ABSTRACT

This thesis examined the perception and practice of Christian leadership in the Deeper Life Bible Church. The problem that necessitated research in this area of study is the fact that, Christian leadership has been criticized by many within and outside the church. Many allegations have been leveled against some leaders of the Deeper Life Bible Church. Thus, issues that were prevalent were compromise of leadership roles and characteristics. Others were immoral acts, lack of attention for the youth, disparity of remuneration between junior and senior pastors and lack of supervision, among others. This seems to suggest that some leaders within the church are violating the „holiness principles‟ the church stands for. To ascertain the truth of these allegations, the study sought to find out how leadership is perceived and practised in the Deeper Life Bible church today. Primary data was collected by means of one-on-one interviews with non-members and some prominent leaders of the church who know the history of the Deeper Life Bible Church. These leaders ranged from the Regional Overseer to Home Caring Fellowship leaders. Participatory observation was used to confirm information gathered through interviews and relevant literature on Christian leadership were also consulted.

The leadership pattern of Jesus Christ as presented in Luke‟s gospel was used as the assessment criterion. In view of this, the leadership characteristics and style of Jesus were discussed. These leadership characteristics include holiness, humility, compassion and love. Jesus adopted the servant style of leadership to accomplish his earthly mission. The study also discovered that Jesus always prayed before and during his ministry on earth. His call to save and serve humanity was confirmed by God during his baptism. Jesus was empowered by the Holy Spirit to overcome

principalities and powers during his ministry. After analysing how leadership is practised in Deeper Life Bible Church alongside the leadership pattern of Jesus Christ, it was discovered that ideally the church wants to follow Jesus‟ example in leadership. In practice however, the church experiences some lapses. The study suggested some recommendations to correct the lapses in the leadership style. The research recommends that some policies and processes be reviewed in order to bring sanity in the financial disbursement and supervisory role of the Church. The research is important because it will contribute to knowledge in church history, as well as teachings in the Deeper Life Bible Church in Ghana and the world at large. The study also serves as a catalyst in renewing the moral life of members, especially leaders in the Deeper Life Bible Church.

CHAPTER ONE GENERAL INTRODUCTION

• Background to the study

Leadership appears to affect every sphere of life. Lack of proper and efficient leadership seems to have resulted in many crises, especially in Africa and the Middle East. The wars in Congo, Egypt and Yemen, among others, can all be traced to issues surrounding leadership. When leaders belonging to any domain of life start to deviate from the known and acceptable principles guiding leadership the aftermath is not always the best. It therefore becomes unquestionable that leadership in all human institutions cannot be under estimated.

Munroe (2005:18) observes that, there is nothing as elusive as leadership; you can inherit a fortune but never leadership. Yet there is no greater need in our twenty-first century world than effective and competent leadership. Our greatest challenge is that of a leadership vacuum. The number one need all over the globe today is not money or new government, it is quality, moral, discipline and principle-centered leadership. The church as a human institution is not exempted. It has faced several inconsistencies in its leadership procedures in contemporary times. This can only be solved by quality leadership with a sense of morality. Leaders of the church need to be principled and disciplined when carrying out their responsibilities.

Newman (1997:5) elaborates on the principles of leadership in his book Ten Laws of Leadership Leading to Success in a Changing World. He mentions that various sectors like business, industry, government, labour, education and the church need positive, constructive, and effective

leadership in contemporary times in order to achieve success for their goals. In view of this every human institution needs leadership to run and champion its affairs for the achievement of desired goals. Leadership in any capacity therefore is inevitable and cannot be ignored. Leadership may be defined as the ability to gather people for a common purpose. A leader must have the character which inspires confidence (Orr, 2001). The role of leadership in the Christian religion has no exception to the above characteristics.

