Obed Minchakpu: Literature evangelism in Africa

“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (The Bible, Hebrews 4:12)

Introduction:
This verse from the Bible shows us the power that is inherent in the word of God. God himself in his infinite wisdom has given the printed word, a power that is mighty. Through the printed word, the whole world has been transformed into what it is today. Without the word, we do not know what would have become of man today, as we know that through knowledge, man has been able to conquer his environment.

The power of the printed word can even be seen in this popular saying: “The pen is mightier than the Sword.” Whoever came up with this assertion must be right. Throughout history, we know that those that have influenced man’s perception of his environment are men of letters: philosophers, scientists, preachers etc.

Even still, church history points to the fact that through the proclamation of the word of God, the apostles and early Christian believers “turn the world upside down.

Media Manipulation:
It is for this reason I believe that Christians must develop interest in literature writing. More so, when communication processes which encompasses all forms of the media, have been hijacked by the forces of evil and Christians have been influenced in various ways by the media, leading many astray as a result of this, Christian writers cannot therefore, be unconcern about this sad development.

The position of a Christian author, Martin Field, points to one important reason as to why Christians must be concern with what transpires in the communications arena:

“Communication is an essential part of God’s World. Humankind not only has the potential to understand a God who communicates with and is recognized through his World, but as women and men created in his likeness, they also have the potential for that communication. We are not simply recipients of God’s grace we have the potential to share that grace with others”

Considering that as Christians it is our responsibility to transform the world we live in and create in it a model desired by God, the best way we can do this is to devote our attention to finding effective ways of using communication tools.

Martin Field emphasis this fact: “Our responsibility to God for each other and for our world must therefore embrace a concern for the media and display the same guiding principles and critical faculties that we bring to other features of social life: education, medicine, commerce etc. We must look beyond simple intention and ask deeper, more fundamental questions about the way that the media contribute to human life and examine the part they play in the light of a Christian understanding of God’s plans for humankind.”

I am laying emphasis on the need for Christian writers to be concern with what the media reports because the prevailing situation on the ground points to media manipulation by the forces of evil. And we cannot pretend that we do not know this. For instance in Nigeria today forces of secularism and religious fundamentalism have hijacked the media and have placed them in the service of the devil.

While the secular forces promote vices like tribalism, corruption, sexual promiscuity, etc in the name of political advocacy and modernism, the fundamentalist forces on the hand, promote religious bigotry and fanaticism. These satanic forces have comfortably been doing this because, we as Christian writers have negated our responsibility of comprehending the schemes of the devil.

Another Christian author, David Hesselgrave, laments over such an illusionary attitude of Christians about the media:

“It seems that some popular illusions will never die. One such illusions, is the notion that messages can be put into any available medium of transmission at one end and come out the other end as the same message unscathed, untainted, untouched. The idea has no basis in fact. It has been dealt severe wounds that should have proved fatal. But it lingers on with no indication of an imminent demise.”

The deduction from Hesselgrave’s point above is that the manipulation of the media is a reality whose end is yet to come.

One other Christian author who knows much about such media manipulation is George Verwer. He says: “It is not only political literature which is so influential in molding of men’s minds. Literature used in advertising and publicity greatly affects the thinking of those who read it. The pornographic literature which is so widely distributed today makes a deep impact on the minds of its readers, whether consciously or subconsciously.”

Against the backdrop of this media manipulation the Christian writer must see his task as that of reclaiming the media and putting it back into the service of God. But how can this, be done if we do not know the state of the Christian media?

In the next section of this paper, we shall briefly take a look at the Christian media arena and analyze the state of things. This is to enable us determine what we have and how it can be utilized towards evangelizing our various communities.

The State of the Christian Media:
Despite the fact that the church is today saturated with publications of different kinds and forms, millions of people across the world are yet to hear the gospel. And in an effort to meet this need, conferences, workshops, and seminars have been organized for church leaders and Writers. But then, what is the outcome of such effort over the years? Verwer provides an answer:

“Within the last 20 years missionary leaders have become aware of the potential of literature in evangelism. Many good Organizations have been formed to challenge Christians with their responsibility to reach multitudes with Christian literature. Nevertheless we must be realistic. The fact remains that despite all our efforts and all our conferences and our organization, more than 50 percent of the people in the world today have never received a Christian tract, to say nothing of a portion of the word of God itself.”

Verwer also adds: “Large sections of the world’s population are still being neglected. There is still very little literature being prepared for the 500 million followers of Muhammad in the world today. The Muslims along with those ruled by communism comprise the larger segment of unreached people in the world today, and in terms of Christian literature, the most blatantly neglected.”

Now, the questions is, what is actually wrong and why has the church not been able to reach these segments of our society? The answer to this question is not farfetched. There are many factors that are responsible for this. And one of such factors is that the church has not been able to put its resources into providing the manpower that is required to write and produce literature for the teeming reached and unreached people groups, particularly in the Africa continent.

