The past two decades, witnessed a good number of “conventional Christians”, like yours truly, make an exodus to the New Age Gospel Churches.
In its wake, a considerable number of non-churchgoers, and “unbelievers” (the term used for those who are outside the circle of Christianity), also joined the movement, confirming a revolution of sort in The Kingdom here on earth.It was exciting, far removed from what many would refer to as “The Old Time Religion.”
Unlike the old time religion which was preached on the premise of “your reward is in Heaven,” the new time religion preached of rewards abounding here on earth, with an even greater measure in Heaven.
The new religion preached of a God, who could be reached and felt 24/7. Unlike the older churches that had conditioned our minds (or so we thought), to a God of Sundays, the new religion emphasised a God of every day.
I was drawn to the excitement of knowing God, not just as my personal Lord and Saviour – the first realisation, of becoming “born again!”
I was also fascinated by the fact that God wasn’t (isn’t) as far away as it seemed we were made to believe.
And Jesus, Sweet Jesus, could be my friend, in the true sense of it! That was awesome! So, like many others, I was drawn to this new time religion.
Like many others, we gave it our all – to this God who had become so reachable and so near.
What a privilege it was to be able to really appreciate that indeed, Jesus was there at my creation, and has been with me since. Not only at my baptism or confirmation!
And could I ignore the awesome feeling of my simple prayer being sealed by the mention of Name of Jesus before the seal of my “Amen.”
The message that I was special resonated in my mind ever so often that it became my opium. It still is!
And the church grew. The gospel grew to become what it is today. It was exciting...real. It still is. I choose to believe so!
But what struck me, in the course of this revolutionised Christianity, is the mass surge of churches around me, each one preaching various messages of salvation, promoting various ways out of the myriad of individual challenges around us, via Miracle Services, Revivals and Vigils.
Like many others, I became something of a “gospel prostitute” visiting one “born-again” church or the other that seemed to be articulating or addressing my flow of thought and challenges, at each particular time.
My traverse led me to a single understanding, that “Seek ye first the Kingdom,” was the underlying code to what I sought - one of these, a yearning for a deeper walk and work with this more reachable God, and a better friendship with Jesus.
The delivery of the message differed from Church to Church, but I managed to keep it all together and have made it my mantra to hold on to this code, if I must make it in this life, and expect a place in that “better place,” up Above!
Despite all I see around me, I continue to believe and do my best to give due diligence to those simple words.
But, that’s not the message here!
I also observed an emerging common theme in the messages all around : PROSPERITY! PROSPERITY was “offered” to us for FREE, if we could just believe and yes, “Seek ye first the Kingdom!”
And why wouldn’t we believe? Our Pastors and leaders exuded that in their dressing, cars, houses, etc. It followed then that we would also believe for our own respective prosperity.
In saying this, permit me to share in the recognition of a very good friend, in one of his recent blogs, that “there are indeed a great many loving and selfless men and women of God whose lives are characterized by simplicity, humility, compassion, loving kindness and a gentleness of Spirit. In short, they are worthy ambassadors of Christ who in lifestyle, speech, values and ethics epitomize what being a Christian is all about.”
These are the few who tell us that yes, we could have prosperity, but the “seek ye first the Kingdom” should be at the front burner in everything we say, think or do. Indeed, there are just a few of them!
The majority (and that’s putting it generously), i’m sorry to say, have overturned THE Gospel of Jesus to a Gospel of Prosperity. And whilst I have nothing against Prosperity and living prosperously – let’s face it, who wants to live a life of poverty or penury – the singular interpretation of the Gospel of Prosperity, being only about money, status, wealth and style, has taken away the true Prosperity of our lives.
Fanned by the vicissitudes of the economic conditions around us, it is no wonder that many people have diverted their minds to the fact that the easiest way to make it now is to start a church. They know what people want to hear and they play on it.
They tell us:
¨ Of promises of financial breakthrough, because Jesus Christ has paid the price
¨ That it is a sin to be poor
¨ That we’re serving a God of abundance
And quote Bible passages of the Bible to buttress their ‘gospel,’ limiting those verses to their own narrow perspective of prosperity.
Stories abound of members of the congregation coming to testify about financial breakthroughs, how the congregation breaks into song, with the Pastor doing a “jig upon jig” before subtly reminding them to “pay your tithes.”
Two weeks or so after that, Pastor comes with his own “testimony” of how The Lord has blessed him with a new car! These days, we even hear testimonies of private jets!
I also read a story, not too long ago, about a man who stole money from his company and “donated” it to the Church, and, without any question asked about the source of the money, he was immediately conferred celebrity status in the Church – a Kingdom Partner, he was called!
Sadly, the “new message,” hardly ever tells us:
¨ That the price that Jesus Christ paid was not just for financial breakthrough, but for us to live a better life in the Kingdom here on earth, with a promise of a better life in Heaven
¨ That poverty is not necessarily tied to financial poverty. It could also mean poverty of mind, character, attitude and in the things of The Spirit
¨ That the God of Abundance, Whom we serve, is not only for the reason of financial breakthrough, but for us to know that He knows our every need and provides for our every need beyond the abundance which the Prosperity Gospel preaches
¨ That the God of Abundance, Whom we serve expects from us our hearts of abundance in following His Word by showing compassion for our fellow men and women, loving each other as Christ loves us, loving our neighbours as ourselves
In its entirety, the new gospel preaching leave us in no doubt that the days of the real truth in the Gospel are few and far between. The temptation to conclude so is rife and stares us daily in the face.
But I choose to believe that the days of the TRUE GOSPEL are still with us. For, in truth, they never left us. With all that is going on around us, it seems a good time to resurrect those days (again)!
Would that we would recommit ourselves to the simple Truth and truths of The Bible, appreciating that the reason we live is to “prosper” in the things of The Kingdom and in our service to the I AM.
What better time than now, to humble ourselves, and like the Psalmist, pray sincerely and profoundly: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me!”
What better time to prosper our lives, through this simple affirmation as we seek the pleasure and comfort of life.
For, it is in prospering our lives with The Word, that true prosperity will come.
Renachi Renada writes from London.