In Luke‟s gospel 22:24-27, Jesus specifically gives an example of a true Christian leader. Odgen (2007:184-185) in his book Leadership Hand Book of Management and Administration: The Meaning of Leadership; states that Jesus instructs his followers to walk away from prevailing Gentiles and Jewish models of prideful leadership where dominance (“lording it over”), coercion, titles, and public recognition were their goals. Thus, emphasising that, the leader must not lord over others instead be a servant to all and sundry. It is to be noted that Christian leadership moves along with responsibility and a call to serve God‟s creation, but not a call for public show as observed in Jewish models of prideful leadership.

Despite all the warning against worldly form of leadership by Jesus, it appears some pastors are too worldly. They are interested in material things such as the creation of wealth, purchasing of expensive cars, adorning themselves with gorgeous attires and constructing magnificent buildings. This is believed to be their main concern at the expense of the spiritual development of their members. For example, it was reported of a pastor who claimed he used very expensive clothes more than any member of his church. Against this background, Sanders (1967:125)

explains that the true leader is concerned primarily with the welfare of others, not with his own comfort or prestige. In the church, many people have needs that their ministers have often overlooked. These problems should be addressed with concern because the Christian leaders‟ role is to seek the comfort of the members under him.

Preliminary research has shown that there are different perceptions of leadership in the Christian church today. Among other things, some perceive leadership as a position of power, authority and autocracy (Mahoney, 2001). Christian leadership should not be placed on a platform of rivalry where one wishes to be greater than the other, since this practice is worldly. Jesus corrected his disciples when he heard them arguing about who should be first among them. This is to testify that Christian leadership is not all about the desire for position.

Leaders, as illustrated by Fernando (2000), are like parents who should train their children to be like them in good morals as Paul in his relationship with Timothy made him a disciple of Christ. Many people are occupying leadership positions in the Christian church today but there is the need for true leaders who are able to respond in the right direction to the call of leadership according to the laid down principles by Jesus Christ. Ginthinji (1997:38) summed up the attitude of the disciples in seeking positions for themselves. He admitted that they were not resolute in carrying out the leadership principles of Jesus Christ. He added that the leader‟s mentality towards his work should change from power to service.

From both the opinion of Ginthinji and Fernando it appears from various claims that leaders are deviating from the standard of Jesus Christ. This deviation has brought differences in the practice of leadership principles by various denominational churches in contemporary times.

This present thesis focuses on the perception and practice of Christian leadership in the Deeper Life Bible Church. It deals with how leadership is perceived and practiced, its structure and some problems associated with leadership of this church in contemporary times. The leadership of this church has been designed and structured according to the pattern of Jesus. This makes it possible for the church to assign roles and responsibilities equitably among leaders. The effectiveness of every institution whether secular or spiritual, may be guarded by the right set of leadership principles.

It is to be noted that so long as the church is concerned, it is important for one to know what Jesus taught about leadership in the church. In this way the correct assessment may be made when dealing with Christian leadership. For this reason all who have dedicated themselves to serve in the church in one way or the other need to know what Jesus expects from leaders of the church. Christian leaders of today appear to be changing biblical leadership principles to suit modern times. It could be observed that during his earthly ministry Jesus laid down his life as an example for the disciples who supported him in his missionary work. He expects the same from leaders of the church today.

The Deeper Life Bible Church seems to have experienced a tremendous growth spurt when it started in Ghana in 1979. From this time on until in the mid 1980, it was claimed to be one of the

fastest growing churches in the country. The growth was said to have resulted from aggressive evangelism of the gospel and soul winning by both members and leaders of the church. The Home Caring Fellowships were multiplied and spread across communities in other to reach out to its members. New converts were introduced into the Home Caring Fellowships through effective evangelism. These converts were visited and followed up. Through this many had their problems solved and they stayed in the church as members. This was made possible by some leaders and dedicated members who preached in buses, hospitals, car parks and market places. Unfortunately, in recent times some members and leaders are too busy to engage in visitation and evangelism which are the core principles of the church.

       Statement of the Problem

It appears that the question of leadership in the Deeper Life Bible Church has become a challenge and a worry for many in and outside the church today. It appears from various claims that the way leadership is perceived has not been so practised by some leaders of this church. Informants have claimed that some Deeper Life leaders are involved in cases of immoral practices. They have observed that this canker is gradually destroying sanctity and dignity of the leadership of the church.

