The Conflicting Nature of Christianity, Part #3

Earl Gillespie

The Conflicting Nature of Christianity

When Is A Miracle a Miracle?

Part #3 of 6

Matthew 5:45  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

What Jesus is saying here is the heavenly Father provide the basic necessities of life for all of his creation, stated simply, it rains on the just as well as the unjust.  These things are decreed by God  from the beginning and they proceed according to their natural course as defined by the laws of nature.  

Standing in the checkout line at the supermarket, I was privy to several conversations going on behind me.  Two ladies were talking about the many things God was doing, they were giving God praise for the miracles that he had performed.  From car repair, money in the bank to finding a job for a daughter, God was busy handing out blessing and performing miracles.   In today's modern society, it is fashionable to reverence God in all of our conversations.  From the wine-o standing on the corner talking about how much God love him, and the drugged out rock star, honoring God for the awards that was won, all are indications of how involved God is today.  In this conversation behind me, thanks were being given for being able to walk around and even seeing another day, yet there was no mention of thanking God for salvation.  I was not inspired by the conversation, I mean is God involved in the car repair business?

Those of us whose indoctrination has become tarnished, have taken a step backward and begun to ask the serious questions.  What is a miracle and is God still performing miracles?  Were these signs Apostostic signs that was necessary during the formative years of Christianity?   Did these signs depart with the death of the Apostles?  In part #4 of this study we will attempt to provide some of the answers to the many questions we have posed.

Once a typical healing service began with, "there is somebody here that has a headache, the Lord say come up here and get your healing."  Those of us who are properly indoctrinated into the church would not dare stand up and question the statement of the speaker, because the indoctrination of the church has taught,  never question what the Lord says, and if a person has the gall to say, "God said ", who are we to say he didn't.  This naive approach opened the door to the wolves in sheep clothes (fancy suits) to come in and scatter the flock.

Walking on water has never been easy, but there are reports where some have tried to perform this miracle to no avail.   Not too many people have the ability.  Let’s see, there’s Jesus, and well, that’s about it.  One preacher tried to prove that he had the power by building an underwater plexiglass stage.  On his first attempt the stage gave away, luckily he was saved by his deacon who was a part of the conspiracy. Unfortunately for one pastor on the West Coast of Africa, his attempt to make this impossible feat a reality cost him his life.  He referenced Matthew 14:22-33, he said that he received a revelation from God which told him that with enough faith he could achieve what Jesus was able to do. He took his congregation out to the beach.  He told them that he would cross the Kombo estuary by foot, which is normally a 20 minute boat ride. Sadly by the second step into the water he found himself completely submerged.  He never returned.

A self-proclaimed Prophet claimed to be able to do what the Daniel of the bible did by walking into a den full of lions.  He was warned numerous times by zoo keepers, the Prophet thought of them as nothing more than enemies of the Word of God.  The Prophet, with a crowd of people watching, put on a long red robe and with much fanfare proceeded to enter the cage full of lions. Within seconds of opening the door, the lions ripped the Prophet from flesh to bone.

A group of church missionaries formed a prayer group for the expressed purposed of conducting house to house prayer services.  They were known as the “prayer warriors”.   Soon afterward they began to testify about how through them God was working miracles.  First, there were healing miracles, then as time progressed, they began to raise people from the dead.   The only verification of these miracles were the words of one person’s testimony.  These missionaries  created a certain level of fear in the community, they also garnered a huge amount of respect within the local churches.   The test of their faith came when a local pastor, one who helped sponsor the group, died in the pulpit.  The call for the  prayer warriors to assemble went unanswered.   As one participant of the group remarked, “God gave you five senses”, as she turned her back on the grieving family. 

During the early sixties many so-called healers got rich preformed for the cameras on live television.  With slight of hand tricks and bloody chicken parts cancer surgery was performed on stage for millions to see.   The art of laying on of the hands became the mainstay of these fakers professions.   A quick movement of the hand, forcing the believer's head back at an angle where the person must make a choice of stepping back or falling down.  To step back to regain your balance was looked upon as resisting the power of God.   It was better to fall out on the floor and kick rather being labelled stiff necked and uncircumcised. 

