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"Everything We Need for Life and Godliness" - 2 Pet. 1:3 ... Dr. Ed Bulkley is President of the International Association of Biblical Counselors. For more information, go to www.iabc.net.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Religion: Praise the Lord and Pass the Business Plan as God Embraces Mammon - Dr. Paul J. Dean

God wants you rich, and as if to prove it His golden forefinger is pointing down through the stage ceiling at the Excel exhibition centre in east London. This is the International Gathering of Champions, one of the largest worship meetings of Pentecostalists ever held in Britain, and the three-metre (10ft) digit hanging above the preachers is a sign that they and the 80,000 who will come to hear them are, in the words of Deuteronomy, "empowered to prosper". It may seem like a Monty Python comedy prop, but how to get rich and then how to get richer is the message of this eight-day meeting of mostly west African and Caribbean Christians, which reaches a climax this weekend. In other words, the Bible is the business plan and Jesus is the financial adviser-in-chief. The loudest amen went to a preacher who told a parable of an IT consultant who went forth and multiplied his salary by 10. Thousands cheered as the preacher explained how a young man with few qualifications started on £14,000 a year and wound up working for a Swiss bank on £140,000.

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Indeed it was the Lord Jesus who said, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (Matt. 6:24).” The loss of Scriptural authority opens the door to idolatry of all kinds. It is no surprise when such churches grow into the thousands as the way is broad that leads to destruction (Matt. 7:13).”

What is truly surprising is the continued success of this newly packaged form of hucksterism. The pull of the flesh is strong and citizens of a fallen world naturally look to earthly treasure as that which satisfies. In a life that is quite difficult for some in an economic sense, how appealing a message of health and wealth must be. Not only is the religious desire that is universally present fulfilled, but the flesh is rewarded as well.

And yet, such a message is overwhelmingly mundane and unworthy of the Kingdom. It was also the Lord Jesus who said to the rich young ruler, “Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me (Lk. 18:22).” Christ promises a far greater treasure for those who see Him as ultimate: a treasure that is “incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you (1 Pet. 1:4).”

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