The quality of leadership in most cases depends on the type of training given. In view of this the appointment of pastors without full theological or seminary training (optional) has been claimed as not equipping leaders adequately for pastor-ship. Recruitment of some converts into the discipleship class without reading ability creates difficulty in the practice of their leadership. It
has been alleged that home caring fellowships are no longer experiencing growth thereby affecting the growth of the entire church. Disparity in remuneration among senior and junior pastors seems to pose a major challenge in the practice of leadership. It has also been claimed that the youth of late are leaving the Deeper Life Bible Church for other churches. In view of the mentioned allegations, the primary goal of this research is to find out how the above claims have affected the practice of leadership in the Church today and how Jesus Himself conceives of leadership in the gospel of Luke. The research strategy is to use the latter as a point of reference

Download Full Material-N5000

A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE IDEA OF GOD IN THE WESTERN AND TRADITIONAL IGBO CULTURE

CHAPTER ONE/INTRODUCTION 

1.1 Background to the study

If the abridged Catechism of Christian Doctrine defines God as “The Supreme Spirit, who alone exists of himself, and is infinite in all perfection”, it becomes undoubtedly clear that God is essentially one since we cannot logically have more than one necessary being in the nature of God. So, to talk about polytheism for a religion that conceives God this way is to fall under the error of gross misconception. This situation is not far from a reality when we examine the various interpretations and conclusions made on the nature of God in African Traditional Religion. Often times, the argument is centred on the invocation of the ancestors and the divinities in this religion. Many an interpreter perhaps, being influenced by the Western prejudice, takes these divinities and ancestors to be on a par with the supreme God in the African Traditional Religion.

One cannot successfully and coherently posit that because African Traditional Religion has the divinities in the expression of its faith; it has automatically become polytheistic meaning that the conception of God in this religion is simply many without the idea of the Supreme Being who, in His nature and being, cannot be conceived as many. Supposing we assume that this conclusion is correct, why is it not applicable in the Christian religion where there are resemblances of its practices with African Traditional Religion? Christian religion is defined by majority as a monotheistic religion when it has many similarities in its conception of God and expression of faith with African Traditional Religion. For instance, in Christian theology, the doctrine of the Trinity stands as one of the irrefutable and dogmatic articles of faith which attract ex-communication from the “fellowship of the brethren” to anyone who rejects or questions it in view of abandonment. The doctrine of the trinity is that doctrine that stresses the belief in three persons in one God which rationally, will not be comprehensible. If the three persons have their individual identity and each of the persons is distinct from the other, how meaningful is it to hold that the three individual persons are one again? Not only this, Christian religion has in its doctrine, the belief in the angels and saints especially among the Catholic denomination which is the oldest and the most populated, organized and systematized group in this religion. The angels like the deities in African Traditional Religion are divine beings who are prayed to and are ministers to the Supreme God of this religion. Similarly, the saints are another category of beings in the divine assembly of the Christian religion. These saints who were once human beings but have attained the beatific vision, do not exist in idleness in God’s presence. They contribute to the good of the living by praying for them and overseeing their safety and protection in their journey and struggle to eternity where they (the saints) are.

The nagging question is, if all these are exhibited in the faith experience of Christians and constitute their belief, what really makes Christianity different from African Traditional Religion in its conception of God? If those who define the nature of God as monotheistic in Christian religion are aware of these situations in the Christian relationship with God, why is the case of African Traditional Religion different since it has the notion of a Supreme Being whose nature is even devoid of any triple or double persons as found in the Christian religion? Why is African Traditional Religion defined as polytheistic while the deities have the functions that are not too far from those of the angels in Christian religion and the ancestors not different from the Christian notion of the saints?

