By Fr Pat Amobi Chukwuma
Two divergent Pentecostal churches were operating side by side in make-shift shops at the entrance to my biological father’s compound in my popular God’s own town, which consists of fourteen symbolic alphabets. The two pastors in charge were very young and vibrant. They hung four external gigantic horn speakers opposite each other. When the two churches were in session, one suffered from ear drum break.
When I was at home during their all night’s vigil, I suffered from acute headache and sleeplessness. The vibrating sound coming out from the four external gigantic horn speakers became public nuisance. One day, I wanted to go and confront the pastors (managing directors) but my spirit restrained me. I asked myself if freedom of worship should encroach on the rights of others living in the neighbourhood. The ugly thing was that the congregants in the two church shops were only few. Should prayer cause disturbance of peaceful atmosphere?
The two pastors in charge of the two shop churches engaged in daily spiritual combat. They wanted to outshine each other by all means. Each wanted to shut up the other through the uncomfortable preaching or singing sound emanating from the loud external speakers. They fired at each other by abusing the name of the Holy Ghost. If matches and petrol were available, they would have used them to burn each other’s church shop. Thus, they resorted to verbal attack at each other.
I was looking for a way to negotiate ceasefire between the warring pastors. Fortunately, solution came naturally. On one fateful day, I was driving into my compound through the shop churches when there was physical altercation between the warring pastors. They were pointing accusing fingers at each other.
Their congregants became helpless spectators. One of them shouted, “Idiot! You are not a Man of God! You are mere Man of Man!” The other responded, “Jealousy! I am a real Man of God. I came here before you came with your satanic church. In fact, you are Man of Satan.” At this point, the altercation turned physical. One of the pastors carried the other shoulder high and wanted to break his head on a huge stone at the edge of the building.
Thank God some energetic young men from the two opposing churches rushed and saved the situation. If not, it would have turned fatal. Instantly, the men of the local Vigilante arrived and controlled the ugly situation. They dispersed the warring pastors and their adherents. Calmness returned. Can you guess the aftermath of the physical quarrel? The next day the one referred to as Man of Man was seen dismantling his two gigantic external horn speakers and was hastily packing his church property into a waiting bus. He relocated somewhere else. Power past power!
At this point, the two terminologies: ‘Man of God’ and ‘Man of Man’ become subjects of interest for me. Who is Man of God and who is Man of Man? An author defines Man of God as “the description given to a man that follows God in every way, who does His commands with joy, who does not live for the things of this life but for the things of eternity, who willingly serves his God in giving freely of all his resources yet gladly suffers as a consequence of his faith” (YouTube, GotQuestions.org).
If you juxtapose this definition, then you automatically get the definition of Man of Man. It is very discernable. The Man of God and the Man of Man can be found both in Orthodox and Pentecostal Churches. By their fruits you know them. According to the Holy Book, “No one takes this honour by himself, except if he is called as Aaron was” (Hebrews 5:4). Implicitly, a Man of God must be called by God.
It is a divine vocation. Anyone who calls himself into the ministry is definitely Man of Man. Such a man has ulterior motives for doing the presumed work of God. Even some Men of God were called to the ministry under the influence of Satan. Some secret cult members sneak into religious institutions where Men of God are trained. They become sheep in wolf’s clothing. The Man of God is ordained by God while the Man of Man is man-made. In other words the former is God-made; the latter is man-made.
The Man of God is concerned with the salvation of souls. On the other hand, the Man of Man lures souls away from God. He is like a dog which eats the bone hung on its neck. He does not practise what he teaches. His life style contradicts what he preaches. Instead of protecting his flock, he devours them. He lures the females among his flock into sexual immorality. At times he does so under duress or threat.
The Man of God has spiritualistic tendency while the Man of Man has materialistic tendency. The later preaches the gospel of prosperity at the expense of eternal salvation. Once upon a time I heard a Man of Man preaching, “If you are poor, then you are under demonic possession.
You need urgent deliverance because poverty is an evil.” The Man of God lives a moderate life style while the Man of Man lives ostentatious life. Such Man of Man has series of cars. He smiles to the bank everyday while his adherents smile to the toilet. Some Men of Man possess private jets which cost billions of money. What is the source of their income?
The Man of God is devoted to the worship of God and salvation of souls. On the contrary, the Man of Man is bent on false worship and organizes stage-managed miracles. Some persons among his followers pretend to be blind, lame or dumb. When they are invited to come up the stage through the help of assistants, they receive instant miracles.
Why not such Man of Man visit hospitals, leprosy centers, homes for the disabled and cure all the victims instantly? Of course real miracles still occur, if God so wills. The Man of God gives glory to God by not asking for testimonies as such. But the Man of Man arranges false testimonies in order to enrich himself and draw more people into his ministry. He collects tithes by all means.
A certain man bought a new luxurious car. He drove it into the premises of a Man of Man to bless it for him. The Man of Man deceived the vulnerable man by false prophecy. He frightened and asked him to submit the exorbitant car to the ministry, because he would be involved in a fatal accident if he drives it. Out of fear, the innocent man submitted the new car to the Man of Man and went home on foot.
Unfortunately, a cheater must be cheated. One day, the Man of Man was driving the luxurious car to his club’s party. Along the road, he slept off and ended up in a gully. He sustained serious injuries that crippled him for life.
In a nutshell, anything positive must have the negative aspect. The opposite of truth is falsehood. The opposite of original is fake. God is the Supreme Being and the Alpha and the Omega. He is the Creator of heaven and earth. On the other hand, Satan is the inferior being and deceiver of mankind. God lives in heaven while Satan inhabits hell.
God wants all mankind to be saved while Satan wills damnation for all. In his infinite love, God endows man with the gift of freedom to choose between good and evil. The Man of God is the agent of God, whereas the Man of Man is the devil’s agent. The choice is ours.
