By  Patricia Backora   


The prosperity gospel has been in vogue since the 70’s. It is built on the flimsy foundation a few favorite Scriptures yanked out of context and embellished with carnival rhetoric. Prosperity Theology plays on the greed and fears of the multitudes. The good seed of the Gospel planted into receptive hearts becomes money seed planted into bulging Judas bags passed around the auditorium. One hundred-fold return on that seed doesn’t mean a great harvest of souls. [/b]Now it’s a religious roulette wheel: Give a hundred bucks, get ten thousand back. Church has become a very respectable casino, with every head bowed and every eye closed. [b]But all eyes are OPEN when the offering is taken up. Jesus must have been only kidding when He told people to give in secret.

Certain Scriptures are very unpopular with preachers who crave money and power over others. Spiritual abusers won’t let God’s people go without a fight, so they either keep quiet about these Scriptures or alter their meaning to keep the money coming toward the altar. Some contemporary church practices actually conflict with New Testament Scripture.

Some exuberant “faith preacher” might jump up and down and shout: “Praise the Lord! Y’all take out the biggest bill in your wallet and wave it high while we sing and dance! The greater the sacrifice the greater the blessing!” (Contrary to popular belief, Scripture does NOT say “the bigger the sacrifice the bigger the blessing”!) We’re blessed in proportion to our generosity in giving WHAT WE CAN OUT OF WHAT WE HAVE to meet legitimate needs (Luke 6:38; 2 Cor.8:11-15). Giving sacrificially (to meet true need) is one thing, but “giving sacrifices” to increase the flow of blessings from heaven is another. We can’t purchase God’s mercy through “making sacrifices”. God meets our needs on the basis of grace through faith in the ONE sacrifice of His own Son. By ONE offering (Gk. prosphora, sacrificial offering) God has ALREADY perfected forever those who are sanctified (Heb.10:14). If Jesus’ one-time offering of Himself is sufficient to please God, it should be good enough for the preacher! Where blessing His needy children is concerned, God is not limited by their inability to sacrifice their children’s milk money for the church building fund.

[b]“Wave offerings” (visible vows) are sometimes conducted in big Prosperity churches, to stir up a groundswell of emotion and “sacrificial” giving. [/b]This is a prime example of mixing modified Old Covenant ritual with New Testament church life. Taking Christian worship “back to its Jewish roots” is a work of the flesh, which loves religious ”enrichment”. Paul discouraged the use of Jewish rituals as aids to Christian faith (see Gal.4:9-11). Giving a “wave offering” supposedly hearkens back to the Wave offerings made by the Jewish High Priest. Only Aaron and his priestly descendants were ever commanded by God to offer up wave offerings. No one is EVER commanded to make any type of “wave offering” under the New Covenant. Jesus is the ONLY High Priest of our New Covenant (Heb.7:24, 28). Jesus fulfilled all Old Testament Temple ceremonies, including the wave sheaf (of wheat) offering. Jesus is the Bread of Life (John 6:35), the firstfruits of the Resurrection (I Cor.15:20). Because Jesus fulfilled the Mosaic Law and abolished its ordinances (Eph.2:15; Col.2:14), there is no further need for wave offerings to be made to God! Whenever some preacher demands wave offerings of any type, he is asking you to act out a DENIAL that Christ brought this ordinance to an end! Besides, money was NEVER offered as a wave offering under either covenant, and I’m sure Jesus doesn’t wave money around before the Throne of Grace in His ministry as High Priest! Making up neat new religious rites to supplement what Christ has done, in order to gain God’s favor thereby, seems like a cute idea, but it only displeases Him. God is witnessing a lot of preachers “offering up strange fire” in churches today (Lev.10:1-2). Could this help explain why so many of God’s dear children suffer chastisements instead of getting the blessings the preacher promised for going along with him?

What would Jesus say to people who are told to wave their hundred-dollar “sacrifice” around for all to see, with great pomp and fanfare, and musicians playing?

Matt.6:1: Take heed that ye do not your alms (charitable acts) before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.* * *OUCH! There goes your big hundred-fold windfall!

Verse 2: Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.* * *The rush you get from the “praise music” is ALL the reward you can expect from God for flashing your Ben Franklin in the air for all to see!

Verse 3: BUT WHEN THOU DOEST THINE ALMS, LET NOT THY LEFT HAND KNOW WHAT THY RIGHT HAND DOETH.* * * I’ve heard this verse butchered before by preachers trying to explain it away. They say: Don’t let your sinister left hand argue your righteous right hand out of dipping into your pocket for your billfold and picking out your biggest bill!” What unholy boldness!

