SELF-ASSESSMENT IS PEACE

What Is the Importance of Self-Assessing Your Religious Life?

Apart from the fact that most people practice religion with the aim of living a peaceful life after death, most people practice religion for different reasons best known to them. There are many instances where people are compelled to leave their religion to join another religion or a different denomination of the same religion. Marriage is one of those open secretes why some people are practicing a particular faith or leaving their former religion or denomination to join another – a search for love and PEACE. Because of this known secrete a question has been posted on quora.com 2014, asking people: “Would you convert to a different religion for a partner? Why or why not?”.

A friend gave a personal experience where at least three co-workers and colleague church members: two of them (in the same department), a man, left their faith for a different denomination (Jehovah Witness) in 2007 and got married in 2009; and the other, a woman, also left the church in 2012 because her ex was in a different denomination (Pentecost), she broke up with him and got married to a man in Presbyterians’ Church on 29^th September 2018.  The other one, a woman, left their church in 2018 and got married to a Muslim man that same year. These people did not just get up and decided to join a different faith or denomination because of love or marriage! They have definitely gone through a period of self-assessment before they made their decisions; the fact that they were not disappointed after leaving their faith or denomination, one can say that they have made good self-assessments. She said: “The man and his wife are living in the same community, working in the same department with me and they are living a peaceful and a happy marriage life”.

We also practice religion not only for peaceful rest after death but to also have peace on earth too. In the decisions taken by these people in their search for loving life partners for marriage or relationship used as an example above, peace was a principal factor.  No one can withstand a relationship that is not peacefully but violent: every human being, even the most violent, wants peace. If marrying in their own religion cannot give them the love and peace that they are looking for, they will search for it in any religion, and they are right. It is an open secret that the type of marriage that you have, can determine whether you will have peace on earth or whether you will go to heaven/hell after death. Ewherido, 2017 in an article: “Getting married? Welcome to hell” confirms this fact. For more, read on this link; https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/07/getting-married-welcome-hell/.

Marriage is, however, something that has its root from religion. That is why marriages rites are performed differently in different religions! In some tribes if you know that you are the type who cannot stop cheating, then never try to marry there; there will be no camera on you yet you will be exposed after cheating, and if you do not take time too, you will die prematurely because of adultery. On Sunday, 7^th October 2018, Fr. Francis K. Yeboah Anane in his preaching said that marriage is instituted by God Himself during His creation. God saw that it was not good for man to stay alone, so He took man’s rib to create a companion for him (Gen 2:21-22).

Jesus himself warned his followers against false prophets who will come pretending to be men/women of God, saying: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits …” (Matthew 7:15-16). You can never know this by magic except you sit down to reflect on your religious life and also reflect on the happenings in your religion. So, in leaving our religion or denomination to join another because of love/marriage, we should bear in mind that there are False Prophets out there. In Matthew 18-19 (KJV), he said that: “18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire”. What this means is that, when we follow these false prophets and practice what they do or tell us, at the end we will also face the same consequence(s) that they will face.

Religious Self-Assessment Can Help Us Identify False Prophets and True Religions

There are many reports of some False Prophets bathing female church members, even married women. On 4^th March 2017, there was a video in circulation where a False Prophet is seen bathing his female church member (Slombo, 2017). Jesus was not referring to the real fruits that we all know, but he was talking parabolically in terms of the behaviors of these Men/Women of God. In 2015 there was a terrific video of a Pastor Forcing His Members to Eat Live Snake for Deliverance; and surprisingly, his church’s members were seen in the video eating it (Banjo, 2015). This same Prophet does not only make his members eat live snake; he is also seen delivering naked ladies (naijagists.com, 2015) and even sitting on some of them as shown in Figure 1A. These are the fruits that Jesus was talking about and it is when we self-assess our religions that we can be able to see and understand the sources of these fruits. So, Jesus added in Matthew 7:20 again that: “Therefore, by their fruits ye will know them”.

Figure 1: 1A, Prophet sitting on a partially naked female church member; 2A, Church Member Eating Live Snake (Retrieved from naijagists.com, 12.10.18 at 9:02AM; and allafrica.com, on 17^th March 2018 at 10:25PM).

He was arrested and being charged for animal cruelty (Byte, 2015), he pretended as if he has repented and went to the Synagogue Church of all Nations (SCOAN) in Nigeria claiming to be delivered by Prophet T.B. Joshua. News of his repentance spread like bush fire with headings like: “Penuel Mnguni SA pastor's decision to repent is a step in the right direction for 'end time' preachers” (Udodiong, 2017). Figure 2 shows a live picture of him on Emmanuel TV when he went for delivery. So, I soliloquized; “Do these church members do religious self-assessments?”. Unfortunately, after confessing that feeding his church members with “snakes, rats, insects and other poisonous substances were not scriptural” but has given him the popular name “The Snake Pastor”, he ate his words again; saying that he was tricked by TB Joshua to confess (punchng.com, 2017; Citizen Reporter, 2017). 

