Dan's Place

Time

"Does God Want You To Be Rich?" read the cover title of the September 18, 2006 edition of Time magazine. An interesting question, no? As the article portrays, many in today's Christian church have bought into the gospel of greed, picking apart small verses of scripture and reinterpreting them as directives for prosperity. I went a few years ago to see Evangelist Jessie Duplantis, who's message was right in line with this new interpretation. Mr. Duplantis even wrote a book covering the topic entitled "God is not enought; He's too much!" As I remember the message, Jesse quoted Matthew 13: 1-9

"1That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9He who has ears, let him hear."

Now, in Jesse's interpretation, the seed of the parable represents NOT the Word of God, but the offerings of the faithful. Jesse contended that offerings given to God for purposeful ministry would return to the person giving offering by as much as 100 times! One dollar becomes One Hundred dollars; 10 becomes 1,000; 100 becomes 10,000, etc. Frankly, I was appalled!

I was appalled for several reasons. First, the scripture manipulated refers not to monetary "seeding," but to the spread of the gospel of Christ! Jesus told us as much in the verses following!:

Matthew 13: 18-23 - 18"Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. 22The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. 23But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."

How can anyone misinterpret such a plain message? The words "When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart" have plain meaning, do they not? The seed is clearly the "message about the Kingodom" and anyone who does not understand it will have it snatched away by the evil one. So how does satan invade the church and snatch away the very words of promise that have given life to so many? Why, the promise of financial gain, of course!

Not only is this "gospel of greed" a misinterpretation of plain scripture, it's also in contravention with the plain Word of Christ as expressed elsewhere. Did Jesus not plainly state that it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God? (Matthew 19:24) Did He not say that no man can serve two masters, both God and money? (Matthew 6:24) Did He not direct a wealthy young man to give away his wealth in order to "be perfect?"(Matthew 19:21). I tell you, this new interpretation is nothing more than another attempt of that master of equivocation to steal away the souls of those who would hear the Word but allow the thorns of that evil one to choke it from them.

God cares little about the worldly condition of His creation; His concern is that we join Him in Paradise eternally. His primary concern is for our souls, the very divine spirit that He breathed into us at the beginning. He wishes that all would be saved, but He knows that He cannot allow freewill and have it come to pass.

Dan's Place

As I've said before, I'm a 7th-grade science teacher and a coach. There's a huge debate taking place right now about public education. SAT scores are down; other nations are graduating far more science and math-oriented degrees than is America; test scores here are lower than ever! What is the problem?! Here it is! Somewhere along the line, we decided that the self-esteem of naturally low achievers (Special Education kids; kids with learning disabilities; autistic kids) was more important than developing our gifted students to their highest potential. Since legislation has been passed that imposes that moral judgement, society has deemed it so (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act - 1997). The result has been the "dumbing down" of curriculum, making it harder for high achievers to get the education they need to succeed. What's even sadder is the fact that the kids IDEA was designed to assist has made it more difficult for them to get a practical education commensurate with their abilities; they get passed along without learning anything, simply because teachers cannot afford the time to fail them.

What's the solution? Well, in other countries, high-achieving kids are removed from the general education population and are challenged with a much more rigorous curriculum. Those countries recognize that those kids represent the future and they're given every opportunity to excel. What happens to regular-ed kids? They are educated as well, just not on a track that will prepare them for higher degrees in college. Special ed kids are educated commensurate with their abilities. They are taught simple math, reading, and other skills that will benefit them in their future lives. Such kids are not taught in general ed classrooms as they are in America; they are separated and taught as a group so that instruction for them does not hinder the instruction of others. In America, all kids are taught together so that some do not lose "self-esteem" because of peer derision. I know that self-esteem is important. We, as teachers, should do everything necessary to ensure that children are taught with dignity and that whatever self-esteem they enter with leaves with them at the end of the day. However, this country is sinking in the world economy, and its sinking fast! Our best and brightest are as good as they ever were, but they're drowning in the tide of mediocrity created by the effort to save the self-esteem of a few. Look; I'm sorry that some kids are not born with the abilities that are inherent in other kids. I wish every kid were a genius! However, wishing does not make it so. We need to wake up and realize that God blessed some with superior intellect, just as He blessed others with superior strength, or superior abilities of some other kind. Not every kid is the same! The sooner we realize that and start teaching kids according to their strengths, the sooner we'll regain our place as the world's pre-eminent superpower!