At this juncture, I must ask the question again, what a miracle is.  This is an important question because Jesus performed many miracles during his ministry.  Today, many are begging for and proclaiming that God has performed a miracle.   When God performed a miracle he did it in such a manner that no one or nothing could explain it other than it was the works of God.  It was done in such a manner that God and only God could get the glory.   When Jesus healed the sick, there was no gradual healing process, he did not ask the sick to plant a seed of faith, out of love he spoke the word and it was done.  The sideshow performances of many professional healers have created a fairy tail concept of God that I am sure he is no more pleased than he was with Moses when Moses struck the rock.  Many churches  have integrated healing services into their worship service and invite people to throw money on the Alter when they come up to get their healing.  Sunday after Sunday these same people stand before the Alter to get a touch from God.  Is God doing what many are claiming he is doing? Is all of this repersentive of what Jesus did?  

When asked about the works of God, the response is, “If he did it once he can do it again.”    Now really, is this an accurate portrayal  of God?   Is this just another cute sound bite?  Why are we speaking of God in such abstract terms.  God parted the Red Sea, if he did it once he can do it again.  

 After going through surgery, radiation and chemo cancer treatments, am I suppose to testify of how God heal me.  Is it a miracle that I am a cancer survivor?  Many will say yes,  Is it a miracle that the sun rises in the morning or is this something God has already ordained from the beginning of time?  

Many beautiful messages are crafted by the intelligent minds seeking to explain how to tap into the power of God.   The blessing of God has been turned into a Multi-Level-Marketing scheme, it allows those at the top level to get rich on the backs those who exist on the bottom level.  To be effective, an avenue must be provided to allow the bottom level to move up the ladder, thus titles and positions are created, and the adage, “give and you shall receive” come into full play The concept of giving becomes a marker of your faith and your support as you move up the ladder.  The media is used to distribute pleas to the faithful to sow a seed of faith as special prayer services are conducted for those who respond.  Promises of healing and miracles are made based upon the sowing of your seed.  Is there anything about all of this in the remotest sense that seems to coincide with the actions of Jesus?  If the prosperity message of today is true, why didn’t Peter, James and John open up a fish market.  With the support of Jesus, they could have amassed a fortune.   Todays revelation teaches us that, “Sinners are poor and Christians are rich”, yet in the real world this is not true.   

When attending a funeral, somewhere amidst the tears and screams of sorrow the question "why" is  often asked of God.   To accept as a conclusion that God does not make mistakes is a statement of fact and it speaks to the abstracts nature of God, it is not the answer to the question of why.  Answering questions in the abstract, often lead to negativism.  If we accept the fairy tale assessment of life and death, that God is like a man walking around with a list, scratching people name off, then it is understandable  that we would ask God, “Why”, when sinners live long and prosperous lives.   Once that door is open then is it fair to ask God why he let the young child go flying thru the windshield of  its drunken mother’s car when she crashed into the utility pole?   It seems as if we can blame God for the things that are happening around us, we sort of let ourself of the hook.   Is there any consolation for the  drunk to say, “God knew what he was doing?”   Maybe, just maybe we ought to ask God to forgive us for the things that we have unjustly blamed him for.

We want to believe that God is directing and guiding the affairs of man.  It makes us feel good knowing that God is in control.  Once we make that assessment no one  who believe in God will dare say God is not in control.  What is the meaning of God being in control?  He most definitely was in control in the Garden of Eden, yet sin entered the garden.  Maybe being in control means God set the boundaries and he allows.  If this is true, then man’s free will does not always follow the direction of God.   God is in control might just mean He can bring this madness to an end whenever he choose to do so. 

Ecclesiastes 9:11  I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

Next 

Part #4

What Is True Faith?