John N N Nganga Meditation Of 26th November…Christianity And Culture…The Bible Is Now The Guide Not Ancestors
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Day 1
Hebrews 1 (NIV)
God’s Final Word: His Son
1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe
We have discuused why as a Christian you should and cannot enter into traditional eldership . Why? Because they have rules. It is not just the goat you produce, they will teach you what to do with your life using other than the bibvle. If you are not ready to obey them, why then did you produce the goats?
So you need to understand it is not just the goats, you have to enter into a secret society where they will teach you what to do and what not to do which must not be known by others .
Also , when you enter into that society, it has kings inchgae of the emembers . It has Muthamaki means a king or a ruler.. When the muthamaki orders for a meeting, you come, even if the pastor has called his. muthamaki has said.
Let me ask you, have you seen Paul opposing Peter in the bible? Yet Peter was his senior. But when Peter so disgreeabke actavaity he told him no, no, no. What you are doing is not Christianity.
And you know that is true of Christianity works . No one is king in church.The bishop or the moderator cannot order you to do something not in the Bible. The pastor cannot order you because every person in the church has delegated authority from God. Our real authority is Christ. So Paul said, follow me as I follow Christ. In other words we follow people subject to their following Christ. What about if you join kiama? is it the Bible they are following? No.
There is no way you can join kiama because the moment you became a Christian, Christ becomes Lord and when He becomes Lord you cannot obey another Lord
So you need to ask yourself, what has gone wrong with the church? How can the church of Jesus Christ get another muthamaki,king, and still go on as church? And you know the trouble is, the pastors are still continuing pastoring, the elders are still continuing pastoring, and at night they are with the kiama.
I am believing the church is doing the wrong thing because church discspline is scriptural. In 1920s when Kenyatta was writing Facing Mount Kenya, whoever would circumcise their daughter, were they allowed to take Holy Communion? No.Have you read the history of the church in kenya?
The late Gatu writes about it. And because he is an old man at the time of writing, what he is writing, he is not writing the stories that he read, it is his life. the missionaries required you to commit not to circumcise your daughter by putting a thumb mark..kirore. That is whtey wre call kiror pople. if you did ,you were excommunicated out of the church. Now, there are people that have joined kiama and are still pastors, and they are still elders. That is joking with Christianity, Because they have chosen not to obey Christ they cannot at the same time lead the church of christ .
Remember as I told you, there are customs and religions. And nobody is asking you to stop following innocent customs, you are only being asked to stop traditi0nal belives…religion.. But I may need to clarify one or two points.
there are those people who are already in the kiama, who have already committed themselves, they have produced the goat, the blood has poured.,already have gone the first stage or even the second stage, four or five or whichever stages that are there, how can they get out of it?That’s a very good question... What do we do?
Day 2
1 John 1:8-9 (NIV)
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness
The scriptures are clear, every sin can be forgiven. Only the requirement is as follows: number one, you must call it a sin. If you think it was just a joke, then what are you repenting?No. So you have to accept what you did in shedding blood is against Acts chapter fifteen. And the Bible is clear, every time you repent sin, since Christ died for that sin, He cleanses us. That is the message of 1 John 1:8-9.
It says, if we say we have no sin we make God a liar, but if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, including the sin of sacrifing to goat in order to join the council of eldesr ..mburi ya kiama. So the only thing is, number one, you must accept it is wrong. If you don’t, there is no need of pretending to repent. That’s why it is not good for the church to force people to repent in order to be leadership . Let them stay on their own and decide whether to repent or not. It is a voluntary thing.
Of course that elders council is a religion, ans they can also follow it if they do not want the lordship of christ. They don’t have to be christains . Do they? There are many people who are not christains . So if they want to go let them go. But once they want to come back, the number one thing, they must see and tell you what is wrong with it. And that’s why I have taken a lot of time to read what the Bible says about blood. I don’t want you to quote me, I want you to quote the Bible itself. It is important to understand it is not a sin because Ng’ang’a says it, it is a sin if the Bible says it.
Now, once that is done, the next thing is go to God in repentance …telling him you are soory and need his forgiveness . He promises to forgive. But the Word of God is also clear that when you have done something public, even after Christ has forgiven you, you also walk in the light ans publicly confess . In tukutendereza fellowship we used to call it walking in the light. You need to confess to people who knew you are a member of kiama that you are no longer a member of kiama.
