CULTURAL ISSUES IN THE CHURCH

The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines “culture” as “customs, art, and social institutions etc. of a particular group of people”. When we talk of culture therefore in Nigeria we are referring to the social norms and practices of our indigenous communities. These communities have inbuilt cultural practices varying from one community to another, which are inherent in their way of life. In most cases these cultural norms and practices are centered on traditional institution which promote them.

When we discuss, as a theme implies, cultural issues in the church we are referring to where they impinge, distort, counter and adulterate the doctrines of the church. The church has been in this country for 150 years yet cultural issues still filter into the church. In this article we shall be looking at four major areas where cultural issues are working against the doctrines of the church

Idolatry

Idolatry is as old as creation from day one. God condemned idolatry and forbade it among his people, Exodus 20:4 says “you shall not make for yourself a carved image – any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth”. Other major references to idolatry in the scriptures are Exodus 34:17, Deuteronomy 1:25, 11:16, 27:15, and Isaiah 42:8. In the New Testament, we see that such passages as 1Peter 4:3, 1Corinthians 10:14, 1John 5:21. In spite of all these, idolatry is still thriving and many misguided members of the church are still involved. This is in spite of exhortations and warnings, which resonate daily from our pulpits.

Chieftaincy institutions 

Chieftaincy is wide spread in the country. Chieftaincy titles are honours given to recognised families in communities or to individuals in recognition of their contribution to growth and development of their communities. An example of this in the Bible is when Daniel had interpreted the handwriting on the wall to king Belshazzar in Daniel chapter 5:29 which says “Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel with purple and put a chain of gold around his neck and made a proclamation concerning him that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.” There are two categories of 

• chieftaincy titles;
• The traditional and social

The traditional titles usually have fetish and enigma built around them. On installation day you see recipients with chalk all over their bodies, dancing to local shrines, wearing costumes adorned with cultural artefacts, some with leaves stuck to their head while they dance to juju orchestras. They swear allegiance to the local king who gives them the titles. In some communities it is an expensive ceremony, leading often to conspicuous display of material wealth and/or worldliness.
The social ones are said to be less demanding than the traditional ones. Nevertheless awardees swear allegiance to the local king who is giving the titles.
Why church frowns at chieftaincy titles are for the

1. Fetish practices involved in many of them
2. Allegiance sworn to a local potentate
3. Conspicuous consumption and
4. Worldliness involved.

These norm go against the practice and teaching of Christianity. The scripture condemn worldliness, fetishism and swearing of allegiance to anybody other than God Almighty, Phil. 3:3-4, Rom. 8:12-14, Gal. 5:19-20.

Evil names

Many families bear names that venerate the devil rather than God. This is the position with many ethnic groups in the country.

• Yoruba – Soile meaning Wizard of the House
• Igbo – Nwosu meaning; A child belonging to demon called “OSU”
• Edo – Uduebor meaning; The heart of JuJu
• English – Linda meaning; Sneak

These are just representative samples. Satan uses names to attack people. If you have an evil name, Satan inhabits such people to eventually destroy them. He puts evil monitors over such people, awaiting maturity day or time. The unfortunate thing is that many families are in the church with evil names!

In the scripture we have names that had to be change to better ones;
Abram – Abraham (Gen. 17:5)
Sarai – Sarah (Gen. 17:15)
Jacob – Israel (Gen. 32:28)
Saul – Paul (Acts 13:9)
And many more. Checking the meaning of your name, if its evil change it a real child of God almighty.

Polygamy

This is the worst situation where culture has continued to defy the church. What is polygamy? It is when a man marries more than one wife. Many ignorant people refer to polygamy found in the Old Testament, particularly Lamech (Gen. 4:19), Abram (Gen. 16:3), Esau (Gen. 26:34), Jacob (Gen 29:28), Gideon (Judges 8:30) etc.

Polygamy is condemned in the scripture, Deut. 17:17, Mal. 2:15, Matthew 17:4, 1-Tim. 3:2 and Tit. 1:6. Although polygamy was practiced in the Old Testament dispensation, God never endorsed it, Heb. 8:7-8.

These verses need reproduction here “For it that first covenant had been faithless, then should no place have sought for the second. For finding fault with them. He saith, “Behold the days come saith the Lord when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not. Saith the Lord.