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.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
So often overzealous man will try to invent a human sign that we're saved. It's just too simple to accept what the gospel says, what Jesus says will bring us to salvation. It's too passive for their tastes to let the Holy Spirit guide our sanctification - to bring our presonal lives to the point of being a daily witness of that salvation - no, they want a sign. The same problem that Jesus faced just before His death - 'give us a sign' - so man develops his own.
We have the wild unsubstantiated premise of "The Prayer of Jabez" - a prayer that contains NO promise anywhere for anyone down history's path except in lil ole Jabez's life.
Those that try to capture the gifts of the Spirit, demanding that ALL must demonstrate those gifts through speaking in tongues as a 'sign' of salvation. Yet they ignore that Paul prayed we'd all have the gift of teaching others, loving others as being "the most excellent way. "
And of course, as you mention Dan, this gospel of Wealth is among these false 'signs of salvation' dreamed up by man.
What all of these have in common is the glorifcation of self, not God. They are self-centered - not God-centered. And worse, they can cause destructive sense of guilt in some, frustration in not achieving what is being proffered, and the worst, blaming God for not fulfilling that which these man-made 'signs' have promised them and having people move further away from God, rather than drawing near to Him.
How can we give up to God what we keep guarded for ourselves. We can't and our spiritual life is deformed or slain.
We've got our work cut out for us - to proclaim the simple, unadulterated promise of the Cross, as Paul writes, to preach Jesus and Him crucified. Jesus is the antidote to the poison of self-centered false gospels.
As usual, well-stated, Kathy!
I'd forgotten all about the prayer of Jabez! As you pointed out, even THAT was obfuscated by the "gospel of wealth" crowd! Jabez prayed, I think, for spiritual strength, not material wealth, yet many misinterpreted his poor prayer as a plea for riches so he, in turn, could provide for those less fortunate. The whole notion of "a sign" is a throwback to pagan gods, I believe. There was so little evidence of their daily existence that "an omen" or "a sign" was called for to give proof of their existence. What need do we have of a sign? I was watching the hummingbirds at my feeders earlier this afternoon. Seemingly hundreds of them were swarming all around - darting, hovering, diving, and chasing each other all over the place. Who could see such a sight and deny the existence of God? As Jesus said, God sent us Moses and the Prophets, who proclaimed His coming and the salvation of mankind; who has need for more?
Dan,
Coincidentally, my pastor/preacher has a blog entry on this subject. Maybe you'd like to look in on his blog and read it,as well as the comments.
http://www.preachermike.com/2006/09/21/does-god-want-you-to-be-rich
Be interested in your comments on the comments and post.
In the Light of His, love, grace and mercy
Kathy,
Thanks for the heads-up about the post on "Preacher Mike." I cut and pasted my origninal thoughts and added a few others. Thanks! - Dan
It's ashame I didn't think about referring you to Mike's blog a bit sooner while others were still reading and commenting. But, as you can see, his blog moves pretty quickly so sometimes very good comments on previous entries can be lost in the high traffic of later ones.
His blog is one of my 'must read' each day. I haven't done much commenting lately due to getting this surgery over with.
I've always told Mike I'm his blog's non-sequitar. :) I have no roots here in Abilene - have never been to Searcy, AR so know nothing about Harding University [where he graduated] and have never been to Nashville, where he has spent so much time and goes most every year for a Zoe conference. i.e. When someone here mentions Rochester, I think New York state, when they are referring to Texas. LOL
If I'm going to make it to church tomorrow, guess I'd better start shutting it down for the night.
May your evening and Sunday be blessed with the joy of Him!!
Post a Comment