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Religious entrepreneur Emmanuel Makandiwa made a lot of waves in Zimbabwe in 2011. In status-obsessed Zimbabwe, at year end the ‘prosperity gospel’ preacher and purported miracle worker added considerably to his mystique by giving a young couple the wedding gift of a Mercedes Benz car. What are some of the messages of this gesture that had so much of the country talking?
‘Prophet’ Makandiwa seems to hold much of the society,
including a media which should be more questioning and circumspect, in his
thrall. Whether you are a believer or a skeptic, there is no doubt that
Makandiwa has made himself into a social and media phenomenon. Many weary,
beaten down Zimbabweans who have been betrayed by the country’s politicians and
other ‘leaders’ find the idea of a man who promises to miraculously solve
problems somehow attractive and believable.
‘Prophet Makandiwa buys Mercedes Benz E320 as a wedding
present’ was a December 2011 Herald headline that grabbed one’s attention. The
idea of a middle- range luxury car as a wedding gift in a Zimbabwe
where most people struggle to get by from day to day was certainly newsworthy.
The Mercedes Benz may be one prominent emblem of German
technological and manufacturing prowess, but it also has the defacto status of
National Car of Zimbabwe (perhaps of Africa.)
Owning, or merely being seen in a Mercedes Benz, says in
Zimbabwean social parlance that ‘you have arrived.’ Anybody who is really
anybody must have a Mercedes Benz. And sometimes, it is more socially
impressive to have the trappings of material success than it is to actually
accomplish anything. So the politician or company executive who has achieved
nothing concrete in particular is more ‘respected’ for the Merc and other
prestige trappings of his or her position than they are questioned or
disparaged for doing nothing. No one really cares if you ‘earned’ the
prestigious trappings, stole or borrowed them. All that matters is that you
have them. Those are the unofficial rules of the Harare
social prestige game.
So imagine how much more impressive it is when you can
afford not just to buy a Mercedes for yourself, but to donate one to someone
else as a gift! That is not just a sign of being a BMIT (Big Man in Town), like
the top politicians and businessmen. That is a sign of being huge in Harare
social terms. It is to take one-upmanship to a dazzlingly new level.
‘‘Popular evangelist Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa,’’gushed The
Herald, “sprang a surprise when he splashed newly-weds Michael Mahendere and
Vimbai Nyatsambo with a Mercedes-Benz E320 during the couple's wedding. An
ecstatic Vimbai burst into tears of joy as the two lovebirds unlocked the doors
of the trendy car and got a feel of it before the cheering crowd.”
"We are humbled by this gesture. It shows how God's
hand is working in the United Family
International Church
and the position that the prophet gives to the Mahendere family," said
Amos, brother of the groom.
Michael, Amos and two other brothers compose a well known
gospel music group. The paper gives us
the brief background that the bride and groom met at the ‘prophet’s’ church,
and had been dating for a year before they wed.
Makandiwa, as the chief executive of his religious business,
has every right to give whatever gift he wants to give to anybody. However, it
gets a little trickier when this gift is examined from the point of view of his
being an example and teacher to his many adoring followers.
The very ‘expensiveness’ of a Mercedes Benz is part of why
it is a status symbol. While Makandiwa’s gift may serve to make a public
statement about his own financial means and social status, it may very well
send confusing signals to the impressionable married couple. They instantly got
a gift with huge social prestige value, but these are young people just
starting their lives. Unless they are already very wealthy and have all the
basics young couples often struggle for over many years, an
expensive-to-maintain prestige car is one of the very last things they need at
this stage.
Did Makandiwa also donate the costs of car insurance, fuel
and regular maintenance for some years? If he did, that was even more generous,
kind and thoughtful of him, as the young couple is otherwise likely going to
really struggle to afford them. It might also be fair to ask if they should be
encouraged to spend their money this way at their tender age, even if they
could afford the running costs of such a car. In terms of practical
life-planning, would it not be more useful to encourage them to get themselves
established in their chosen careers first, acquire more important life basics,
and then later possibly think about expensive status symbols?
Unless the bride and groom are already persons of great achievement
in their respective fields and already used to the trappings of relatively high
living, it is possible; even likely, that the prestigious Merc gift they have
been landed with could become an albatross around their necks. They are being
taught the benefits of social prestige that is bereft of achievement. This has
admittedly become a Zimbabwean obsession and social phenomenon (look at the prestige
perks of the politicians, and compare that to the state of the country) but one
could argue that it is not an example a ‘popular prophet’ of a religious leader
should be setting for his followers.
If the married couple are average, struggling working stiffs
like most people, and if they had won their Merc in, say, a lottery, they would
be well advised to sell the car, buy a far more modest one and use the rest of
the money for more important basics, or to invest for their future. But how are
you going to sell a car gifted to you by the ‘prophet,’ Executive Chairman, CEO
and majority shareholder of your church?! For better or for worse, they are
probably stuck with the Benz, even if the ‘prestige’ of owning it impoverishes
them.
