Honour is given to gift giver, not bearer
On September 1 at Kololo Airstrip, members of Zoe Fellowship held a special ceremony where they honoured Prophet Elvis Mbonye, who has been nicknamed ‘Slay Pastor.
What you need to know:
- Thoroughly enjoying all the attention, what was most disturbing was that during these ‘acts of adoration’ Mbonye was captured on camera smiling and laughing as fellowship members knelt and kissed his shiny white shoes.
- Last year when Mbonye was fund-raising to buy a tent; the pledge cards strictly indicated amounts ranging from Shs200,000 to Shs3m.
On September 1 at Kololo Airstrip, members of Zoe Fellowship held a special ceremony where they honoured Prophet Elvis Mbonye, who has been nicknamed ‘Slay Pastor.’ As a born-again Christian, I believe in prophecy, but when it comes to spiritual gifts, honour is never given to the gift-bearer, but to the gift-giver, who is the Holy Spirit.
Like a movie star, Mbonye’s show of opulence: He donned an expensive white suit, emerged from a flashy car with a personalised number plate; stepped on a red carpet and sat on a white gold lined couch to be ‘honoured.’ This gave the impression that Mbonye was showing off.
Yet, in as much as a man of God might have wealth, he is supposed to be humble. For example, the woman of Shunem ‘perceived’ Elisha was a prophet, but he was so humble that he did not advertise his prophetic calling (2 Kings 4:8-37).
Thoroughly enjoying all the attention, what was most disturbing was that during these ‘acts of adoration’ Mbonye was captured on camera smiling and laughing as fellowship members knelt and kissed his shiny white shoes. This so-called ‘honouring’ is wrong because it is an act of worship and in this case, idolatry. It contravenes God in Heaven’s first Commandment in Exodus 20:3, ‘You shall have no other gods before Me,’ What the Zoe Fellowship members communicated to the world (they did this in the presence of cameras) was that Mbonye has captured their hearts, and in their eyes, he is a demigod.
In the New Testament, the teaching in James 2 warns Christians against practising the sin of partiality. That is discriminating church members by favouring the rich against the poor. However, when it comes to his flock, Mbonye seems to have a preference for Kampala’s corporate class.
Last year when Mbonye was fund-raising to buy a tent; the pledge cards strictly indicated amounts ranging from Shs200,000 to Shs3m. Again, at the September 1 dinner, the rates were similar to corporate functions in town where one had to pay Shs300,000, Shs500,000, Shs750,000 or Shs1m to eat at this ‘godly’ function! Obviously, a poor person would not be able to afford this.
As for Mbonye’s prophecies, I find it strange that a ‘man of God’ would prophesy about who the winners of the 2017 Oscars would be, when the purpose of the prophetic gift is promoting the Church of Jesus Christ and God’s kingdom on earth. What do the Oscars, a worldly awards ceremony, have to do with that?
Josepha Jabo,
[email protected]
