Rev Chingmak Chang urges Church to refuse tainted tithes

October 12, 2024 15 Views No Comment

Morung Express News
Dimapur | October 12

Rev Dr Chingmak Chang, Secretary of Eleutheros Christian Society (ECS) opined that a major challenge faced by churches in Nagaland today is having to deal with morality and institutionalized corruption. According to him, if churches took a firm and moral stand on refusing tithes and offerings obtained through ill-begotten wealth or ‘proxy money,’ the situation would change. “All these problems that we are looking at drug abuse, corruption etc is interlinked with one’s personal faith,” he said.

Rev Chang was addressing the 25th anniversary celebration of Nagaland Development Outreach (NDO) under the Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) at Diphupar Ao Baptist Church on October 11. He stated that many churches today struggle with issues of morality. “This is the challenge in the community…corruption has been institutionalized, it is very sad. People make fun of us and say Nagaland is 99% Christian but why are you corrupt,” he remarked.

The church has not been able to properly respond and challenge to that, he said. For Rev Chang, the foundational basis for building a morally just society is to have empathy and love for one’s neighbour. Yet the division runs so deep on tribal lines even within the church bodies, he noted.

Taking example from the Bible, he mentioned that the Pharisees decided to kill Jesus the moment he pointed to their hypocrisy. Besides this, he also pointed out that there is a clear generational gap among church attendees in Nagaland.

During past generations, there was a lot of emphasis on community, he said. But with the current generation of youths and young adults born into a world of technology and modernity it has dissipated, he observed. “Instagram and Facebook among others have become their community,” he said. Major challenges include mental health issues such as fear, depression and anxiety where young people dread the prospect of social interaction. This would eventually lead to church attendance plummeting in the near future, he warned. The focus should be on the current generation of youths and getting to the crux of the issue, he emphasised. “We have to become a movement, a place where there is community,” he reminded.

Meanwhile, Rev Dr Zelhou Keyho, General Secretary of NBCC stated that when NDO was first established, the number of churches under the council was below 1000. “But as we celebrate 25 years, NBCC has become much bigger at 21 full-fledged associations and 1724 plus churches,” he reported. He said that the main aim and motto of NDO has been towards empowering communities.

Other key speakers included Rev Dr Philip George, Director of HCDI and Rev Dr Pongsing Konyak, first NDO Director.

“Among the key achievements of NDO has been the upliftment of poorer actions within the church association, development and empowerment of women and children,” stated Rev C Amop Noklang. He mentioned that a noteworthy contribution made by the organisation has been hosting a children parliament to train and nurture leadership skills as well.