 |
| Earl Gillespie |
A Church In Denial
Just take a moment and think
"The Emperor's New Clothes" is a story
by Hans Christian Andersen. This story was
first published on 7 April 1837. It is
the story of a proud emperor who does
not see what is obvious until he hears the truth from a child. The story tells of an emperor who cares for
nothing but new clothes. He hires two swindlers who promise him the finest suit
of clothes that money could buy. It will be made from a fabric invisible to anyone who is unfit for
his position or "hopelessly stupid". The Emperor's ministers cannot
see the clothing, but pretend that they can for fear of appearing stupid or unfit
for their positions. The emperor does the same.
Finally, the swindlers report that the suit is finished. They pretend to
dress Emperor. He marches in procession before his subjects. The townsfolk play
along with the pretense because they did not wish to appear stupid. Then a child in the crowd cries out that the
Emperor is wearing nothing at all. The
moral of this story is that many will see and they will question things, but they
will not openly acknowledge that something is wrong.
Strangely, we know
very little about what people actually pray about when they have closeted
session with God. In an open prayer session we usually follow the route of the
prayer leader, screaming and using repetitions
and vain words as if this will force God to act. I much prefer those moments alone, those private
conversations they are the ones that matters most. Most times during open prayer sessions we are
asking our Father to do things that if he answered according to our demand we
would become lifted up in our pride, as we would be looked upon as a great
prayer warrior. Still, too many so-called
prayers have become like a roll of the dice, if we keep asking and saying we
believe it is going to happen, it just might happen. Even when you are loosing in the provincial
game of dice. Let me quickly state
before I am cast aside as an infidel, prayer, "I mean real prayer, serious
prayer" can be the greatest force within our lives. It is powerful and it works! Prayer is an intimate conversation with our
Father. Jesus established the criteria for REAL PRAYER but it seem to be overlooked by many, especially when it is used to collect money.
Let's examine what real prayer should not be.
Matthew 6:5-8 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as
the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the
corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you,
They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and
when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy
Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use
not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be
heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your
Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
Prayer infuses hope, but care must be
Exercised because hope is a saleable attribute. It is hope that drives the gambler to roll the dice one more
time. Part of the problem with our
prayers is that we keep asking God to do things and when the things we asked
for does not materialize we spout anecdotes, relay hearsay in the form of
second-hand accounts, or – increasingly – cite pithy Listicles of dubious merit.
Maybe we should cry out, "Lord
teach me how to pray" then sit back and let the Holy Spirit guide us in
the way of the truth. If we allowed the
Holy Spirit to guide us we would realize that God is not an ATM God giving out cars and find homes. God is a God salvation and judgment. If the Holy Spirit guided us, we would spend less time praying for world peace and ask for the fruit of the spirit.
I know that there are many who have found
themselves in situations where they asked God for something and these requests
did not materialize. We were encouraged
to keep on waiting because, "he might not come when we want him, but he is
always on time." Many asked God "why," only to
feel neglected because there was no
booming voice shouting out answers. A pastor who allegedly committed suicide is purportedly to have uttered these words, “I try to pray but I don’t feel like God is hearing me. I try to serve
but I don’t feel like God is using me. And there are times in your life when
God purposely withdraws from you, he doesn’t withdraw for the sake of leaving
you but he withdraws so you can grow and mature,” I ask you, Is he the only one that have become confused
and disoriented in a web of confusion? Is
the God that we created living up to our expectation?
The indoctrination of Christianity began with,
"let the church say amen", and continues with "look at somebody
and tell them..." Modern day Christian indoctrination teaches us
many things about out our Father that is not scriptural. If we would do a serious verse by verse study
of God Word rather that trying to make it say what we want it to say, we would
realize that much of what we are told is nothing but a figment of some people's
imagination. Now why would I make a
statement like that? Why is so much
energy expended trying to convince the mass that all you have to do is ask God
and, "poof", it happens. If
this were true then there would not be any need to convince people that it was
true. If this was true then it would
destroy the money making potential of those who dedicate their lives trying to
show you how to get stuff from God. If this was true the Christians would become fat lazy slobs laying around waiting for God to take care of them. The
truth is, if we read the entire chapter of Matthew 7: we would see that Matthew
7: 7 it is not a blank check. As a
matter of fact to understand Matthew 7: 7 we should begin reading at Matthew 5:
1 and continuing through Matthew 7: 29.
The social media are filled with the things that
God is doing. One cannot help but be impressed with the activity of the
loving Father as he cares for his wayward children. The ministers of God
are preaching new and improved doctrines, doctrines that are designed to facilitate
hope and stimulate euphoria in an earthly paradise. Promises are being made and many are
testifying that these promises will be delivered. If you are in need, plant a seed. If you need a car ask God for it. Need money, plant a seed and ask God to let
it grow. Yet it seems somewhat strange
that with all of this getting and giving there is such a great exodus from the
church. There are more and better
promises being made today than there was during my formative years, yet church
attendance has not improved. A greater
percentage of our younger people are opting out of the church, following a life
of crime and the church is in denial.
Matthew 6:19-20
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth
corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where
thieves do not break through nor steal:
Listening to the testimonies of the blessed we
could easily assume that Christians are rich and sinners are poor. God wants you to be rich. This should be one of the greatest drawing
cards of Christianity, but it is not working.
When the testimony goes forth extolling the blessing of God, is the
response the result of christian experience or religious indoctrination. How many people have prayed for that blessing
and waited on that blessing only to be told, "he may not come when you
want him but he is always on time."
This answer is the result of indoctrination, it is not an answer based
upon christian experience. It is not a faith building answer, neither do it
explain how God works thru (REAL) prayer, but most who hear or use this cliche is
ashamed or afraid to admit the truth. Remember
the child who cried out that the Emperor is wearing nothing at all.
The gospel as it is presented today offer hope
for great financial achievement, this gospel is called the prosperity gospel
and it is based upon the multi-level-marketing concept. New gimmick are dreamed up, wolves have come
in among the flock and the shepherds of the flock has been fooled. Hustlers have come among the flock and made a
fortune selling prayer cloths and other paraphernalia all claiming to have the
anointing of God upon them.
At the turn of the century men of ill repute
would travel across the country claiming to be ministers, conducting revivals
and collecting money from unsuspecting churches. With the establishment of a communication
network through the use of telephones this scam became hard to pull off. Soon, down South many of the scam artists
found themselves on the wrong end of a shotgun after being caught taking
advantage of some poor farmer's daughter and ran out of town. The early sixties brought a flood of direct
mail scams, one preacher, if I might call him that wrote letters stating that
he had angels delivering messages to him.
These messages were directed to his follower and to get the rest of the
message they were encouraged to send a small offering. He amassed a fortune and was not ashamed to
flaunt it. Local pastors became
concerned about their members contributing to these ministries and exposing
them became a focal point of their messages.
The problem did not begin or end here, as Jesus
had spoken of wolves coming in among the flock, the problems began to multiply
as more and more people began to realize the God fearing people were easy to
take advantage of. A person that truly
feared God would not lie on or about God
or use his name in vain, but those that did not fear him would not hesitate to
use his name in vain. This is what God said about the children of Israel
before he divorced them. Jeremiah
4:22 For my people is foolish, they have
not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they
are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. Prior to this assessment God had this to say,
Jeremiah 3:8 And I saw, when for all the
causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and
given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but
went and played the harlot also. a
divorce brings about a termination of a relationship, yet it does not prevent
the divorcee from pretending that there still is a relationship.
To be continued
No comments:
Post a Comment