yinkah Sarfo, has said there is the need for churches to preach messages that will convince wayward persons to have a heart for true repentance. He observed that while it was desirable to get armed robbers, prostitutes, corrupt politicians and greedy professionals to decide to go to church, the messages from the pulpit these days were not convincing enough to get them have a change of heart.
“They are comfortable being in church and going through all the motions of Christianity, yet their hearts are far away from God. This is because the messages they hear are philosophies on how to be successful in the world,” he said.
The Most Rev Prof Sarfo was speaking with the Daily Graphic on the sidelines of a Partnership Forum with church leaders in Accra to solicit their co-operation towards the organisation of a mammoth gospel crusade to be mounted by Christ For All Nations (CFAN) in Kumasi in November this year.
The Most Rev Prof Sarfo said while there was nothing wrong in wanting to prosper, “that should not be the sole attraction in our messages”.
“I think there is too much focus on that. Prosperity messages do not save; they do not change the individual from within.
“If a church member who is an accountant can steal money and bring it to church as an offering or tithe, the pastor may be excused for not knowing the source of the money, but he cannot escape blame for breeding corrupt professionals, robbers and prostitutes in the church,” he admonished.
The Anglican Primate said it was for that reason that every Christian leader must take advantage of the forthcoming four-day Reinhard Bonnke Gospel Crusade to attend the accompanying Fire Conference targeted at pastors, evangelists, teachers, prophets and church workers.
The Most Rev Prof Sarfo, who is the Chairman of the board overseeing the planning of the crusade, was confident that the crusade and the conference would bring about revival in the church and in the hearts of men and women.
“Let’s preach Christ, crucified and resurrected. Christ took the way of the cross, not the way of prosperity suggested to him by Satan during the temptation. We must let our congregation know that it involves self-denial, sometimes even suffering,” he said, adding, “These days such messages are not popular.”
In a tacit endorsement of the CFAN Ministry founded by the German international evangelist, Reinhard Bonnke, the Most Rev Prof Yinkah Sarfo said his prediction was based on the CFAN’s track record in soul-winning, as well as its methodology.
“We are going after souls with beautiful invitation cards long before the crusade. Each of the participating churches is pouring its members onto the streets of the city and into the surrounding villages to give out the invitations.
“The CFAN is not competing with the churches for souls. The local churches will reap the souls,” he added.
Bonnke’s integrity can be vouched for. Throughout the world, everybody testifies to his heart for the unsaved. More importantly, he has made a name for himself. We all remember when, in 1993, he mounted a mammoth crusade that saw thousands declare for Christ and brought revival to the churches in Kumasi.
The CFAN Executive Director for Africa, Rev John Darko, who was present, said there was nothing wrong with having big congregations or big cathedrals.
“It may seem like a paradox, but the reality is that although we are building mighty cathedrals and mega churches, our church buildings are still and will always be too small. We need church buildings that are 10 times bigger than we have now,” he said.