Verse 4: THAT THINE ALMS MAY BE IN SECRET: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.* * *Unless everybody else in view of you is blind as a bat, you CAN’T wave half your salary around and still keep it a secret! Plus, you make your poor jobless brother waving a fiver feel like a cheapskate! And if there’s a lost sinner present, he might just wave HIS arms too…to pinch it from you!

Prosperity preachers love glitzy display in “worship”. And their mouths really do water when they see that sea of green bills flashing out in the assembly, ripe and ready to harvest in their big Judas bags!

NOT ONCE have I ever heard this Scripture preached from any pulpit:
3 John 7: Because that for his name’s sake they went forth, taking NOTHING from the Gentiles.* * *Here John is commending certain brethren who went forth to minister to Gentiles (non-Jews). Those evangelists didn’t “collect the offering” in their services. Now that’s what I call “practicing what you preach” and living by faith!

Obey them that have the rule over you (Heb.13:17). Dictatorial preachers DO love this one, and mention it often. But the spectators out in the pews must never get wise to what the original Greek meant by “obey” (Gk. peitho, to be persuaded by). God’s people are to allow themselves to be persuaded by the unfeigned Word of God coming forth through the ministries of the elders (more mature believers) He sets into the assembly. God will hold a believer accountable if he/she turns a deaf ear to that godly wisdom. But if any man, however prestigious his position, preaches bizarre or oppressive doctrine which contradicts Scripture, you must NOT be persuaded by what he says! When push comes to shove, you must obey GOD rather than men (Acts 5:29).

Far from setting a hierarchy of seminary-educated ministers to rule over the rest of the church as overlords, Jesus forbids His disciples to call themselves by lofty titles which set them in a class above the other believers.

Matt.23:8: But be not ye called Rabbi (master): for One is your Master, even Christ; AND ALL YE ARE BRETHREN.
Verse 9: And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
Verse 10: Neither be ye called masters; for one is your Master, even Christ.
Verse 11: But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.

Jesus instructed His people to relate on an equal level as brothers and sisters. If Jesus forbade the afore-mentioned titles, how much more does He disapprove of human ministers appropriating to themselves the title “Reverend”. That word appears only once in Scripture, and it refers only to God Himself (Psalms 111:9). Many preachers DO play God with their parishioners’ consciences when it suits their shady ends. They think more highly of themselves than they ought to (Rom.12:3).

Instead of “the greatest” in the church serving the brethren in humility, the typical pastor of the mighty mega-church (and his privileged staff) drives the fanciest car, wears the most expensive jewelry and clothes, lives in the finest home(s), and demands that those lower on the totem pole who are struggling to make ends meet go out and work harder to keep the money rolling in! How’s that for service!

If any preacher tries to force you to “tithe”, or give a certain amount, he is way out of order. The New Testament teaches freewill giving only. Scripture does not teach monetary tithing in either testament. The apostles never command Christian believers to tithe. Old Covenant priests did not tithe. All believers in Christ belong to His New Covenant Priesthood (I Pet.2:5,9). For all these reasons and more, no preacher has the right to bully you with threats of hell fire for failure to tithe! A few “prosperity preachers” lambaste non-tithers from the pulpit, instilling fear, depression, unfounded guilt and despair in their souls. Such preachers are only weaving their own noose for that day they’ll have to answer to the Lord!

This ONE verse should be enough to forever rid a Christian of the feeling that he/she isn’t “as good as” the preacher in the pulpit who is threatening them with God’s judgment for non-tithing TO THEM:

I Cor.6:17: But he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit.* * *This truth is not to be twisted to legitimize the current “little gods” heresy. We can never be our own god! We are creatures, not the Creator! We have been joined to Jesus. He imparts the graces of His nature into our own regenerated spirit, like the vine imparting life to the branches which are connected to it (John 15:1-. And If you’re one spirit with JESUS, then how can any other believer pull rank on you and demand your money? You owe them nothing but love (Rom. 13:. If the preacher is hungry, feed him. But don’t feed his lusts! If you love your brother and sister with the love of Jesus, you’ve fulfilled the Law! What more can any Christian ask of you?
Author Resource:- Patricia writes stories and well-researched articles which address controversial issues in the Christian church. Scripture CORRECTLY APPLIED IN CONTEXT to New Covenant believers must decide matters of faith and practice.

http://banpreachergreed.tripod.com

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