“Facing The Challenges of A Post-Truth Society” was the theme of this year’s men’s conference held on October 4th-7th, 2022. The four-day conference consisted of the opening night followed by three nights of its signature “Man Talk” event, which is a frank open-floor panel discussion.
Addressing the subject matter on the opening night was the presiding Bishop of the First Assembly of God (FAOG) church, located at L&P Durban Street, Wortmanville, Georgetown, Dr Murtland Raphael Massiah, C.C.H.
Before the Bishop’s address, Pastor Paul Benjamin led the congregation in a period of praise and worship. The men were also treated to dramatic poetry by Asst. Pastor Dellon Thompson entitled “Let The Church Roll On”, which encouraged the men to press on in the face of challenges.
Deacon Orson Smith introduced Bishop Massiah and it was gleaned that Bishop Massiah is a local and international speaker of no mean order. This humble servant of God also holds the portfolio of Assistant General Bishop of the Assemblies of God, Guyana, and is also a Vice President of The International Third World Leaders Association. The Presiding Bishop is also the recipient of The Cacique Crown of Honour, which is the third highest award of service in Guyana, awarded to citizens who have rendered service of exceptionally high quality beyond the normal.
Bishop Massiah began by informing the gathering that the Oxford Dictionary defined post-truth as “the circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotions and personal beliefs”. In simplifying, he explained that “people can believe what they want to believe as long as they feel that it is right”. He explained that the aforementioned phenomenon is the most popular worldview today.
Bishop Massiah’s presentation was replete with worldwide examples of post-truth accommodations such as the lavatory facilities at international airports that now cater to males, females, and “others”. He then spoke of a 10-year-old boy who declared that he wanted to become a murderer. The servant of God explained that though the aforementioned utterance may likely be dismissed as childish ramblings, such an utterance cannot be disregarded since the current worldview allows people to believe whatever they want as long as they believe that it is right.
To drive home his point, the Bishop shared a video of a father and his 16-year-old son discussing sexual intercourse. He noted the culture clash between the two, with the father believing in traditional values while his son embraced a post-truth approach. He emphasised the father’s frustration that his son had never been schooled about what constitutes a normal relationship between a man and a woman. The Bishop pointed out that it is evident that parents were neither consulted nor did they give permission to indoctrinate their children on the new worldview and that the institution being used to discipline, teach and instruct is the school system around the world. This, he concluded, has “messed up” the next generation.
During his presentation, Bishop Massiah said that it is easy to jump on the bandwagon of blaming men for all of society’s failures and woes. The reason why that blame continues, he explained, is that many do not understand that the post-truth society has a different language. He further stated that in order for Christians to be effective in preaching the Gospel of Christ overseas, there need to understand the cultures of the nations.
Bishop Massiah then introduced the concept of postmodernism, which is defined as the belief that “all religions and all lifestyles are equally valid”. He then segued into Acts 17:24 and the account Dr Luke delivers of the Apostle Paul’s experience at Athens – a post-truth environment. Athens, Bishop Massiah pointed out, consisted of different religions, cultures, and lifestyles, and was steeped in idolatry. He noted that the Apostle Paul first went after idolatry. He explained that Paul in his discourse with the people, neither condemned them for their belief system nor their idolatrous practices but rather explained everything by referring to the Holy Scriptures – a strategy that today’s Christians should emulate.
Concluding his presentation, he asked a rhetorical question “How do we face the challenges of the post-truth society?” Proffering an answer, he warned against the tendency of bowing to the gods of this world in an effort to work things out for ourselves. He added, we need to remember that we have a God who is bigger than all of our circumstances. He cited that the Apostle Paul, the Prophet Jeremiah, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego all lived in post-truth societies and that in this current age, there is a resurgence of that type of society in a “big way”. However, like the examples of old, conformity to post-truth beliefs must not be an option.
The message of Bishop Massiah is clear – to the sinner, seek the truth, which can be found in the engrafted Word of God; to the Saints, who are soul winners, life-changers, and history makers, continually take a pattern from the Apostle Paul who declared in 1 Corinthians 9:22, “I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some”.
The conference continued for an additional three nights at Parfaite Harmonie, The ‘Blacka’ Bridge in Sophia, and the church’s parking lot, respectively.
