The Selling Of The Christ Part #3

As a struggling Christian, I find it hard to believe in much of the rhetoric emulating from the household of faith. There is a type of gullibility  that has always existed within the ranks of Christianity, but to have it preyed upon by enterprising preachers or gospel entertainers is a bit much.   The evolution of worship services and gospel music should be cause for alarm, yet, it is accepted as the signs of changing times.   The merging of the music genre is more acceptable to those who are seeking to pollute the Word of God.  A classic example is that of a Gospel singer years ago prefaced one of his songs with, "This is for those of you who say gospel music has gone too far."  Today this gospel singer openly profess to have lost his religion.  

The Social Media is flooded with enterprising messengers of God claiming that the key to God's blessings is typing "Amen" to their status that makes vague promises.  The number of people who buy into this type of idolatry is astounding.  The church has evolved into a place to come and get blessings, yet Jesus never said, "Blessed is he who go to church."  Jesus promised blessings in the Kingdom of God. 

At the onset of Jesus ministry, he warned his followers that they would come in sheep clothes.  Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.  What is sheep clothes? They look like what we are indoctrinated into believing a messenger of God should look like.  The carry the title of the clergy or worship leaders and they preface their false messages with, "God said".  No God-fearing Christian in good standing would dare stand up and say, "God didn't say that".   What are "ravening wolves"? They are hungry wolves looking for something to eat, they sell you a false Gospel.

In the Garden of Eden, the Devil made a striking presentation of explaining what God said. Today, the trend is to sell God through a process of entertainment and promises of wealth and well-being.  To promote itself, the church has taken on the nature of the Casino and night club.  If you want to win you got to spend and let's get down and praise God, because when praises go up blessings come down.  It is a part of human nature that we buy into this perverse, and enticing promises.  In the face of the promises of prosperity and favors it is easy to forget that when the devil approached Jesus, he offered him all of the richness of this world.   Jesus made it clear on a number of occasions, that his Kingdom was not of this world.  If this is true, then why are we being promised all the things that Jesus rejected.

Is there a lack of understanding of the Word of God or is it simply a lack of faith?   If we truly believed in God would we take such a cavalier approach to his Word and his works?  If we really understood the purpose of the creation, would we pervert the knowledge of God to build our own little kingdom here on earth? The believability of God is at an all-time low, yet churches are amassing a fortune and building magnificent sanctuaries.  Many have their own private interpretation of the scripture and it is often proclaimed as a fresh message from God.  There are so many proclamations's made in the name of God until those on the outside looking in are beginning to wonder if God really exist or do he keeps his promises. The problem of Christianity against the world has taken on a new flavor,  Christianity has turned on itself. 

The church that Jesus once spoke so highly of has allowed itself to  become highjacked and become a bastion of selfish pride.  Men and women are seeking to exert a type of rulership over God's people. Churches that have stood the test of time are now being divided and plundered, even destroyed from within by enterprising preachers seeking to establish a quorum and thereby securing a seat of power.  They possess a desire to exercise their man-given power within communities without having even having a knowledge of the community they are supposed to serve.  There is a scripture condemnation of this type of action but it is among the overlooked letters to the churches from Jesus. 

John MacAuthor wrote: The church has not only stopped talking about sin, it has stopped talking about eternal life.  Everything is about a fix here and now.  The gospel doesn't promise to fix you here.  You may have a bad marriage till you die, you may have bad kids till you die.  You may have cancer and die before you thought you would die.  You may lose all of your money in the stock market, your house might burn down.  Jesus doesn't promise to fix that. Contrary to what you hear from health, wealth and prosperity teachers, the only people who seem to be getting wealthy of that are the ones who take your money.  The gospel does not promise that.  But it does promise eternal life.   

Many organized churches are capitalizing on the art of raising money and the sheep of God's pasture are being victimized.  Knowingly and unknowingly the gospel according to, "The Rev. Ike", has become an integral part of many pastors' messages.  Salvation is about giving and planting a seed is the price of salvation.  Bible verses are often surgically removed from their supporting scriptural and taken out of the context of which they were spoken and view from an alien perspective.  It is a process of making the Bible say what we want it to say and preying on the indoctrination or the gullibility of the Christian belief.  Worship services are taking on the flavor and flair of a Beyonce performance.  Pastors, preachers and teachers have elevated themselves to a position where they walk and talk with God on a  daily basis, yet the messages received are often conflicting.

Many of today's preachers have mastered, "The Art of Preaching", and their ability to preach is based on how well they can bring a crowd to an arousing climax.    

I attended a large prayer service that consisted of hundreds of people.  The services were advertised as the place to come for miracles and blessings.  The conductor of the services was a young energetic man who wore loud colored clothes.  After delivering his message, he continued to address the crowd.  “The Lord said” he began, “There is somebody in here that has a headache, the Lord says come on up here and get your healing.”   Then the Lord would speak again and he would say, “There is somebody in here that has a backache come up here and get your healing.”  People would rush to claim their healing.  This young man was elevated to the position od a great healer throughout the communities he visited.  It was not long before some people began to see thru this ‘shotgun approach’.  

To use the words “somebody” and “a headache” in a crowd of a few, you are bound to hit “somebody with a headache”.  A person high on drugs could pull that act off.  I do not believe the God that I need and as powerful as the one I am looking for needs this type of showmanship.   God punished Moses for performing an act of showmanship.  These are the working of ‘bad actors’, which it is up to God to judge, but they have caused many people to turn and flee from God.  This is not a plausible excuse and it will not stand up before God, but I will say it, “My God they made me run from you.” 

The world situation is not changing for the better, yet more and more people are praying for God’s intervention.  Jewish customs and celebrations are superseding the work of the cross and we are claiming a year of Jubilee.  There are promisings being made in the name of God for the purpose of self-promotion and edification.

The works of God is  trivialized, and he is restoring wealth and family values, he even brings peace to our communities.  Yet, according to Jesus, in the "last days" these things would not be.   Luke 12:51  Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:  The coming of the Kingdom of Heaven has been redefined and we are living in it now, thus, there is no reason for Christ to return.  The justification of our desires through the shaping of the scripture is nothing new, the devil introduced this ploy in the Garden of Eden.  Christian values are eroding because we are being taught that God wants us to be happy.   Alternate lifestyles are on the increase and even acceptable in many assemblies.  The gullibility of Christianity allows us to justify it in the name of God. 

Many churches have become pawns of the government and the breeding ground for corruption and political aspirations.  We are building immaculate sanctuaries at an alarming rate, and it seems that God is issuing new directives every day.  Political correctness through faith-based initiatives is strictly enforced.   We speak in God’s name and of a God who shows love without punishment and justice, as a new way of life.  “God loves me,” has become an excuse and a metaphor for the ungodly.