Christ’s Ambassador

Paul warned his protege, Timothy ahead of time that “a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear ” (2Tim4:3) One of the ways this scripture is being fulfilled today is in the discourses of the of new generation Pastors popularly tagged ‘Prosperity teachers‘. They are very cunning and they know exactly what the uninformed people want to hear in these days of grab-and-grab economy.

As a background to this piece, may I state clearly here that I believe God wants us to prosper in everything we do. He delights in our prosperity. I believe also that money is a good thing but the love of it is harmful. I believe that excessive liquid cash or possession of vast amounts of property is not the correct index to measure prosperity. Prosperity, by my understanding of the Biblical stand includes but not limited to purity, fruitfulness in the service of Christ, good physical health, good relationship with people, happiness in marriage, career growth beneficial to the society and having our needs met. Accumulating money in excess of the need to put something away for the raining day then can safely be taken as a measure of man’s passivity to the gaping holes of need in the society. The root cause of this is the sin of covetousness. God warned that “There will always be some people in the land who are poor…“  (Deut 15:11), and knowing God’s leaning towards the poor, it automatically indicates that there is always a need in the lives of others and in the society to be met with the excessive cash we may have – well, that is if we let ourselves see these needs in the lives of our neighbours, colleagues at work, brethren in the church, relations, friends and even strangers. Here is the act that provokes Paul’s prayer for the Phillipians when he said “….and my God will provide for all your needs according to his glory by Christ Jesus” (Phil4:18) He had first commended them and expressed his gratitude for their sacrificial giving in v8.

The teachings of the proseprity preachers stipulates, albeit implicitly that man is free to use God to accomplish his ambitions to acquire wealth to the extent that he could exploit the power of words in “positive confession”.  In other words, they opine that since God must honour his words, you can always use the divine promises of God to make yourself rich. This sounds logical and wise to the unwary and uninformed, and to the greedy. It is not uncommon to hear such preachers declare boldly that they can never be poor and also drop the hint that “if you are poor you are under a curse and it is a measure of your faithlessness” They are gaining grounds and recruiting disciples with these teachings on daily basis. They have their lives of opulence to show as testimony for the validity of their teachings. But can we compare the business of running church with a 9-5 daily job or running a company? Churches don’t pay tax and Pastors have perfected the art of using pulpit homilies for revenue drive. You would think they are running an appeal fund to bail heaven out of economic recession. They even tell you how much to give as offering and in what denominations. They have many formulae to extort: seed of faith, sunday offering, new month offering, offering for first born children, testimony offering, Pastors’ appreciation, children harverst, adult harvest, business men harvest and so on. Moreso, these self branded ‘owners’ of the church of God claim they are the Levites of today whom God has given all the tithes of Israel. Yet they teach the congregation to command wealth by positive confessions.

The Bible teaches that God is sovereign and He has a great purpose for creation. This purpose, He has graciously called man to participate in. (Rom 8:28) So rather than using God as taught by these false teachers, man, when he purifies himself and departs from iniquities, is used by the Holy Spirit, as vessel unto honour, to accomplish the noble purpose of God. We serve an Almighty God and not an errand god. Jesus set an example of this servanthood when he empties himself of all his glory, and came to this world in the form of a man and servant to fulfill the purposes of God. Paul wrote that: “you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.(2 Cor 8:9) and Peter was also inspired to say: “This suffering is all part of what God has called you to. Christ, who suffered for you is your example. Follow in his steps (1Pet 2:21). Paul also admonished the Ephesians in Eph 5:1  to “Be imitators of God” I believe it is a priviledge to give up all self interests and account all worldly achievements as rubbish campared to the knowledge of Christ just as Paul testified. Paul worked hard as a tent maker, using his income to further the work of God and yet not slacking in his Apostolic calling. The handkerchiefs that were taken from him to lay on the sick were actually sweaty face towels he used as he laboured hard in his daily work so that he may not depend on church funds. Anytime you receive a perfumed white handkerchief today with the promise that you could tap annointing from it please go through your scriptures again. Grow up, please. The time is near.

