Does God want you to be rich? Yeesh...
Okay, so my posting has been a bit delinquent! I hadn't realize a whole week had gone by without me posting anything.
I tried to get as much done on the church website last week as we could, hoping to officially launch it today. However, on further reflection it was best to let it go for one more week to make sure that we got everything right. I am indebted to both Christine and Jordan for their work on this. I was certainly tempted to rush it out, and have people look at an incomplete site. However, there is something to be said for doing things right, even if it means waiting a week or two to tighten it up.
On a different note, a friend of mine sent me a link today with the comment "things just keep getting better..." The cover story from time magazine, with the title "Does God want you to be rich?" it's an article on Prosperity Theology, and how it continues to boom in the US in spite of the scandals of Swaggart and Bakker a number of years ago.
Honestly, this stuff makes my skin crawl. It is a gross distortion of the gospel message. Sure, it uses passages from Deuteronomy and John to justify making money, while conveniently ignoring the fact that Jesus himself was dirt poor. James railed against preferential treatment for the rich, and Jesus himself said "blessed are the poor." These are just a few quick jabs at a theology that has gained traction in the US, and yet it seems that the rest of us remain conveniently silent. I've often told people that it's difficult to offend me... but this is one of the things that does... It is not only offensive, to call a spade a spade, it's heresy.
I do believe that we are called to work for God's kingdom, and to see it here on earth... but to judge it in monetary or material terms? That's essentially religious subnission to capitalism... wrapping Jesus in a dollar bill.
Anyway, I am ranting... time for me to look for some better news...
I tried to get as much done on the church website last week as we could, hoping to officially launch it today. However, on further reflection it was best to let it go for one more week to make sure that we got everything right. I am indebted to both Christine and Jordan for their work on this. I was certainly tempted to rush it out, and have people look at an incomplete site. However, there is something to be said for doing things right, even if it means waiting a week or two to tighten it up.
On a different note, a friend of mine sent me a link today with the comment "things just keep getting better..." The cover story from time magazine, with the title "Does God want you to be rich?" it's an article on Prosperity Theology, and how it continues to boom in the US in spite of the scandals of Swaggart and Bakker a number of years ago.
Honestly, this stuff makes my skin crawl. It is a gross distortion of the gospel message. Sure, it uses passages from Deuteronomy and John to justify making money, while conveniently ignoring the fact that Jesus himself was dirt poor. James railed against preferential treatment for the rich, and Jesus himself said "blessed are the poor." These are just a few quick jabs at a theology that has gained traction in the US, and yet it seems that the rest of us remain conveniently silent. I've often told people that it's difficult to offend me... but this is one of the things that does... It is not only offensive, to call a spade a spade, it's heresy.
I do believe that we are called to work for God's kingdom, and to see it here on earth... but to judge it in monetary or material terms? That's essentially religious subnission to capitalism... wrapping Jesus in a dollar bill.
Anyway, I am ranting... time for me to look for some better news...
posted by John Crowdis at 10:18 p.m.
1 Comments:
Interesting article. It seems to me like Americans like to take their favourite things and combine them: here we have God + The American Dream (Arthur Miller must be rolling in his grave). I think soon we'll see McDonalds Super-Sized meals that come with a free gun.
This reminds me of "Fifth Business", where Dunny meets the preacher who has been telling Boy that Jesus was a capitilist. I remember talking about this in class, and I brought up the point that Jesus was anti-capitilism (if anything, He was a communist ;)). From that we determined that the preacher was simply telling Boy what he wanted to hear.
The same thing applies here. Americans want to be rich, but they also want to serve God. The solution? Reinvent God! To them, Man doesn't need to adapt to God's Word; God needs to adapt to Man's "Word". Using flawed logic such as that shown in the article, soon we will see people who will tell us God wants us to eliminate all other religions, turn America into a Christian theocracy and destroy the land in search for oil. Oh, wait- we already have people who tell us that.
I guess the saddest thing about the article is that it makes Landover look legitimate.
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