In my first article, we considered five factors that have led to the theological demise and poverty of thought among Christians in Africa. In the first centuries after Christ, various Africans made invaluable contributions to the theology and thought of the Church. The same cannot be said today. If the primary purpose of my first article was to identify the factors that brought us here, below I’ll suggest four ways to recover our voice and once again contribute to serve the Church globally.
Without deep thought in the African church, how will she avoid falling into error?
Why is this important? Without deep thought in the African church, how will she avoid falling into error? Consider the Bereans in Acts 17. After Paul preached to them, they searched the scriptures to determine whether what he said was true. How much error the African church could’ve avoided if she’d likewise devoted herself to examining the scriptures, testing the teachings of the countless self-proclaimed “apostles” who plague the continent. When the light of God’s word shines upon the darkness of heresy, God’s people find freedom and become more firmly grounded in the truth. On the other hand, as long as the African church ignorantly accepts every and any voice that comes her way because of her failure to reflect deeply on scripture, we have no one to blame but ourselves.
Two More Causes of Our Decline
Before getting to my proposals, I want to identify two more factors contributing to the decline of meaningful Christian thought in Africa.
Firstly, culture has increasingly been permitted to shape the church. For example, Kenya is seeing a growing interest in returning to traditional African religions and spirituality. But there has been little to no meaningful engagement on the side of Christian theology. Worse still, many churches have readily turned to the sacrificial practises of our forebears and veneration of the ancestors. These traditional beliefs should have been met with resistance from Christians, who insist on worshipping God alone and resting in the work of Christ alone. But the lack of robust theological thought among Christians has resulted in syncretism; it’s left African believers unable to know where God confronts culture and where he celebrates it.
Culture has increasingly been permitted to shape the African church.
Secondly, following preachers of the prosperity gospel means many African believers prize material success over God himself; they’ve traded in God’s promises for the empty promises of the man of God; and they’re led by emotions, preferring exuberant worship to careful expositions of God’s truth. Again, rigorous and rich theology would’ve gone some way towards combating false gospels, insisting on God’s providence in suffering and the need for perseverance regardless of financial prosperity. I’m not suggesting that our emotions or feelings are bad things. But it’s evident in many African churches that they’re in the driving seat, when our meditating on scripture ought to direct them and our worship. As the saying goes, the deeper one goes into the truth, the higher their worship. Therefore, a church that cannot think deeply will have erroneous worship, however energetic.
What Can Be Done?
So we arrive at my four proposals. These are far from definitive. Nor is my list comprehensive. They are suggestions, practical steps that I believe would help the African church reclaim some of the theological voice and intellectual influence she once demonstrated.
1. Trade in Entertainment for Discipleship
A great place to start would be to prioritise discipleship over entertainment. Motivational speakers, celebrity pastors, live bands, and worship concerts draw large crowds. Of course they do. But they can also never produce the spiritual maturity and intellectual depth that the African church so desperately needs. We must resist the notion that says people won’t come if we don’t grab them with excitement. At the same time, we must recognise that people won’t grow apart from the deliberate, deep teaching and preaching of God’s word.
Prioritise discipleship over entertainment.
Africa is poised to become a leading continent in evangelising the world. But we’ll never fulfil that calling with immature believers who’re unfamiliar with the basics of the Christian faith. Local churches and church leaders must therefore prioritise intentional discipleship. With this will come the growing awareness that the depth of one’s faith should be evident not only during Sunday worship but in the family, society, workplace and all of life.
2. Encourage Reading and Self-Study
Churches ought to encourage reading and study. I’ve seen this in practice in churches that take theology seriously. And it works. By leading through example, pastors can encourage members to read widely and engage in the intellectual pursuit of the Christian faith. Churches can establish libraries or even set up bookstores where members can access books that’ll nourish their souls and enrich their faith.
Pastors should play a key role in discerning good, theologically rich literature.
Pastors should play a key role in discerning good, theologically rich literature from the abundance of unhelpful, unbiblical material out there. They should encourage their members to read books in pairs or small groups, discussing them and sharing what they’ve learned with the wider church. Particularly, in our church, we have a library from which members can borrow books freely for a limited time, and we have been blessed by the reflections of members who have taken time to read. We must cultivate a reading culture.
3. Formal Theological Training
Formal theological training is essential for cultivating deep thought among African Christians. It is a great encouragement to see the rise and growth of sound seminaries across our continent, as well as the increasing access to theological education online from reputable institutions abroad. Equipping pastors and church leaders with such training, and providing them with the tools they need to be faithful and effective in their study, is an important development and will be a blessing to the broader church. The church in Africa must take these meaningful steps toward becoming a deeply thinking church, while also contextualising the faith to address her present realities.
4. Promote Broader Thought and Apologetics
Finally, for the time being, we should encourage young Christians to engage broadly in philosophy, ethics, literature, and apologetics as a means of cultivating richer thought. These are disciplines of the mind. Thus they can help shape the church into a more reflective and thoughtful community, capable of addressing cultural confusion, secularism, and moral challenges in her culture.
Encourage young believers to engage broadly in ethics, literature, and apologetics.
In a world of competing worldviews, philosophy and apologetics can equip believers to critically evaluate ideas and test their coherence. Ethical reflection provides the church with biblical foundations for responding to any moral challenge that may arise. Literature, on the other hand, can help Christians develop coherent ways of articulating their convictions and documenting their experiences faithfully and thoughtfully.
Don’t Despair
There is hope. There’s much Africa can offer in the near future. This is exciting. The hunger is there.
The hunger is there.
Young people are asking difficult questions that the church must engage; and in many places, she’s doing just that. The growing number of seminaries and rigorous theological institutions can equip more believers to serve across Africa for years to come, as long as faithfulness remains the aim over against mere credentials. Faithful churches are planting more faithful churches. And the gospel isn’t only being proclaimed but is also fostering a faith that encourages deep reflection. It is beautiful to see church members carrying their Bibles alongside a good Christian book they’re reading, eager to share what they have been feeding their minds with when asked.
It is also a delight to see more faithful, theologically rich bookstores and publishers emerging across Africa. In Kenya, for instance, I can count ten bookstores that offer sound theology from faithful writers. This is a significant improvement on what was available a decade ago, when I couldn’t have imagined filling my library with Puritan writings without having to ship them from overseas. What a blessing.
Nonetheless, it’s my prayer and hope that the African church will be what it once was. That men and women from the African church will step up in addressing the issues that will continue to confront the Church, offering biblically saturated defences and positions. In all this, may the Lord be glorified.
