Africa is home to one of the most significant revival movements in church history. In 1900, only 9% of Africans were Christian. In 2020, approximately 50% of Africans profess Christianity. No other continent has seen more explosive growth in the last 100 years.
However, Africa is also home to some of the most destructive heresies in modern times.
The prosperity gospel promises health and wealth to anyone who has sufficient faith. A desire for material blessing is often seen as more important than Christlike living.
Syncretism – the blending of Christian profession with pagan practices – is rampant across the continents. One pastor said, “On Sunday, people go to church to worship God. On Monday, they take their sick child to a witch doctor for treatment.”
How can these two facts (a great revival movement AND tragic heresies) be reconciled? One factor in the spread of false doctrines has been a lack of sound biblical teaching among pastors. As revival spread across Africa, little attention was paid to training pastors in sound doctrine. As a result, false doctrines spread like wildfire.
Some might say, “Does sound teaching really matter? At least the church is growing, and people are being saved.”
“Does sound teaching really matter?”
To get a biblical answer to the question, read the epistle of Jude. Jude describes the consequences of false doctrine in graphic terms. At the end of his description of how false teaching had impacted churches in the first century, the apostle concludes, “It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit” (Jude 19).
To get a practical answer to the question, visit Rwanda. Because of the Rwandan genocide in 1994, 65% of the population is 35 years of age or younger. There are few older pastors to guide and nurture young pastors. A young pastor told me, “We ‘Timothy’s’ have no Paul to train us.”
We found a similar situation in Kenya. Untrained pastors are ill-equipped to answer the questions their members are asking. They do not know how to guide their members to maturity. One pastor told me, “We know how to make converts. We don’t know how to make disciples.”
However, the good news is that these pastors have a deep hunger for training in correct doctrine. In our seminars, we taught the SGC course on “Christian Beliefs” and trained the pastors to teach the courses to others. In addition, Dr. David Fry gave lectures on “Why Doctrine Matters?” The questions from the pastors showed how hungry they were to understand and apply biblical doctrine. They realize the importance of establishing right doctrine for their churches.
Thank you for praying and giving so that SGC can help build an understanding of right doctrine among these hungry pastors who are part of the great revival in Africa.