In 1968, a group of Christian editorial workers met at Kitwe, Zambia, to deliberate on the responsibilities of the Christian Editor in Africa. At the end of the meeting, the following statement was issued:

“There are very few Christian Editors in Africa whose sole responsibility is that of editing a Christian journal. One thing that came to light during this seminar was that in most cases the task of editing their journal was only one responsibility undertaken among many others. This suggests that most churches in Africa do not consider the task of editing Christian journals worthy of full time ministry. Whilst it is deemed of pastors that they attend theological colleges, of teachers that they attend teacher training colleges, and doctors and nurses that they…”

The Position of these Christian Editors is that in as much as the Church needs the services of these other professionals and has made efforts to ensure that these are trained, the Church too needs professionally trained Media practitioners who can contribute to effective evangelism using the instrumentality of the Media:
“The Christian editor needs as much training, as much experience, and, as much time for his work as does the pastor, the teacher and the doctor. Christian journalism should be a full time ministry of the church .Churches have the proper professional qualifications, when it comes to finding someone to edit the journal, then a search is made for a man of good will who will take on extra work in his spare time. This we believe to be basically wrong. The Christian editor needs as much training, as much experience, and as much time for his work as does the pastor, the teacher and the doctor. Christian journalism should be full time ministry of the church.”

This statement points out one thing, that the church in Africa has adopted half hearted measures and “fire brigade” strategies to reach Christians and the unreached through literature evangelism.
One other factor responsible for the inability to use the ministry as a means of reaching the unreached in Africa is, that the field of journalism has been left in the hands the agents of the devil. The church in Africa has totally removed itself from journalism practice. It is because of this sad development that the Christian editorial workers meeting in Zambia also said:

“Unless the churches see Christian journalism as a full time ministry alongside the ministries of preaching, teaching, pastoral care and medicine, and unless they demand of their editors the same standards in training and efficiency and ability, then it is better that the churches opt out of this field altogether, for careless journalism is not worthy of the Christian message. If churches aim at these standards, we believe that Christian journals will have a vital contribution to make to the ministry of the Christian church at this time”

Since 1968 when the above statement was made, the situation has not changed. In fact, the present prevailing situation is more deplorable. This is because most Christian bookstores that had existed around this time have collapsed, because of the economic problems of African countries.

So also, Christian magazines that had existed at this time have died. They were killed by the negligence of the church in Africa. Even those still surviving today, are gasping their last breath. But then, can we afford to allow this to continue? I believe not at all. And considering that magazines are vital instruments of literature evangelism, there is the need to sustain them and publish more.

It is for this that we must also note what Bengt Simonsson has to say about the magazine: “The magazine is the most widely read type of printed communication in Africa today. It is new with every issue, yet it is part of something already known; it projects into the future, yet, recognizes the past.” He also adds that: “The Christian magazine is now perhaps the most important of literature the church and society needs, not only in Africa, but in all developing nations of the world where the church is at work”.

No doubt, the magazine has much to contribute to our desire to evangelize the world. And in achieving this, the Christian writer must know and comprehend this task of evangelizing through the literature ministry.

The Task before Christian Writers in Africa
The task and responsibility of every Christian writer is to proclaim the word through the printed word. This task involves the interpretation of the society in the light of the Bible, and drawing the readers’ attention to the problems that beg for solution. It is also, the duty of the Christian writer to make known to readers the stand of the church on socio-economic and political issues, be they spiritual or physical.

We must note that anything that affects a nation has to be interpreted by the Christian writer from the stand point of God and man. In addition to this, the Christian writer must ensure that his writings make a call to repentance from the bondage of sin, whether for those who have been sinned against, or those that have sinned.

One observable thing about Christian writings that already abound in our countries is that, they’ve become sensationalist thrash that do not provide any biblical based antidote to the multifaceted problems that have bedeviled the African continent.

Simonsson laments on this pattern of writing: “The call to Christian action in the church periodicals in Africa is anemic and lukewarm. Worst of all, what is written is often unrelated to the world of reality. What, exactly, stops an editor from relentlessly hammering at the social evils present in our society, Hunger, lack of education, lack of decent opportunity to work, sickening differences between those who have and those who have not? There is plenty to write about. I am not asking for a radical Christian publication. What I am asking for is the type of articles that in their content and presentation will bear some likeness to the work of Christ.”

What is expected is, writing by Christian writers that address contemporary problems, and providing obvious Christian antidote to alleviate them. This process of writing can be said to be the theologization of the printed word. But before a further elaboration on this process of doing theology through the printed word, there is the need to take a look at what evangelism is all about.

Evangelizing Through Literature:
Evangelism is the proclamation of the gospel. It is not a personal decision of the individual, but a command that has been handed down by God himself (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15, 16). The apostles and early believers were vested with the responsibility of proclaiming the good news to all peoples, and making disciples of those converted into the kingdom.

