Many students of the church have observed the crucial role of Africa in the evangelization of the world. Nowhere in the world is Christianity spreading as rapidly as wildfire as in Africa. Churches are planted by the hundreds a year throughout the once pagan nations. Missionaries are sent to nations that once sent missions from Africa, and many exciting phenomena.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Sierra Leonean church has serious problems. The character of the church community has left many wondering if this is all there is to Christianity and if they want to identify with that lifestyle. How is it possible that a nation like Sierra Leone, which was the first to receive the gospel in sub-Saharan Africa, is plagued with enormous vices? Is Christianity in Sierra Leone church a mile wide but an inch deep? It is indisputable that several things have gone wrong.

1. Characteristics, practices and negative attributes of the church

At the center of one’s observation are the fundamental or root causes (problems) that manifest in various forms. To solve the problems, the church first needs to identify them.

has. Lack of proper theological training: The African church is plagued with gross ignorance. It is generally assumed that Christian workers do not require a balanced training. At worst, it is society’s misfits who should be Christian workers. Consequently, the church is considered to be privileged to have a trained accountant as its pastor who graduated from a university, even if he/she does not have any theological influence.

b. Lack of Commitment to Biblical Holiness: There is confusion about the doctrine of holiness. Some have taught the standard so low that they are comfortable with sinful behavior. Others see sainthood as a goal they have achieved and do not need to progress. Yet another is the assumption that holiness is unattainable in the present life. So next to the commitment is the lack of knowledge and clear teaching of holiness. Even the little, confused, that is known is not lived. Pastors have also contributed to this disappearance. They contradict by lifestyle what they teach. There is a big slip in the church. Believers are accommodated to sin.

Against Lack of Proper Teaching: Chinyere Madugba is right when he observed that people who are not ready for discipleship are not ready for pruning. Unfortunately, people are taught to acquire things that promote their pride and greed. Isn’t it ironic that many Christians in Freetown are riddled with so much crime? The church is inevitably a taxpayer. The central problem is the lack of adequate teaching. Those who are not prepared to be guided by Christian ethics cannot profess to be Christians. Christianity is not a ‘Sunday suit’ to be worn to church on Sundays and abandoned on the weekends.

d. Spillover: It could reasonably be argued that the above issues could be at the core of the problem for the church in Africa. However, in the manifestation, various forms are evident.

Yo. Pride: Pride is the esteem of oneself to be superior, through some false measure, to others who are considered inferior. Pride is a symptom of an unshakable self. The lack of teaching about the discipline of the Christian life leaves intact a part of the human being that is exposed in pride. This could be seen in the great desire and attachment to titles, positions, acquisition of unwanted goods and certificates. It is indisputable that today it is a sin without reproach in the church in Sierra Leone.

ii. Egocentric Prayer: The popular teaching on prayer in African churches has much intrusion from African Traditional Religion (ATR): advancement of oneself and destruction of one’s enemies – ‘back to sender’, ‘fire for fire’, Holy Spirit Pursue them’. They believe that all answers to prayers should be instant.

iii. Revival Misunderstanding: Revival is generally considered to be one of the church’s annual scheduled programs when believers are called to be serious with the Lord. The biblical meaning of revival is missing. The sense of revival as moral and essentially returning alive to God is not the understood sense of revival.

2. Characteristics, practices and attitudes that need transformation

It is sad to note that the African church may not have or sustain a revival until God’s minimum conditions of revival are met.

has. Trained Personnel: Africa needs biblical theologians, pastors, and Christian workers trained in both the doctrine and practice of biblical Christianity. These are to set the standard for practical Christian living. A pastor who will be used by God to bring revival to his congregation must have knowledge of the doctrine and experience of sanctification. The pulpit is central to revival and there can be no revival until the man in the pulpit or some section of the congregation is transformed.

b. Commitment to Holiness: The African church needs to be retaught that claims to be Christian entail responsible Christian living. Revival could easily come when people are not ignorant of Biblical doctrine and pursuit of holiness. If holiness is the product of salvation, then not to be holy is to deny salvation.

3. Agencies for a continued renaissance

The church must be committed to teaching. The fundamentals of Christianity and the Christian walk must be made as clear as possible: the path of salvation, the fullness of the Spirit, how it can be obtained, and the need for Christian discipline. In the context of revival, Christians must have a biblical meaning of revival, how it should be sought, and the conditions under which it should be sought. People must also be taught about the seriousness of sin and its consequences. Holiness is God’s desire for his people, and walking in holiness is walking in God’s will and pleasure.

Also, Christians need to know that seeking God involves a process. They must seek the face of the Lord in humility and consecration. The delivery or consecration is not an act of will but a perfection of devotion of love. Revival will come when God’s conditions are met. It comes in the context of the clear teaching of sin, salvation, the fullness of the Spirit, repentance, total surrender, appropriation of the gift of faith, and in prayer and fasting.

4. Closing

It is with deep regret that we declare that Sierra Leone may not have a genuine biblical revival and cannot sustain it even if it is experienced until there is a new focus on the need for genuine repentance and prayer, training of church workers, knowledge of doctrine. and ethics, and as a church committed to biblical teaching and the practice of holiness.