Figure 2: Pastor Penuel at SCOAN, Nigeria (Emmanuel TV, SCOAN, 04.06.18. Retrieved from https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/06/s-african-snake-pastor-mnguni-visits-tb-joshuas-scoan-deliverance/ on 12^th October 2018, 5:58PM.

Religious self-assessment can help us to stop these shameful behaviors by False Prophets who are destroying the trust and confidence that people have in True Chosen Men/Women of God. If members do not support their inhuman treatments, they cannot do them but what the members want. For every form of self-assessment, we cannot leave out our vulnerable environment! These behaviors by False Prophets can help us make decisions whether to join our lovers in particular religions and denominations or not. To make things worse, the open attacks on each other by our men of God who are supposed to be our role models are very embarrassing/shameful and does not speak well of them as Men of God. We are supposed to be the light of the world (Matthew 5:14) attract others to the faith, but if we ourselves are insulting each other as if Christ is divided; what do we expect our followers to do? Just this month, the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council reacted by responding to a colleague man of Man for attacking one of their members (peacefmonline.com).

These behaviors are common in all religions or faiths on earth, using Christianity today as an example does not means that the other religions have no problems. However, the only way we can turn these strange behaviors into a blessing for all is when we constantly do religious self-assessment. Our main aim for religious self-assessment should be directed towards pointing out loop holes in our faiths or believes that do not allow others to know the truth or even chase others who are already in the light back into darkness. Religious self-assessment should also focus on elements in our religions that are binding forces of peace on earth.

Religious Self-Assessment Creates Unity and Peace

Our differences are there to prove whether we really love God and our neighbors (Matthew 22:37-39)! Our ability to respect, value and accept our differences does not show that we love God; loving unconditionally is what proves that we love God, it promotes peace and unity. We can all love those who love us (Matthew 5:44-47). On 23rd November 2012, I posted on my Facebook’s wall, group, and page about "Noah and the Flood"; where I said that all the different creatures created a peaceful environment in the ark/boat because, they saw the flood as their enemy. Violence is also our enemy!

On 28^th July 2013, I posted that: “There is no religion on earth that encourages violence. All the 3 major religions stand for PEACE … both Holy Books -The Bible and The Quran stand for PEACE. If all the religions on this world stand for PEACE and UNITY, and you are against PEACE or do not want UNITY; where do you belong? It does not matter which religion, tribe, race, Region or Country you belong to; if there's no PEACE, violence is no respecter of person”. In this post I was emphasizing on the importance of religious assessment in promoting peaceful environments. I posted another one too on 17^th November 2015 that: “FAITH IS LIKE THE FOOD WE EAT. I like Tuo Zaafi (TZ), the popular food of Northern Ghana: you like Fufu, the popular food of Southern Ghana. … Why is it that you do not hate people for liking different food but not the food that you like? Faith is like the food we eat! You may not have any believe in my religion: I may not have faith in your religion too”, but that must not make us enemies.

So, in religious self-assessment, if your religion is always creating violence on earth; that alone is enough to tell you that you might be on the wrong path! When Jesus said: “Therefore, by their fruits ye will know them” (Matthew 7:20) he was not only referring to the False Prophets but your religious environment too. Most violence on earth are influenced by religious Extremists, Fundamentalists, or Fanatics. The Boko Haram violence in Nigeria is an example of a violence believed to have been influenced by religion. In 2014, it has killed 1,500 people as at 31^st March (BBC, 2018). It is revealed that since May 2011; more than 37, 500 people lost their lives, 2.4 million people have been displaced, and more than 228,000 Nigerians became refugees (Brown & Abdulrahim, 2018). This does not show love but pure hatred!

I posted about the environment on 29^th July 2016 using gari made from cassava and two countries – Ghana and Nigeria as an example. Religion really is like the food that we eat! Though we do not generally hate people because of the food that they eat, some people are discriminated against because of what they eat. In the same way, though all religions on earth want peace; people are discriminated against just because they belong to different religions (Especially, Christianity and Islam). Discriminating against ourselves because of religious differences does not prove that we love God, it goes against the teachings of our Holy Books. Jesus told the Pharisees’ Lawyer who tempted him, that love is the greatest of all the Commandments (Matthew 22: 34-39). How do we prove that we love God when we hate our neighbor? Marriage is one of the ways that we can prove our love of God. Killing ourselves because of religious difference is not a prove that we love God, it rather shows how we hate Him. 