The obedience of this command is a challenge to every Christian, and particularly, a task before all Christian writers. It is for this that Apostle Paul says we have to obey this command if we are truly to be called the elect of God:

“If I were volunteering my services of my own freewill, then the Lord would give me a special reward; but that is not the situation, for God has picked me out and given me this sacred trust and I have no choice (The Living Bible, 1 Corinthians 9:17)”.

What this means is that in our attempt to proclaim the gospel, we must proclaim the redemptive act of God, bring good tidings to a world alienated from God; and a world bound in sin and under a sentence of condemnation. Once we do this, we are obeying the great commission.

However, before setting out to evangelize through literature there are specific issues that must be addressed by the writer. This means that the Christian writer must understand the dynamics of communications and the society he lives in.

A Greek philosopher, Aristotle, reviewed communication in relationship to three points of reference: the speaker, the speech, and the audience. Today, the position of Aristotle on communications is viewed as referring to: the source, the medium, and the audience.

These then implies that, whatever information we intend to transmit out, whether in speech form or in printed form, must begin from a source (speaker/writer), and pass through a medium (literature, Radio, Television), and directed at an audience (readers’, listeners, viewers). So in our attempt to evangelize, we must address ourselves from the perspective, of Jesus Christ who is the source of our information.
There is no doubt that all these methods can be applied in literature evangelism. Note that in doing this, it must be borne in mind that evangelism is no other thing, but announcing, telling, proclaiming, and being involved.

Even though scientifically sound steps have been propounded and set down for evangelism, it has been noticed that many have harden their minds to the gospel. A number of reasons have been advanced on this. Notable Christian writer Harve Conn posits that methods of evangelism adopted in most cases, have not met the felt needs of the recipients:

“Their instincts tell them something is wrong with a gospel sold at the front door like the Saturday Evening Post thirty years ago, but blind to the slum in the backyard. They may not know what the gospel is. But they know what is fair. They are tired of gospel used car salesmen who sell vehicles with three pistons missing.”

The whole point here is that, the gospel that has been preached over and over, and which has not created the desired impact, is a half-baked gospel. What this means is that all Christian writers must present the gospel within the context of the peoples prevailing circumstances. Conn agrees with this position:

“Evangelism can never be seen in isolation from critical questions, and events that shape the context in which the gospel must be lived and proclaimed. The scope of our evangelism must be at least as pervasive as the power of sin itself.” And at the heart of whatever we do is our acknowledgement of the kingdom reign of Christ over all life.”

Apart from contextualization of the gospel, there is the need for every Christian writer to be sound in doctrine. This has become even more urgent now than before, because of the rising wave of heresies and the emergence of false doctrines in the church of Jesus Christ.

And because of this sad development, the charge of Apostle Paul to Timothy is very relevant at this time:

“I charge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the death, and by his appearing and his kingdom: Preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, and exhort, be unfailing in patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears. They will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths. As for you, always be steady, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist,
Fulfill your ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:8).

No doubt, this is being fulfilled in our time, or else how do we explain the effective hijacking of the church by occults? How do we explain the emergence of secret-cults organizations masquerading as fraternal bodies studying spiritual laws, and proclaiming Jesus Christ as the Grand master of occult? How do we explain the metamorphoses of churches in Africa, into human pepper soup joints?

How do we reconcile the quest for materialism that has now led to the mushrooming of churches that compete with beer parlous, but without sound doctrinal substance of faith? Such is the challenging environment that now stares us, Christian writers in the face. The only way to overcome this challenge is to listen to the word of God.

Conclusion:
What should therefore be done is, to allow God to come first into our thinking, expose the people to what God had done and is doing, understand the dynamics of our society through a biblical framework, and be involved with the people through establishment of contacts with them. Every Christian writer, particularly in Africa, must know that Literature, and generally the mass media is a potent tool which has been hijacked and effectively placed at the service of the devil. Our task is therefore, to reclaim the media and use it to advancement the kingdom of God.

We must also note that literature ministry provides for honest evangelism using biblical facts and engaging in dialogue with the society from the standpoint of the Christian faith.

Just as George Cockman pointed out: “If we do this, then we allow Christianity to be meaningful again for contemporary people; we rescue Christianity from the stereo type and obsolete formulations which have made Christ so remote for so many of our contemporaries, we bridge the credibility gap, which seems to be growing wider almost daily; separating the gospel from the world for which it is good news. We have the opportunity to lead people into exploring the significance of Jesus in the context of the needs of the world today.”

The truth that has been established in this paper is that all contemporary events occurring in whatever environment involve God. The duty of every Christian writer and every Bible believing church is to understand this, and utilize the media, particularly literature, to fulfill the great commission.

*Minchakpu is a Media Consultant, and presented this paper at a Christian Media Workshop for African Christian Writers.