I do not know where the Prosperity teachers get the scripture backing their untamed acquisition of wealth. I do not know where in the scriptures the present church see the phrase “Me I no go suffer….” The church was founded on the foundation of the Apostles with Christ himself as the chief corner stone. What is  happening  in churches today were never seen in the first church and a lot of the miracles that happened in the fist church are absent today even though God, Christ and the Holy Spirit are still the same.  Have you seen their jeeps and convoy of cars when they move about town? Have you observed the Road Safety Corps and Police Force clearing the road before them and beating other road users on their account ? Have you seen the bouncers that are hired to shield them from the same flock God has called them to nurture? I attended a service one time at a church where the Guest Preacher came with four members of the Mobile police force, armed, and they stood in place of urshers as the man preached. He even boasted to us that his friend, the state Governor gave him these armed men as guards. Where are the Angels who guarded Paul and Silas as they sang in the prison? Among the congregants, there are still some who are unemployed and hungry and others who could neither feed well nor afford to give their children good education. In the same passage where God said there will always be poor people, he had instructed them earlier that if  people would give generously to their neighbours who are in need, there should not be one who is poor among them because HE will greatly pour his blessings on the land. Read Deut 15:4. The poor will not cease to exist in the land because the rich are tightfisted and would not share freely with the poor and the people charged with the task of teaching the commandments of God have become ‘hirelings’ who are too busy on their ivory towers, mixing up with the same world Christ called them to be light and salt to. They have no time to think about the suffering flock. May God save his sheep from hirelings.

It is not a bad thing to have great wealth but it is harmful to love wealth and divert the attention of the flock from Christ. God gives wealth and also the wisdom to use it without loosing the kingdom of God. He gave Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David and Solomon. The latter was the richest king the world has ever known and he did not deny himself of anything his mind could think of. However, he warned against the love of money when he found out that all he had in wealth, influence and power were all worthless and futile. He still did not get the happiness and satisfaction for his soul. HE wrote in Ecclessiastes 5:10 that “Those who love money will never have enough. How absurd to think that wealth brings happiness.” Paul also warned Timothy to be wary of certain preachers who opined that Godliness is a means of getting rich. 1Tim 6:5-10. Jesus explained how hard it would be for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God because of the addictive influence of money on a mind that is obsessed with the accumulation of wealth. Whatever pre-occupies man to the exclusion of devotion to spiritual matters is sin of idolatry.

Being generous to one’s hurt is a difficult thing to do for a carnal mind but it has its gains. The rich man who spoke to Jesus about his intention to inherit the kingdom of God failed to learn this lesson. He walked away from eternal life sad because he had great wealth which occupied the core of his heart. Using the principles of God to serve others rather than accumulate wealth for oneself is hard but a noble life which God accepts as a fragrant offering. Choosing to be poor for the sake of the kingdom of God is a wise choice that honours the Father and follows the steps of Jesus who lived a sacrificial life here on earth. This is one of the practices that made the church to turn the world around in the days of the Apostles. Those days, “All the believers were of one heart and mind, and they felt that what they owned was not their own; they shared everything they had……there was no poverty among them , because those who owned land and properties sold them and brought the money to the apostles to give to others in need (Acts 5:32-35). What was the result of this? “More and more people believed and were brought to the Lord, crowds of men and women. Here is the secret of being fruitful in the service of Christ and having the fruit sustained.

James, the brother of the Lord in his letter wrote that God has chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit His kingdom but he also warned the rich who are not rich towards God that their accumulated wealth will stand against them in judgement (James 5:3). Paul also said ” people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.”  I am afraid, Jesus’ teaching : “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness…” has disappeared in the teachings of the new generation churches and has been replaced with seek first financial prosperity and every recognition will be given to you. This is dangerous. If the foundation be destroyed what can the rightous do? Where do you belong? Shepherd or Hireling? Have you noticed these things too? Could you let me know if you have seen things differently? What can the righteous do if the foundations be undermined this way?