adminTHE ongoing factional fights at the Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe (AFM) Church bring shame to the body of Christ, which they claim to represent.
It appears chaos has become commonplace in this church, which commands a huge following in the country, and the endless fights actually defeat the whole purpose of them gathering every Sunday for worship.
The house of the Lord should provide a sanctuary for the weary, and give hope to the downtrodden, but the AFM has lately turned it into some form of battle zone where factions are seemingly fighting for control of resources.
The AFM pastors and leaders have been spending time either in court fighting for control of the church, are firefighting factional decisions at different congregations over the deployment of workers and resources.
It seems where angels dread to tread, some AFM congregants turn it into a battleground, with fistfights embraced as part of worship.
But the world is looking with gratification at the disunion in the church. What AFM members must realise is that only union with Christ and with one another is their only safety.
Just what should new and potential converts do when they see people purportedly standing under the banner of Christ hating one another to the extent of spending more strength fighting each other.
In yesterday’s edition, we ran a sad story about an AFM pastor who was rejected by congregants in Epworth.
The pastor was humiliated with congregants voicing their opposition to his appointment in his presence.
They even demonstrated waving placards denouncing his appointment, forcing church proceedings to be aborted.
Brotherly love seems to be waning in the church. That love for one another that once bound them together has now waxed cold.
It’s sad that many of those who profess to love the Christ in the church today neglect to love those who are united with them in Christian fellowship.
These are people of the same faith, members of one family, all children of the same God, with the same blessed hope of immortality.
We would expect the church to have close and tender ties that bind it together.
Have AFM members considered that people outside the church are watching them to see if their faith is exerting a sanctifying influence upon their hearts or not.
People outside watching and reading about such behaviour in what they have termed the house of God, are quick to discern every defect in congregants’ lives.
Every inconsistency in church members’ actions actually gives them no occasion to join the faith.
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter