Culled from Sunnews
Written by James Okeudo
Many commentaries
have been published in print and on-line media following the wedding of the
second son of Pastor W. F. Kumuyi and its immediate aftermath. The propriety
and the doctrinal basis of the response from the church have been questioned
and generally condemned and vilified. Most commentators including notable
church leaders apparently seem to agree on one point, that the couple was
punished for violating Deeper Life tradition or doctrine, but not bible and
kingdom doctrines. The general opinion, in some cases, expressed, using very
strong language, was that using makeup and wearing earrings or the particular
wedding gown worn by the bride are wholly supported by the holy scriptures and
should not in any righteous way incur the church’s displeasure, opprobrium and
sanction. Some commentators went as far as tagging the church puritanical
and outmoded and in addition accused her of portraying a damaging picture
of Christianity.
Before we crucify
the church, I think it is appropriate that we examine the scriptures like good
Bereans and determine whether the church is on the right track or not. In the
Bible, it is written “In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in
modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with braided hair, or pearls,
or costly array: but (which becometh women professing godliness) with good
works (1 Timothy 2: 9 – 10).” In other words, it is unbecoming of a woman
professing godliness, that is, a woman who claims to be a Christian to put on
gold, pearls or costly clothes.
Wearing jewelry
is the lifestyle of women generally, but this should not be the case with those
who desire to please God and are interested in going to heaven. Even under the
Old Testament dispensation, it was never the perfect will of God that His
people should decorate themselves with precious metals or other ornaments. When
Jacob and his family were going to Bethel to worship as directed by God, they
discarded and buried those things that were offensive to God like their idols
and earrings (Genesis 35: 1 – 4).
After the
children of Israel made and worshipped the golden calf at Sinai, God commanded
them to remove their jewelry: The scriptures noted, “So after they left Mount
Sinai, the people of Israel no longer wore jewelry (Exodus 33: 6, Good News
Bible, Todays English Version); therefore the people of Israel stripped
themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward (Exodus 33: 6, Revised
Standard Version).” More than a century later, during the time of Gideon, the
Bible thought it necessary to explain that the golden earrings found with the
children of Israel were spoils of war taken from Ishmaelites (Judges 8: 24).
With these ornaments Gideon made an ephod, and the children of Israel
worshipped it. Regrettably, the sin at Sinai pertaining to the making and
worshipping the golden calf was again repeated. This confirms the sad truth
that human beings will either idolize ornaments or mould idols with them.
Decking oneself with jewelry is usually the product of haughtiness, pride,
seduction or immoral inclination (Isaiah 3: 16 – 26).
God is against
the use of jewelry, because any one using jewelry is joining affinity with
spiritual Ishmael and Babylon. In the book of Revelation, two women were used
as symbols, the first related to spiritual Israel (a woman clothed with the
sun) and the second, spiritual Babylon (a woman decked with jewelry – the
kingdom of Satan). Concerning Spiritual Israel, the bible said “And there
appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon
under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. . . . she brought
forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her
child was caught up unto God, and to His throne (Revelation 12: 1 – 5).” But
concerning spiritual Babylon (kingdom of Satan), the Bible stated: “So he
carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a
scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten
horns.
And the woman was
arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones
and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness
of her fornications: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON
THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH (Revelation 17:
3 – 5).” Observe that the first woman did not wear jewelry, but was clothed
with the sun. God clothes Himself with light (Psalm 104: 2), which was the way
He clothed Adam and Eve before the fall. When Moses came down from God’s presence
at Mount Sinai, his face was shinning as light. This is the beauty that God
admires. It is not the beauty that results from using makeup and jewelry, the
beauty that is carnal. It is the beauty of holiness (Psalm 110: 3).
The second woman
was decked with jewelry, and was called Babylon, the mother of harlots. It’s
interesting to note that harlots always seek ways to enhance physical beauty,
allurement and seduction. What God admires in a woman is holiness characterized
by a meek and quiet spirit, not jewelry or makeup (1 Peter 3: 3, 4) and a
Christian ought to have the mind of God (1 Corinthians 2: 16). It’s noteworthy
that the only people the Bible described as using makeup were the murderous and
adulterous Jezebel and backslidden Israel called a harlot (2 Kings 9: 30,
Jeremiah 4: 30 and Ezekiel 23: 40).
The hallmarks of
true religion are humility, simplicity, sobriety, modesty, self-denial and
self-crucifixion. That was the lifestyle of Christ and the early disciples.
Flamboyance, jamboree, jesting and wantonness reveal a lifestyle destitute of
the Spirit of Christ. What we call church wedding and reception these days are
programs characterized by the display of flamboyance, hypocrisy and pride. I
suppose that the white gown and the veil are symbols for the virginity and
spotlessness of the bride. Is it not an insult to the holiness of God and the
desecration of the altar to wed a woman in white when she is no longer a
virgin? Even if she is still a virgin, must she tell the world through the gown
she is wearing? The groom wears a suit and continues to wear it after the
wedding. However, the bride spends a lot of money on the gown and cannot wear
it again. What is the moral or economic justification for that? Is it not to
satisfy the iniquitous desire to be like the world? Can she not wear a gown she
can wear publicly after the wedding? Did God not warn His Children not to
follow the world in its madness and folly (John 2: 15 – 17)? In
receptions, the kind of dancing one sees makes one to shudder. The ladies sway,
roll and rock their bottoms in seductive ways and yet call it worshipping God.
Tufia. Self, not God is glorified the way food is served and people are invited
to the high table and money is sprayed. The Holy Angels must be shedding tears.
When I read what
some of these “ministers of the gospel” wrote I was highly disturbed. It made
me to wonder where they were coming from. The steps taken by Deeper Life are
wholly scriptural and the underpinning doctrine is bible-based. We ought to
thank God for Pastor W. F. Kumuyi. Deeper Life has changed the religious
terrain in Nigeria and by the Grace of God has been directly and indirectly a
major force in restoring holiness to the body of Christ. No wonder Satan is
fighting him so severely. I would just want to encourage him to persevere. Men
of right spiritual understanding appreciate his work.
James Okeudo is a Professor of
Animal Science, Federal University of Technology, Owerri.