Two groups must know. The kiama members must get to know you have moved. Why? They will wait for you to die because of the oath you took , but then when you are protected by Christ .you will be a testimony to them.
Do not pretend you are busy and that is why you are not going to ther functions.No. let them know the truth, that what you did was wrong and you have repented, and God has forgiven you. That’s step one.
Then you tell the church. Because you may assume the church doesn’t know, but they know and some gave up on you. So even if you come renounce the council how will they know? You must tell them, it is true I was in it but the Lord has recovered me. That’s what you do, and you then are back in fellowship.
Day 3
It was not with our ancestors that the Lord made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today.
who has not sinned? it is about fifty years since I got saved, and so I have sinned more than most of you. if you are a non-Christian, some things you don’t even know they are sins. When I am a Christian I know they are sins and I still have done them. I am only a Christian because of God’s forgiveness. And so even if I have not sacrificed there is another sin I have also done. If the Lord has forgiven me, He can also forgive you after sacrificng.
in the seventies when my age group was getting married, it was a struggle on a continuous basis when you went to seek your girls frind hand in marriage from her clan.. they willinsist on tradaitional bear or a lamb to seal the marriage for the church weeding does not please the ancestral spirts . you must also sacrifice.
We were always clear in our minds, there is nothing wrong with giving a gift to the family of ypour wife to be . Once we have given them a gift we don’t know what they will do with it, but we will not be a party to any bear or sacrifice. So your girl frind needs to go upfront and say what the two of your can accpt and what they cannot accept because it does not hnor God.
the normal thing is, the boy must talk to the girlfriend, not in the negotiataion ceremony, as soon as they become friends .they must be clear what is not acceptable.So by that time when she is telling the father I have a boy who is interested in me, she will also say, and by the way he is a very strange guy. He and his saved father never do some traditional things and I agree with them. Then the daughter will be told, you have to drop him. Then the daughter who by then is an adult will decide whether to obey Christ or to obey the father .
If she makes her stand that earaly ,then, by the time you are coming for weeding permsions the matters have been resolved . because no father wants to embarrass his own daughter. So it is not you who should be refusing to give the bear, it is his daughter who should be refusing. So don’t go to somebody’s home and refuse to give bear . if the daughter doesn’t want to be married, why does your son want to marry a girl who is not willing to get married? It is the daughter’s work to talk to her father to say the things that cannot be done.
A mentee asked the parents whether they can allow me as his mentor, to be the one to talk on behalf of his clan . When we went there we were told there is no meeting which can go on until we produce tusker. And we were told the bar is not far. They told us, you go back and bring it first befoire we talk. The father of the girl was a drunkard. We had told the girl to talk to the father. The father refused however. He said, he has never heard weeding ceremeony without alcohol….uthoni utaari na njohi. You need to produce the saliva to bless the marriage. Now, in English, in Kikuyu customs they believe that when there is a wedding ceremony you must come with bear so that when the father of the girl drinks it, he can put saliva on the chest. And when he does that the marriage is blessed.
We said, no, no, no. we, we don’t require blessings of that type. We are giving you our gift and no more . If you want to buy alcohol go ahead and buy on your own. The mzee said, no. It is you to go. So I finally had to tell him, we are not doing something different. Your daughter is the one who told us that she doesn’t want her marriage to have any alcohol. You know it was now getting late , they had come from far. it was getting to five, six o’clock. the mzee never changed. He was a very tough mzee. We called off the negotiataions.
I told the boy to go back on his own and talk to his father-in-law one on one. You know what he argued? It is okay, you can marry but don’t ask me to come to the wedding. It is a waste of money. Why are you now needing to do a wedding ? don’t ask me to come to church. After all your mother, we have been married for long and I never took her to church. Is it that you have money to waste? Why are you wasting money in church? I will not come.
Now, the mother said she would like to come to the wedding. She was told, if you appear there, go with them, for ever. So we had our wedding, both the mother and the father never came. After the wedding, there was reconciliation, the father was very happy with the boy but on the actual day he kept his word because we did not give any beer.
Day 4
Genesis 24
50 Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the Lord; we can say nothing to you one way or the other. 51 Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has directed.”
That’s what you need to be aware of. That when the real father is the one managing it, the father will not do anything wrong. When the father is pretending, she doesn’t get involved, you have a lot of trouble but the trouble is because of a bad girl. Your son is marrying a bad girl who is not respected by her parents . or she is not talking to her own father abou the issue .
