EIGHT REASONS WHY THE NIGERIAN PROSPERITY GOSPEL IS EVIL Matt 6:24 No man can serve two masters:..Ye cannot serve God and mammon. KJV THE TRUTH: Except we put money, mammon, in its place, we cannot serve God acceptably; we cannot please him. While money is useful and valuable, it is not a measure of whether God is pleased with a person or not. There are many poor Christians that God is pleased with just as there are also rich Christians with whom God is pleased. There are many rich Christians that God is angry with, just as there are many poor Christians that God is unhappy with. The weight of our wallet does not determine where we stand with God and should not determine our standing, position and role in church. Gain should not be equated to godliness. Sadly, this is not the case. THE BALANCED PROSPERITY GOSPEL IS GOOD AND ORDAINED OF GOD. But this prosperity gospel of Nigeria is evil. You may not like this statement; it may in fact offend you. We take no pleasure in offence. But the truth must be told. The Nigerian prosperity gospel is evil for the following 8 reasons: 1. GOD IS NOT AGAINST RICHES, NEITHER IS HE AGAINST THE RICH. IT IS OKAY TO PROSPER. However, God clearly warns against the danger of riches. And He counsels caution in the quest for riches. The Nigerian prosperity gospel is evil because it applies no brakes at all. There is no caution. The voice of restraint is barely audible. As a result, Christians engage in all manner of compromise on their jobs and in their business without any remorse. 2. A balanced prosperity teaching puts righteousness as a priority ahead of prosperity. The Nigerian prosperity gospel is evil because it places prosperity and righteousness as peers or co-equals. This is a major error as the scripture is clear on the proper order; righteousness is priority ahead of prosperity. This error is seductively and deceptively attractive as it appears harmless. Satan is deceptively cunning. Knowing that many may easily resist expressly putting prosperity ahead of righteousness; rather Satan initially moderates the dilution by putting righteousness and prosperity on the same pedestal. But it is bait, and once you fall into it, unrighteousness, bribery, corruption and mammon then gradually overtake righteousness until righteousness is substantially relegated in the pursuit of prosperity. In a country such as Nigeria where a demand to pay or give a bribe awaits you almost at every turn in both private and public sectors, a balanced prosperity teaching must equip the Christian to forgo and walk away from the biggest contracts and juiciest opportunities rather than compromise or sin. The Nigerian prosperity gospel is evil because it does not emphasize that gain must not be at the expense of righteousness, nor at the expense of our souls, neither at the expense of pleasing God. 3. A balanced prosperity teaching makes it clear that God is neither against the poor nor the rich. Neither poverty nor riches disqualify or qualify from heaven. This is done by teaching contentment along with prosperity The Nigerian prosperity gospel is evil because it does not teach contentment. If you fail to come out of poverty in spite of your best efforts, you could feel dejected instead of contented. Prosperity teachings must teach contentment to both the rich and the poor. The Nigerian prosperity gospel is evil because contentment is a very scarce word in its lexicon. The poor could be dejected while the rich may not observe the scriptural limits. 4. A balanced prosperity gospel gives significant heed to God’s special consideration for the poor, the widows and the orphans. He loves them. In fact, He requires the church and the rich to ensure that the widows, orphans and the poor are adequately provided for. In the Book of Acts where the Early Church banished poverty so that there was none poor, there were still widows who complained about distribution. This shows that distribution was a key part of the achievement of this zero-poverty feat, not just acquisition. Within just four chapters of Acts, the Early Church achieved a zero-poverty feat that the United Nations hasnt achieved in 70 years, and which the Nigerian church hasnt achieved in 30 years of preaching this evil prosperity gospel. This Early Church had no place for dishonest offerings not to talk of corrupt money: Ananias and Sapphira were dishonest, not corrupt. And the Early Church wasnt preaching prosperity; in fact they were preaching Christ. In contemporary application, an accurate prosperity gospel will ensure that every qualified poor child can pass through mission schools and universities with ease; that the rich empower the aspiring throng of unemployed and small businesses with low-cost capital, granting them an escape from the injurious, destructive, usurious rates of the Nigerian banks; that Christian girls in school have no need for compromise because of lack etc. The Nigerian prosperity gospel is evil because acquisition is emphasized ten times more than distribution. In the countries living on the wisdom of the scriptures, the Scandinavians particularly, even though they are not overtly Christian, the wisdom of God’s Economics on the importance of a balance between distribution and acquisition is admirably at work. Those countries enjoy the highest quality of life, ahead of America, and Western Europe. WE AFFIRM AGAIN THAT GOD IS NOT AGAINST RICHES, NEITHER IS HE AGAINST THE RICH. IT IS OKAY TO PROSPER. BUT THE CALL OF THE CHRISTIAN IS TO PROSPER LEGITIMATELY. A CHRISTIAN MUST BE AN EXAMPLE OF INTEGRITY AND ETHICS. The situation of Nigeria is a disgrace to the gospel. A nation with such a mushrooming of churches and Christians should not be experiencing the kind of corruption, moral decadence, poverty and suffering prevalent in Nigeria. THIS EVIL PROSPERITY GOSPEL IS ONE OF THE ROOT CAUSES. If the church forsakes these lies and accepts the truth, not only will the church be restored, Nigeria will experience transformation and speedily achieve its destiny as the point of reference for the African race, demonstrating that the Negro is not inferior to any other. SCRIPTURES Mark 8:36-37 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? 37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? KJV 1 Tim 6:5-10 5 useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself. 6 Now godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. NKJV 1 Tim 6:9 But people who long to be rich soon begin to do all kinds of wrong things to get money, things that hurt them and make them evil-minded and finally send them to hell itself. Living Bible Matt 19:23-26 And Jesus said to His disciples, Truly I say to you, it will be difficult for a rich man to get into the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go into the kingdom of heaven. 25 When the disciples heard this, they were utterly puzzled (astonished, bewildered), saying, Who then can be saved [from eternal death]? 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, With men this is impossible, but all things are possible with God. Amplified Bible Acts 4:32-34 All the believers were of one heart and mind, and no one felt that what he owned was his own; everyone was sharing. 33 And the apostles preached powerful sermons about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and there was warm fellowship among all the believers, 34-35 AND NO POVERTY-for all who owned land or houses sold them and brought the money to the apostles to give to others in need. Living Bible Acts 6:1 But with the believers multiplying rapidly, there were rumblings of discontent. Those who spoke only Greek complained that their widows were being discriminated against, that they were not being given as much food in the daily distribution as the widows who spoke Hebrew. Living Bible
Posted on: Thu, 05 Dec 2013 04:38:27 +0000
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