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Religion is a gospel of retirement. I go to church to raise a
family, spend a little time with God, inspire to have the faith to live
comfortably and secure enough money for my old age. The
church is our mother and we are its children. This is not,
however, the gospel of Christ. In Luke fourteen Jesus tells the
parable of an invitation to a marriage feast. One says I
can not come because I have a wife. One says he can not
come because he has land to take care of. Finally one says he has
oxen he needs to care for. None of those who were invited shall
enter the feast says Jesus. So Jesus says to go out to the
highways and bring in the halt and the lame and fill my house but there
is still room. Certainly not the response the church would
give. For the gospel, to live for Christ, is to forsake kith and
kin for the kingdom of God. It is to have as your highest motive
to live for Christ. To teach and preach and evangelize people to
seek to enter the marriage feast. You can not serve God and mammon. It is one or the other. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and God will provide your needs. Yet in my mail I get evangelists who tell you that by giving to their ministry God will get them out of debt and then they will be able to give more generously to others who are in need and in turn, they can secure their retirement. This is not the gospel of Christ. I haven't gotten any mail telling me to embrace the gospel to forsake all and follow Him. To seek those things which are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. If having found a pearl of great price, to sell all you have and buy it. More often than not these evangelists tell us to study scripture to gain mammon rather than the true riches of the kingdom. Faith gained by studying the scripture will gain for them wealth which indicates their right relationship with God and they can live happily ever after. We have either a church that is bound by rules and regulations and dead to the Spirit who leaves ministry in the hands of the clergy or one that is charismatic bent on gaining mammon to promote a gospel of prosperity. I find both inconsistent with the teaching of Christ. We need to preach a gospel that tells us that gaining heaven is more important than any carnal, worldly attachment. We need to preach salvation, not to gain retirement, but to engage the person to seek a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit and ultimately one with the Father and to make disciples not museum pieces. Jesus says go into all the world and make disciples, people like himself, and that is what I intend to do. Amen |