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In this podcast Blaque Nubon interviews David Kobedi on the truth behind ancestral worship.

What is Ancestral Worship?

David grew up in a village near Rustenburg in the North West Province of South Africa. His family both attended church and practiced ancestral worship – venerating and consulting the living dead. This was not unusual. There is a deep cultural connection to the ancestors in David’s family and local community – as there is in many communities across Africa. It is best understood as the traditional African worldview.

Power & Superstition Combined

However, now a grown man and Pastor, David explains that although ancestral worship undoubtedly has power, it is also steeped in superstition. The system is based on fear and centred around man. The aim is to avert disaster – avoid family deaths, marital issues, sickness, poverty and discontent – putting man’s needs and wants in the middle.

“It’s a very man-centred kind of dance. Because we are using those powers that we recognise. We are using them for our own benefit and to enhance our own agendas.”

As a Christian David believes that God is the right person to go to for guidance – not the ancestors. He is, after all, the creator and controller of the universe. In addition, Christ through his resurrection defeated death – he was not defeated by it like our ancestors.

“My beloved great grandfather, who is long dead, cannot be equally on the same level as Jesus. Because death defeated him whereas with Jesus he actually conquered death.”

Choosing the Kingdom of Light

The Christian worldview gives an antidote to fear and discontent. The Kingdom of Light puts God at the centre. For this reason we worship him and receive the peace that surpasses all understanding – based on our hope in Christ and eternal life. It is in this that we truly receive spiritual blessings.

“Christ has defeated sin through the cross and through the cross I see a new way of living. With my wife, in my family. That’s the thing that gonna sustain me. So it’s a mind shift. that understands the story of God and the story of his world and what he is doing in the world.”

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