Religious Self-Assessment Strengthens Our Thanksgiving Spirit

Another very important fact is that, religious self-assessment helps us to identify what God has done for us; so that we can be grateful to Him and be able to offer Him a good thanks giving offerings. In Luke 17:12-18 ten lepers were cleansed by Jesus; but from the verse 15-18, only one of them returned to thank God for healing him. The questions; “… Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?” (Luke 17:17) and the statement; “There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger” (Luke 17:18) that Jesus made, means that he was not happy with their ungratefulness. Thanks’ giving service is an expression of faith that also unlocks so many doors in our lives; helping us to live peacefully! Take note of this, “… Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole” (Luke 17:19). This single person who was able to go back and say thank you Lord, has gone through religious self-assessment!

Miracles, prosperity, God’s Blessings or Protection, and so on which are all important for peaceful life are some of the known reasons why people decide to join certain religions or different denominations in a religion. Whatever your reasons might be, the most important thing is peace and these questions (WHAP) need to be answered:

W: What is the relationship between your religion and other religions?

H: How does your religion impact your life as a believer and that of others?

A: Do you feel accepted in your chosen religion?

P: Do you have peace in your chosen religion?

Doing Self-Assessment Without Assessing Your Environment Is Like Bathing Clean Water and Stepping Back into Dirty Water to Soil Yourself. In conclusion, religious self-assessment helps us:

To make good decision(s) about which faith we should practice,

To make good decision(s) about our marital lives or search for life partners,

To appreciate what God has done for us in life so that we can glorify Him,

To identify the ups and downs of our faiths and how to address them for peace,

To accept the beliefs of others even if we do not share the same faith (The Greatest prove of love).

Thank for your Time and for Reading. I wish you all Happy Weekends!

Some References

Banjo, T. (2015). [Photos] Pastor Forces His Members to Eat Live Snake During Deliverance. Retrieved from www.nigerianmonitor.com/photos-pasor-forces-his-members-to-eat-live-snake-during-deliverance/ on 17.03.18 at 10:25PM.

BBC. (2018). Death toll in Boko Haram attacks ‘reach 1,500’, 31^st March 2014. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-africa-26816222/death-toll-in-boko-haram-attacks-reach-1500 on 16^th October 2018 at 11:06AM.

Brown, R., L., & Abdulrahim, I., A. (2018). Boko Haram in Nigeria. Retrieved at from https://www.cfr.org/interactives/global-conflict-tracker?marker=19#!/conflict/boko-haram-in-nigeria on 16.10.18 at 13:41PM.

Byte, N., S. (2015). RELIGION WORLD NEWS: Snake Pastor Arrested on Charges of Animal Cruelty. Retrieved from https://www.ghanacelebrities.com/2015/07/21/snake-pastor-arrested-on-charges-of-animal-cruelty/ on 12^th October 2018 at 7:05PM.

Ewherido, F. (2017). Getting married? Welcome to hell: July 29, 2017 2:36 AM / IN Marriage And Family / Comments. Retrieved from https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/07/getting-married-welcome-hell/ on 10.10.18 at 5:10AM.

Naijagists.com. Photos: South African Pastor Strips Female Church Members Naked for Deliverance Prayer. Retrieved from https://naijagists.com/photos-south-african-pastor-strips-female-church-members-naked-for-deliverance-prayer/ on 20.04.18 at 7:31AM

Quora.com. (2014). Would you convert to a different religion for a partner? Why or why not? Retrieved at 10:34PM, 11.10.18 from https://www.quora.com/Would-you-convert-to-a-different-religion-for-a-partner-Why-or-why-not.

Slombo. (2017). Prophet Baths Naked Female Church Members. Retrieved from http://sakamusic.com/prophet-baths-naked-female-church-members/ on 08.10.18, 4:07AM.

The Ghana Pentecostal And Charismatic Council Responds to Rev. Owusu Bempah’s Attack on Apostle Sam Korankye Ankrah. Retrieved at 4:38PM, 06.10.18 from http://www.peacefmonline.com/pages/local/religion/201810/364552.php?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook.

Udodiong, I. (2017). Penuel Mnguni SA pastor's decision to repent is a step in the right direction for 'end time' preachers. Retrieved at 5:48PM, 12.10.18 from https://opera.pulse.ng/communities/religion/penuel-mnguni-sa-pastors-decision-to-repent-is-a-step-in-the-right-direction-for-end-time-preachers-id6785007.html.