By Christopher Man’ombe
Bishop Nehemiah Mutendi, head of the Zion Christian Church in Zimbabwe, has challenged ZCC youths to take Zion to new heights.
Bishop Mutendi was addressing ZCC youths in a sermon broadcast live on social media from the church’s administrative centre at Mbungo Estates in Masvingo last week.
The 81-year cleric first defined youths in the church as people aged between 18 and 40 years.
“In the Old Testament God used old people like Abraham – who was called at the age of 75, but in the New Testament God chose to use more young people”, he said.
He added that the old generation in the Bible used to climb up mountains to pray, but this time the mountain to climb was not so high, yet much more difficult.
“It was Calvary, and it needed a young man to endure all the pain, the suffering and the humiliation.”
The Bishop explained that before the church’s patriarch Rev. Samuel Mutendi died in 1976, he assigned church members to spread Zion to places he never reached.
As a result, Zion was now spreading internationally to countries we never imagined, with church youths doing the most to plant new branches of the church.
“The old tended to be satisfied with the status quo when the young were more adventurous, and always looking forward to expansion and growth”, he said.
The Bishop said that ZCC was always on the lookout for willing and obedient youths, qualities often lacking in many youths.
He revealed that whenever the church finds young people who are willing and obedient, it is ready to elevate them to leaders.
“Young people are fit for the challenging battles that define growth. They must prophesy and have visionary minds.”
“When our patriarch, Samuel Mutendi died in 1976, I was only 37 years old and most of the people around me then were around that age, and we did our best for the church to be where it is today.
“If he was to come back today he would be surprised to see the ground we have managed to cover.”
The Bishop said the Church expected young men and women to do the same. They must be fighting in the valleys when the old people are busy praying for them up in the mountains.
Citing 1 Samuel 12 vs. 23, he added that like Samuel, old members will not commit the sin of failing to pray for the young and must teach them the correct path to follow.
“I am speaking to the cream of ZCC. You are the cream of Zion, the big and fresh minds. Big minds in the sense that you understand what we are talking about, since most of you are still fresh from school, with some still in school,” he said.
The Bishop added that Jesus started his ministry at about 30, and he called disciples who were about his age.
“The Jews and the devil wanted Jesus’ ministry to end prematurely, but Jesus’ young and energetic team could not allow that”, he taught.
He concluded this teaching, one of several sermons marking the Easter week following Palm Sunday, by saying the period was the most difficult on the Christian calendar as it was full of trial, tribulations, and temptations.