Since what is obtainable in these two religions are essentially the same, it becomes unacceptable to describe the nature of God as single in one and designate the other as many. Christian religion and African Traditional Religion are both essentially monotheistic. The slight difference lies in the nature of the monotheism. On this, we begin to hear of concepts like “diffused monotheism” by Idowu, “Monopolytheism” by Mbaegbu, “complex monotheism” by Nwafor and other such qualifications. Whatever reason that is placed around these concepts, what remains at the basis is that God in African Traditional Religion cannot be justifiably defined as polytheistic but a monotheistic God who functions and operates in his own chosen way with his ministers (the deities) in relation to those who invoke him. Very imminent is the awareness that the accentuated interreligious dialogue which the Second Vatican Council advocates cannot be successfully achieved if African Traditional Religion as is often the case with African matters, is studied with prejudice and as such placed as a low level religion. Dialogue yields positive result when truth is said in love but these virtues are often absent in most of the descriptions and representations of African Traditional Religion.

1.2 Statement of problem

The remarkable problem this research wants to address is the problem of Western anecdotal evidence and racial bias which are often applied on many matters regarding Africans including their religion. The designated of the nature of God as simply polytheistic in African Traditional Religion is one out of the many ways in which this prejudice has manifested. This hasty conclusion is devoid of in-depth research and investigation on African religion. Even when this investigation is carried out, it is not done without some interests; otherwise, why should many scholars be unperturbed in describing Christian God as monotheistic while the case is different in African Traditional Religion while both seem to have a lot of similar practices? If there is a very close relationship between Christianity and African Traditional Religion in their notion of God as one, where do justice and truth come in when one is conclusively described as polytheistic and the other designated as monotheistic? The unacknowledged and subtle part of the problem is that Christians especially the African Christians seem to be oblivious of the hindrance of this to the interreligious dialogue that is aimed at which definitely enhances the inculturation theology that African scholars promote.

1.3 Aims and objectives

The aim of this study is to make A Comparative Analysis Of The Idea Of God In The Western And Traditional Igbo Culture. If God is conceived as a Supreme Being in the two religions; and the idea of Supreme connotes singularity and incomparability, it follows then that these two religions are monotheistic in nature even thoughsome qualifications are often attached to the type found in African Traditional Religion. There is no doubt that when African religion is said to recognize the deities, the practice is also decipherable in Christianity.

1.4 Research methodology

The methodology that will be applied in this work is pure library research referring to text books, journals, magazines and other unpublished works of authors. The information gathered from these sources will be used to compare the monotheistic nature of God in Christianity and African Traditional Religion.

1.5 Scope of the study

Even though it is not indubitably acceptable that there is one mode of worship and approaches to God in African Traditional Religion, the truth remains that among the various expressions of this religion in different areas in Africa, more similarities are discoverable than differences. In view of this and owing to the fact that the nature of this research cannot allow for the description of African Traditional Religion in all the African countries, we have limited our scope to only the Igbo people of Nigeria. Then in our reference to the Christian religion, the Catholic denomination is chosen as a paradigm in this research.

1.6 Justification of the study

• An invitation to scholars who want to promote Christian religion at all costs to engage in an unbiased investigation into the true nature of God in African Traditional Religion.
• It will create a deeper and better knowledge of ATR which will evoke a proper interpretation of it and consequently aid its inculturation into Christian religion.

• The study will enhance interreligious dialogue which the Second Vatican Council recommends and clamours for.
• It will expose our youths whose little or no knowledge of ATR makes to view the religion as outdated; to understand its tenets, elements and belief systems.

1.7 Organisation of the study

In the first chapter, we shall define the various related terms that will frequently appear in the work. Also, the terms that can easily be confused with these related terms will be explained. There will be a review of works of others that are of relevance to this research pointing out the similarities and variances in views of the authors in relation to this study. The third chapter of the work will dwell on the exposition of monotheism in Christianity and African religion while the chapter before the last which contains the bulk of this study will compare the notion of God in Christianity and African Traditional Religion. The last chapter will summarize and conclude the work making recommendations and suggestions for a further research on this.Download Full Material-N5000