But of course it may not because that she is a bad girl, it is that she did not preparehim for long. If she has been a good girl from the time she has been a teenager, living righteously, the parents will respect her faith for that . So when she now says what she wants, the parents respect her and want to hear her. But not when you are nota cosnsitent chrstain and the pareants know it.No ,the father can’t take her seriously.
So that is the solution to those traditional issues during weddings . as fro issue of dowry I don’t see any wedding done in a proper way in the Bible in the New Testament, and there is a lot of discussion about marriage, where dowry is a requirement. I know the one you are going to quote for me is Genesis chapter twenty four, Isaac and Rebecca. Are you aware there was no dowry produced there? Just go and read it again . see GENESIS 24
49 Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn.”
50 Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the Lord; we can say nothing to you one way or the other. 51 Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has directed.”
52 When Abraham’s servant heard what they said, he bowed down to the ground before the Lord. 53 Then the servant brought out gold and silver jewelry and articles of clothing and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave costly gifts to her brother and to her mother. 54 Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night there.
When ELIEZER went to Rebeccas home , they were trying to welcome him to eat but , he said, I came to get a wife for my master. I first of all want to know, Is my journey blessed? Do I have a girl? They said, as seen above yes, you have the girl. Only after that did he go outside to get gifts and give to the family. Is that dowry? No. The difference between dowry and gifts is that for gifts the giver determines what to give, in dowry the girls father determines what to be given to him. That’s how you know whether you are giving a gift or dowry. In the dowry, negiate for the pride price first. That is dowry. And that’s not what happened in the case of Isaac.
So you as a Christian parent you have to tell me, why you are asking them what to produce a price for human being. Which example in the Bible are you following? Imagaining asking for money because Oh, I educated my daughter. You think the father of the boy did not educate his son? Tell me the biblical basis of demanding things from your son-in-law to be or his clan.
And you know what happens? You become hard and demand things, and it affects your daughter’s marriage and future realatiosn with your son in law. Every time they have a quarrel he says, you are an expensive woman and now you are not cooking ugali well?. Now, that dowry she is reminded constantly. And who caused all that trouble? A father who demanded a lot of money.
Day 5
They would not be like their ancestors— a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him
These days in Kenya they are not asking a hundred thousand, they are now asking millions of shiilngs. And this is a boy who left school the other day. Where will he get a million shiilnga? Some are taking loans. How could you call yourself a Christian parent and make your son-in-law take a loan? Now, who do you think will pay the loan? Your own daughter will. Because once they are together, they will have to gather it together to pay the loan?
Secondly, God has blessed you and you can survive even without dowry. I have told you, you cannot use education fees because even the boy is educated. And your daughter will be getting benefits form the boy’s education. Just like the boy will be getting benefits from your girl’s education. Anybody owe anybody anything? No.Do the parents owe each other anything? No.
So I am now talking to Christian parents. I want you to tell me one reason, other than your traditional belives , a biblical one, why you cannot accept just a gift? you are the one to determine what the gift is. And then you ask for gifts that your son cannot even manage. So he has to do a fund rasing from his clan and friends . So your daughter becomes a cooperative wife. It is a very embarrassing thing.
You know traditionally it made sense for the caln to raise the dowry. In Kikuyu customs that made sense. Why? A girl was labour. So when a girl came to the boys home , we say the mother in law has now someone to send for water….niwagia mutahiri wa mai. So the reason why the boy’s father paid dowry is because he was gaining labour. The girl came and became extra labour. He nneded to compensate the girls father for loss of labour.Now, these days, they marry today they disappear to Mombasa the same day. Does the father of the boy gain? No.
So what is he paying for?
You know you cannot continue with Kikuyu customs when they are put of place. because they had meaning then. There were reasons for it. Is that reason true today? Does the father of the boy gain anything out of the marriage? So why are you asking him to pay anything?
So when you are not the father of the girl, you are the father of the boy rely on your son to pacify before you visit . If you are the father of the girl, should you be forcing people to give you money? They should just give whatever gift they have.
