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The ongoing trial of Martin Robert Gumbura for crimes ranging from the production and possession of pornographic material to alleged rape highlights a serious social ill that has afflicted the country. It is not our intention to debate Gumbura’s guilt or innocence as that matter is before the competent and constitutionally-empowered authorities.
We, however, would like to focus the attention of the nation to the increasing crimes that are being alleged against religious leaders and how citizens can guard themselves against becoming the next victims.
Because spiritual matters are guided by unquestioning faith, many unsavoury characters take advantage of believers.
They pretend that they are serving a higher calling when in reality they are using the faithful to appease earthy and sometimes perverted desires.
Not only are the crimes increasing in frequency, their heinous nature also seems to be getting worse as more are exposed.
Stories of rape, theft and other crimes by church leaders show that the cloth has become a favourite refuge for some criminals who use the Word of God to dupe those seeking spiritual salvation and divine strength to overcome earthly challenges.
It is now imperative for every person to be wary in their choice of worship circles as some groupings are clearly cults rather than churches.
The line dividing the two is thin and arguably subjective to individual biases, but there are general guidelines that everyone can use to evaluate a prospective or current religious group.
Walter Martin, a Christian scholar, defines Christian cults as groups that follow the personal interpretation of an individual, rather than the understanding of the Bible as accepted by mainstream Christianity.
Other characteristics of cults include the excessively zealous, unquestioning commitment to the leader whose stature is raised to semi-deity level.
The leader usually has a close circle of insiders who are the only ones to benefit from the economic gains of the cult while the rest of the followers are asked to give up their wealth or live on hope that their turn is coming.
Cult leaders also claim to have divine grace which is above that of normal laws of the country and for followers their word becomes the de-facto law.
Any opposition to that leader elicits emotional reactions from the followers as they are dubbed agents of the devil.
Those who leave the cult or point out any aberrations of the leader from within are equally reviled.
Several examples of the foregoing have been noted in Zimbabwe with women verbally abusing fellow church members for alleging rape against a revered leader.
Cult followers also tend to identify themselves with the group rather than their families with cult branding given priority in personal space like social media pages, homes and work stations.
But possibly the biggest pointer to a sinister cult is the oath of secrecy that is explicitly or obliquely demanded from members.
The injunction to keep church rituals, happenings and developments from outsiders including law-enforcement agencies usually means that some form of illegal activity is being carried out at the emotional, physical, psychological or financial expense of members.
While the Bible urges believers to obey the anointed, it is as well to be cognisant of the unpleasant but true fact that “self-styled” is a term that refers to all those who claim that they are God’s messengers on earth.
It is only after unmasking that false prophets stand out. By that time many people would have fallen victim to their evil intent.
There is no measure beyond keen observation and critical analysis to differentiate the real servants of God from the wolves in sheep’s clothing who are out to fleece their flocks of both virtue and wealth.
Online Reporter