This is the final part (Part 3) of an article titled 'AFRICAN TRADITIONS Vs SCRIPTURES.' It is done by Pastor Sam Oluoch of Grace Baptist Church - Kisumu, Kenya.

Our faith attracts foes.

Christianity is not a faith for fearful soldiers. It calls for valiant men and women and Christ in none equivocal terms declares in Luke 12: 49-53 that what He came to bring to the earth, Christianity, is not for peace after all. Stand firm and expect division right to the core of family fabrics. The twelve Disciples of Christ knew this very well since the Teacher prepared them for it. In the passage above and Matthew 10:28, Christ sent them out to the harsh world in which their faith was going to be thoroughly tested to the point of death. Jesus instead encourages them not to fear but to trust in God. The Apostles caught this very well. When persecutions broke out on them because of their faith, many chose not to protect the tent (the body), but the soul, and many were martyred because of this. In the recent centuries this has always been the choice of many unmoved Christians when faced with enemies of this great profession. In the year 1555-1556 Kidley and Hugh Latimer were burnt at the stake for not compromising the laws of God. The same fate befell Thomas Cranmer. Closer home, David Koi a Kenyan (Giriama tribe) became the first Kenyan martyr for his faith in 1883 in the hands of Muslim Arabs. Also, consider Mr. Ole Sempele, a Masaai from Kenya who sacrificed all his herds of cattle to go and study the Bible for three years. For a Masaai to do this, given their love for cattle is like putting ones head on hang man’s noose- I mean it is a sacrifice equal to death for a Masaai to give up all his herds. This is the same for the Hereros of Namibia. What I mean to demonstrate here, my reader, is that Christianity is worth more than life, leave alone the properties we have on earth. Don’t we profess the same faith? Death, being the last straw that always lead faithful Christians to succumb to the dos and don’ts and worship of other gods is never there but even if it is there (for the sake of playing the devil’s advocate here) what does a Christian have to lose? Nothing! If anything, you go to a better place. My beloved, if you fear persecution, you have no business being a Christian for the word of God says: In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Tim. 3:12; Cf Matt. 10:22-31; Acts 14:22; Phil. 1:29; 1 Pet. 4:12). Be assured of God’s care during such moments and do not fear. As I said before, the threats of death at its best are just but that, threats. Personally I have received this many times and my body is still intact, both my two daughters are still alive and my wife too and we are serving God – we thank God we are all believers in Christ.

Western culture verses African traditions and culture.

Many times I have heard arguments that those advocating complete cessation from ancestral worship are merely interested in throttling our good traditions to propagate Western beliefs and culture. Nothing can be further from the truth.

The God we serve is God of culture. In fact, the diversity of many cultures makes us appreciate the beauty of God. Consider the roses; they appear in many colours, yet also different from carnations. Put these together and you will appreciate why flowers sell in Netherlands and other Western countries. They blend so beautifully that pockets cannot resist their money coming out. That is God expressed in diversity. However, as diverse as culture and traditions may be, they are all intended to be used to worship the One and Only God (Acts 17:25-28). So, whether the tradition is from the west or east is neither here nor there, what matters is whether the diversity and culture is being used properly to give glory to God and it is not a case of giving the glory of God to the created things. Moreover, it is only those people whose scope of knowledge is stifled that see these demands of Christian faith as Western ideas invading our culture. I say this because history (for those who care to read wider), demonstrates that cultural and traditional beliefs and observances have their roots from the former world powers like Persia, Greece and Romans some of which are condemned with equal strength by the Scriptures. So though Western yes, these beliefs cannot be held to be biblical and encouraged. Apostle Paul while disputing with the Athenians (in the Roman world) strongly condemned idolatry as unbiblical (Acts 17:22-30). In the old Testament, God not only warns the Israel of the time of Abraham against indulging in any form of worship strange to his new found faith (Gen. 12:1) but this warning runs through the Bible to even as late as the days of Nehemiah (Neh. 13:3-28; cf. 1Kings 11). All these warnings from God to His people are in the context of, not African culture but Western/Eastern culture yet they are roundly condemned by God. It therefore follows that any tradition, be it from the West, East or South when they conspire against the biblical rule and the call to worship the One and only God, together they face the condemnation of the very word of God. One can therefore see that this book is not out to refute African traditions replacing them with equally unbiblical Western traditions but to show that any cultural practise that comes against the laws of God must be abandoned at all cost. The argument that we are propagating Western tradition at the expense of African one cannot withstand the test of time leave alone the scrutiny of the Bible.

Teachings of the African sages.

In any given society, the teachings of the old wisemen of that society are worth their respect. From the long life of these sages they have acquired a lot of wisdom that cannot be neglected lest the society go to the dogs as we see today. In real African context, unlike the Western world, we still respect these men and women and allow them to take their seats of honour at the gates. The dilemma comes to an African Christian when these sages, respected in the community, stand up and say that we must all follow the traditions of our tribe in all its call. Failure to which curses are assured the defiant. This will obviously pit the dear Christian in a mini war with the wise of the land. A choice has to be made. First let me say that God is no respecter of persons. The age of man and his wisdom is nothing before God in light of his commands which must be kept. May we see something of this from Zechariah chapter one.

In the book of prophet  Zechariah, the people of God, the Israelites are just back from the Babylonian captivity after seventy years (the group led by Zerubbabel) where they were sent by God for defying his laws one of them being worship of other gods save ‘Yahweh’. God shows His love to these returnees to the Promised Land by beginning to explain to them the reason for their punishment. The punishment came on account of the errors of their forefathers. These old wise men taught the Israelites things contrary to demands of God from them (see Vs. 2), teaching them and advising them to indulge in things that God had forbidden. The result of the forefathers’ misconduct was early exit from life and chaos to the children of God (vs. 5-6). The forefathers are dead, in fact, dead under punishment from God. God therefore wants this generation of Zechariah to be wiser. They must reason out sensibly. In the event that they again see an old wiseman doing a wrong thing especially out of place with God’s statutes they better say no to it. ‘Do not be like your forefathers, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Turn from your evil ways and your evil practises.’ But they would not listen or pay attention to me, declares the Lord.’ (Vs. 4). With this example and case study above I hope to impress upon you that it is better to obey God than to obey man regardless of his age, office or status in the society in so far as his laws goes contrary to the laws of God.

After considering all the above facts, a committed Christian cannot help but sing with David. The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my saviour. (Ps. 18:46). In this Psalm, ‘the Lord lives is an affirmation’ a fact to be declared and which cannot be disputed. A declaration of fact that cannot be imputed to idols that are dead. All idols are just but dead images and so is the idolatry in traditions. The wisdom that one can demonstrate without any qualms and regret lies in the words of Joshua 24:14-15. Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshipped beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. This is a sombre call yet terse. If it does not make sense to you, receive my sympathy. However, one thing is clear from the text: In worship there is no double dealing, no hanging in between, one must choose the one he will worship. I recommend the God Joshua chose. I pray that you may know this ONE and ONLY God that Christians over the ages have pledged their allegiance to with some choosing to shed their own blood and even face death but not compromise their beliefs. Believe in Him and serve Him alone.