Day 6
This is what the Lord says: “What fault did your ancestors find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves
Do you know why women are buying themselves by giving ther own dowry to ther fathers ? It is because of the Kikuyu belief. The Kikuyu belief is, if you never paid dowry you cannot accept dowry, and if you accept dowry there will be a curse. So when you see these girls buying themselves,it is curse they are trying toi avaoid.but then it means they are not chrsitains , ther faith is in traditional religion.
Normally they are going when their children are teenagers. Why? Because they can see goats are likely to come soon and they don’t want to be unable to receive the goats. So they go to the father and they tell the father, I want you trat me like son once I give you dowry.because you see in Kikuyu customs, when a daughter doesn’t marry , her children are regarded as part of father’s family. So whenit comes to dowry, they don’t give the mother of the girl, they give the family of the mother of the girl. Onc etrated like boy she can recieve the dowry
But is that in the Bible? There is nothing that can happen to you when you are a Christian, even if you receive a gift from you son in law dowry and you have no husband who paid dowry. There is nothing that will happen to you. If there is something that will happen to you, it means you are a worshipper of the spirits of the ancestors, because they are the ones that make it happen.
If you are a Christian and you believe like that, you have backsliden. I am pleading with you to backslide properly because if God cannot protect you from your dead ancestors and you are being protected by the fact you gave dowry then jiust trust the ancestors fully. Just go there fully . you need to understand even if I paid dowry, there is no biblical requirement that I ask for dowry myself . There is no need.
The Bible tells us is Galatians, when Christ died on the cross He became our curse. That’s why we no longer now live under the fear of our ancestral curses, we don’t do things because our ancestor said, we do things because we fear and want to honor God. So if you are doing things because of your grandfather said, yet your grandfather died you do not have biblical belive . It just tells you, you believe in those spirits.
Day 7
Hebrews 1 (NIV)
God’s Final Word: His Son
1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe
We are no longer guided by our ancestors curses or directives according to Hebrews 1
So you have to understand the bible. Don’t do anything which can be traced to a belief that is different from the Bible one. So if you ask for dowry on the basis of a belief that is not a biblical belief, you are not a Christian because Christians don’t do those kind of things.
when I was staying in Luo land, I had an old man who was called Gilbert Mulaha as a friend. he was a very old man and he was a serous Christian. Those who have been with KSCF 1950s to 2010s will remember him. He used to come to the camps. He just died the other day in his nineties.
he once told us how he wanted to build house in his luo rural home . he used to live in Kipkelion. He looked for a carpenter in luo land , no carpenter could agree to build the house unless he followed tradaitional belives requireemnts . you have to be shown the land with ceremony. you have to be shown where to build. He said, but that is my own land. Nobody needs to show me. But the belive is If you don’t follow this rule there will be trouble from the ancestral spirts . So even the carpenters said, I don’t want to die.
So he went back to Kericho, looked for carpenters who don’t have those beliefs, and they built.His realatives waited for him to die. Forty years later he was still alive. Isn’t that a testimony gainst trdaitionao believes ? His own brother who was warning him, please, please brother don’t bring a curse on your self , died before him. So he was telling them, you see, my brother obeyed all Luo customs and still died. Because he was not protected by strong enough spirits. I am protected by Christ himself, I will die when Christ says.
So the truth of the matter is, many of these customs we are doing, we are not doing because we love our customs, we are doing them in fear of ancestral spirits . That is the fear that you must deal with once you are a chrsitain because that fear is a fear that is not biblical fear. You know what the Bible says in Hebrews 2?
14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that
by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like them,[k] fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
It says, Christ Jesus came to rescue us who all our lives lived under the fear of death. One of the ministries of the cross is to remove the fear of death. Because that’s how African religion rules …by fear of death. Oh, you don’t do that you will die…of a curse. BUt …those are the things that we are saved from. And if you are not saved from them, then go and do ancestral worship properly, don’t stay one leg here and one leg there.
But what the bible says is what matters . Don’t do it because I said, check the Bible. So if you disagree you are not disagreeing with me, you are disagreeing with the Bible, and once you disagree with the Bible, then can you eb a christain?
Let’s pray to the Lord. these things are easy to say, very difficult to practice. Lord I am praying for everyone of us who has been through this teaching, that you will come to us right in our hearts and show us how to apply the message in our own lives, in our families’ lives and in our clan.
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About John N. N. Ng'ang'a
John N. N. Ng'ang'a runs a constultancy firm: TARUMA CONSULTANCY LTD. He sits on the boards of various organizations and companies and is also a writer.