Against materialistic “faith”

Though it is important to tolerate theological mistakes here and there, so people can have time to spiritually grow right and their heavenly egg can be hatched from the inside rather than being broken from the outside, it is important to stand and oppose the prosperity gospel and associated faith on materialism without any hesitation.

 

I do think and I do know there are several “persons of God” who are talking to the evil one rather than God. When you listen to what they say and talk about, you can sense the radioactive trace of the evil one in their assumed communication with the Heavenly Father, the Holly Spirit, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and some even claim that they talk to old prophets from the good book (the Bible). With proper noise to smell, the stinky odor of the evil one is not hard to trace within them. 

 

Yet, I don’t think such influence is only concentrated on those who advocate the prosperity gospel and I don’t think all those who focus on the prosperity gospel, implicitly or explicitly, are working for the evil one. In reality, the evil one is everywhere pretending to be X and against X at the same time. He ignites fire through heresy and he also comes with against-heresy fuel to create a wildfire. The end is to build sin, hate, fight, anger, and heresy in the temple of the lord and assembly of the lord.

 

If I say all are not children of the evil one, some may honestly ask: how Jesus can speak contradictory things than what is written in the Bible? If Jesus despised materialism 2000 years ago, how can he promote the prosperity gospel now? This is a questionable question. Because, it claims the infallibility of our preaching and assumes all those who point fingers are without theological mistakes in the past, in the present, and the future. If you can make minor and major mistakes in your life of faith and preaching, you need to expect others to be as weak as you are, as wrong that you will be some time, and that they may believe heresy here and there as you did in some part of your faithful life. Spiritual growth is a process dear and nobody completed this process to be infallible and perfect, except the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

What we preach is not 100% the word of God, otherwise, it would be part of the Bible. God speaks through us but sometimes what God is speaking is to show others our biases and mistakes so they could be good brothers and sisters who will help us. Often when people preach the wrong theology, I always put them in a reflection mirror to reinterpret their preaching against themselves. I assume God is speaking against their wrong preaching and often it makes sense. Besides, sometimes God allows us to be us, even Paul was saying this is my message and this is from God. If everything that is from the mouth of Paul is not a word of God, who are we?

 

Wrong theology is not a measure of bad faith, after all even Paul started as an antichrist. Even when many people are following the wrong theology, you can sense the Jesus in them, the heavenly seed in them, and the good heart in them. As God picks us from the world to clean us, they just need another cleaning mighty hand of God to get right. They just have the wrong education, wrong exposure, wrong foundation, and when God says it is enough, their error will end with the mighty hand of God. Besides, the organizational structure of the assemblies of the lord, which demands huge resources to stay afloat, and the luxury of life that many persons of God are accustomed to also promote such a materialist tone of preaching. It is a disgusting vicious cycle of materialism that needs an external hand to escape from.

 

That is why I do not think all prosperity gospel followers, explicitly or implicitly, are of the evil one. Yet, many good faithful are - explicitly or implicitly – part of this heresy. Though we respect and love the Jesus in them, it is necessary to oppose such absurd theology without hesitation and reservation. The good question is: why is it critical not to tolerate such heresy when we can tolerate other heresies?

The main problems of this wrong theology are two of a kind. One is that it makes people material oriented than heaven-oriented. Rather than contemplating the word of God, the holiness of God, the law of God, and the perfection of God to imitate him through the love of God, love of fellow faithful, love of neighbors, and love of enemies; they will focus on materialistic accumulation. When the world is trying to make them without the Sunday of God so they can run after earthly things, 24/7, to buy things that never last, the assembly which is supposed to build their heavenly rest in God’s Sunday is preaching to them about the life of the workdays too.  

 

The world is about money and the church is about money. They are trying to make them wealthy enough so they can have everything they want, prosperity dears. Yet God sees they are necked and they are really broke and really poor. They give up God’s Sunday and his eternal peace of mind and rest to chase after useless material things. They are not writing the word of God in their heart, mind, soul, forehead, and hands, and they do not hold their faith on their sleeve; no, they have a car in their heart, money in their mind, materialism on their soul, and prosperity gospel on their forehead.   

 

Is poverty evil? Yes, and you can see it on them. Poverty can turn a chosen person of God and make him run after useless things. If poverty can destroy them, it is evil. Yet, there is more problem with the prosperity gospel. Imagine you become poor for whatever reason. Guess sickness happens to you. What if bad people attack you and destroy you? If your heart is built around the prosperity gospel, what will you do? You will be holding your account book running after “major” prophets to open gates of money. You will be crying 24/7 about money, materialism, and the lost prosperity while being angry at God. Imagine the children of Jacob crying about the onion of Egypt than being mesmerized by the mighty hand of God.   

 

This is not Sunday of God, dears. We are called to join Sunday of God, peace of God, and rest of God, and this is by buying eternal food, the lord Jesus Christ, for free; yet we just want our weekdays to work for food that never lasts. Sunday of God is to have peace of the Holy Spirit in your heart and to know that there is the Heavenly Father, with the Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus, and all army of God, watching your back.

 

Your peace is not on your car, your security is not on your bank account, your assurance is not your prosperity, and your firm ground is not on this earth. Your firm ground is God. What you desire and seek the most in your heart and spirit is the kingdom of heaven and holiness. Your mind and spirit are focused on the kingdom of heaven like Jesus was and is. What you think, work, focus, and live on is about the kingdom of heaven and the work of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus did it, and that is perfection to be followed. Your daily meal should be doing the work of the heavenly father, as man does not live by food only but by everything that comes from the mouth of God.  

 

Then everything you need, not necessarily what you want, will be added to you as God sees fit. If needed, God can give you a new white cloth in an instant but you do not rap about your white cloth 24/7 like a little rapper. After you descend from the mountain with your three disciples and your new white cloth, you will focus on the kingdom of God, not the white cloth, per se. You can feed thousands from thin air and they may want to anoint you as king, yet looking at what they desire, which is materialistic rather than spiritual, you will make sure they are kicked out from your kingdom. The kingdom of heaven is not about white shining cloth, not about bread and fish, or your kingdom on earth, it is about making sure the will of the heavenly father is done on earth as it is done in heaven. Be a messenger of God, solder of God, and ambassador of God, therefore. God is delighted in holiness so be holy, God is merciful so be merciful, and God is judge, yet do not be judgmental but a builder of your brothers and sisters.         

 

Can the prosperity gospel make you such a person? This is what is wrong with the prosperity gospel. After all, it is not the gospel of prosperous people but the gospel of poor people and not so rich nations aspiring more material wealth, and it is the gospel of indebted and declining nations. I do not think extremely rich people talk 24/7 about money, shoes, clothes, cars, and prosperity. It is the talking point of poor people aspiring to be wealthy and not a talk of too wealthy people. Besides, it is not gospel for those who are poor in spirit. It is not a gospel for those who want to know God better to imitate him better by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is not gospel for those who want to live the life of the lord, think like the lord, see like the lord, and are thirsty for heaven. It is not for those hungry for the Sunday of God.

 

In the case of the real faithful, yes everything will be added on us, as God sees fit, but our faith is in God not in what is odd. Whether poor or rich, clothed or necked, hated or respected, sitting on the crown or hanged on the cross, weak or strong, and connected or isolated, what matters the most is that we know God and God has our back. That is why our gospel is about spirit, not materialism, about eternal food than earthly food, about kingdom heaven than earthly kingdom. May God open the eyes of all lost children of God.