The young newly weds have every right to be ecstatic about
their prestigious gift. It is a clear sign that churchman Makandiwa has a big
soft spot for them. The couple will enjoy the considerable buzz, at least for a
while, of being so obviously highly favored by the prominent CEO of their
church. Some of his current social glow will rub off on them.
Makandiwa’s gesture of generosity to this couple may also
invite jealously and dissension amongst the ranks of his followers who are not
similarly favored. The big public display of his ‘bigness’ may have sown the
seeds of division amongst his flock. One of the things the ‘new churches’
are good at is being able to quote a verse that seems to show biblical
precedence for and approval of almost anything. But human nature being what it
is, it may well turn out to have been ill-advised for Makandiwa to show such
blatant favoritism for one of his followers.
Makandiwa is a peddler of the ‘prosperity gospel’ that so
many in Zimbabwe
and across Africa obviously find very appealing. His gift
example/lesson of naked materialism that is not related to productivity and
achievement perhaps serves to entrench the idea of ‘miraculous’ blessings
through his intervention. But it arguably also sends a much distorted message
to his followers of the means required to attain the trappings of material prosperity
that so many seek. Is it to simply be in the good books of the leader of the
church, or is to work hard and smart?
Because this method of receiving ‘blessings ’is also inherently
unpredictable and unsustainable, there is a real risk of sharply risen
expectations from his followers which Makandiwa can not continue to satisfy
from his bag of purported miracles. He may be said to be a miracle worker, but
it seems highly unlikely that he will be gifting a Mercedes to every couple
that marries in his church.
The attention-grabbing gift of a Merc is brilliant
self-promotion, and of marketing for Makandiwa’s religious business. He got a
lot of associated fawning media coverage (free advertising) and public
attention. It would not be surprising if part of the public response to this ‘special
end of year Mercedes promotion’ (just like the retail shops do!) was a rise in
the number of potential ‘customers’ attending the church. They know they can’t
necessarily expect the gift of a Merc, but might not perhaps a fridge, a
motorbike or a cellphone come their way, especially if for some months or years
they tithe faithfully every time the collection plate is passed? So the Merc
gift could also be seen as a type of ‘sales promotion’ for Makandiwa’s church.
Yet the danger is that there will also be dramatically risen
expectations of the material ‘anointings’ which the church’s ‘customers’ can expect
from their attendance. It is this kind of over-reaching that has brought down
many similar religious ventures in places like the United
States, the home of much of this kind of very
slick but dubious religio-entrepreneurship. At a certain point there becomes a
disconnect between the rising numbers of members/customers doing miracles to
the church’s bank accounts, and the declining benefits those members perceive
to be getting from the enterprise. If the ‘miracles’ people are made to expect
from their church are luxury cars and other hard goods, that is clearly a
pyramid scheme of expectations that will collapse sooner or later.
Older, more traditional churches that many Zimbabweans seem
to increasingly find boring, un-entertaining and unfulfilling generally don’t
promise the kind of instant material benefits of many of the new churches. While
they don’t have the sex appeal of the new churches, because they generally
emphasize spirituality and introspection more than bling and instant material
gratification, they also don’t tend to run the same risk of a dramatic crash
and burn the new breed of ‘magic’ churches do.
But oh well, even if the Merc falls apart for lack of
maintenance, at least the young couple would hopefully have enjoyed it for a
while, and after all, they didn’t pay a cent for it. It miraculously dropped on
them like manna from heaven, to use a religious metaphor. The donor of the
gift, ‘popular prophet’ Makandiwa, has created a huge social, media and
marketing buzz by showing what a Big Man in Town he is. He has upped the stakes
of what one has to do to show who is who in Harare.
Perhaps it is really all just a game at this level, thinly disguised in
religious garb.
The deep societal wounds in Zimbabwe
have created long-term hurts, fears and phobias which many traumatized, vulnerable people are searching for
solutions to and comfort for. As in any situation of a widespread, unmet need,
there is always someone promising a quick, definitive, easy ‘solution;’ for a
price, of course.
Let’s all bow our heads in prayer as the collection plate is
passed around. Dig deep in your pockets, give generously, miracles can’t be
free. Your ‘gifts’ will all come back to you several-fold anyway, perhaps next
time in the form of a BMW, if you’re especially favored and ‘anointed.’
The country has undergone many kinds of brutalization and
the trauma will be generational. It needs healing and recovery, not even more
cannibalization by yet more flavors of leaders promising easy milk, honey and
luxury goods.
Lord, have mercy on Zimbabwe.
Almost all of its leaders have failed it; have proven to be dangerous wolves in
sheep’s clothing. Protect it from any new false prophets that may be wandering
around in the land; open the eyes of the people for them to see beyond the
confusing, misleading gloss slickly packaged as easy ‘miracles.’
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