Christianity is losing its saltiness and credibility in Ghana.
It is unfortunate that the ideas of salvation, of sin, and of virtue, which once played critical roles in Christian beliefs in the past are now relegated to the back burner in the churches. The sermons and homilies are now about health, prosperity, and witchcrafts. We live in a time when many Ghanaians are challenging the relevance of Christianity. They are dissatisfied and disillusioned with Christians they meet at their workplaces, and in their neighborhoods. They can’t distinguish between Christians and non-Christians. Many Christians are living lives that run at variance with what the Bible teaches. The Bible has become a tool for exploiting churchgoers by unscrupulous men and women who capitalize on human greed and fear. These men resort to magic formulas and psychological manipulation tactics to exploit their victims: Taking Scriptures out of context to support their nefarious activities. But, we need to pause and ask the following questions: What is Christianity all about? And what influence is Christianity supposed to exert on the culture of Ghanaian society?
For Paul, as for Jesus, the kingdom is not about material possession or gaining of political power, but about ethics or godliness. Paul teaches that the implications for entrance into the kingdom are ethical: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?’ 1Corinthians 6:9. This is clearly in line with Jesus’ teaching about repentance for admission into the kingdom. In his letter to the Thessalonians, Paul urges them to lead lives of purity, so they may command the respect of outsiders 1Thesa 4:1-12. About relation between ministers and their flocks, Paul reminds the Thessalonians church of his unselfish and devoted work among them. He writes, “You remember our labor and toil, brethren; we worked night and day, that we might not burden any of you, while we preached to you the gospel,” 1Thessalonians 2:9.
The first article in this series looked at the theological aspect, and sociological implications of the prosperity gospel as preached by some false Bible teachers in Ghana. The article argues that the decline in Christian ethics and morals may be attributed to the teaching of both “antinomianism” and “the prosperity gospel” in the Ghanaian churches. The intent of the present article is to spell out the marks of real men of God, so when the counterfeits loom on the horizon, genuine seekers of Christ will be able to spot them instantly. The aim here is to help genuine seekers of God detect who is a real man of God, and who is not.
The idea of unscrupulous men and women exploiting credulous people by extravagant pretensions through magical practices or spiritual deception is not a new trade. James Frazer notes that kingship and chieftain evolved through these practices. He observes that in the ancient world, the medicine-men were generally the chiefs. They gained their power and status through their supposed power of making rains. In the olden days rain was the most important thing to the agrarian economy, because its absence or delay could bring untold hardship to the people.
Thus, men who were more cunning than their fellows arrogated to themselves the power of producing rain. People in these cultures and times had great respect for the dispensers of rain, who they loaded with profusion of gifts. These magicians exercised tremendous power over the people, and so were able to keep their functions connected with royalty. It is therefore not surprising that there have arisen proliferation of false prophets, and ministers to take advantage of their credulous fellows. Many of these charlatans call themselves “men of God:” A label used in Scriptures sparingly for men truly dedicated to the service of God.
The phrase, “a man of God,” has become a common label to describe anyone who calls himself a priest, or, a pastor, or, a prophet, or, an evangelist, or, a reverend. But do people who call themselves ministers, or prophets, or evangelists really “men of God? Are people “men, or women of God” just because they claim they can “slay people in the spirit”? Or, is someone, “a man of God” just because he claims he can heal people with a special anointing, or because he can teach people to trust in their own “faith,” instead of trusting in the faith of Jesus Christ? Or, is someone a man of God just because he claims he can teach people some magic formulas to become rich? The proof texts for these claims are based on evidences that are not in the Scriptures, as I will show in future articles.
Nevertheless, many people have fallen prey to these charlatans who teach these aberrations in the name of the gospel. Some of these false teachers, prophets, pastors, or the so-called “men of God” use socio-psychological manipulations to control and exploit their victims. They use techniques like altered states of consciousness, peer pressure, expectations, and hypnotic suggestions to prey on their victims. They tell their victims that they are falling under the anointing of God, or, to use their own term “slain in the spirit.” One will be hard-pressed to find any historical evidence or a Christian creed that support these practices. Scriptural texts used to justify these unbiblical practices are taken out of context. The next section of this article explains why we cannot take everyone purporting to preach the gospel as a real man, or woman of God. In the first book of Samuel chapter 2 verse 22, we meet two priests who were the sons of Eli. However, the Bible says “Now Eli was very old; and heard everything his sons did to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.” Earlier, in Chapter two, verse one of the same book, the Bible declares, “Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they didn’t know the Lord.” Yes, they were regarded as the priests of God’s people, but their hearts were far away from God, for the Scriptures say they didn’t know the Lord. We also have in the New Testament Judas Iscariot who was selected by Christ himself, and was among the twelve disciples sent by Jesus Christ with the power to perform miracles and heal all kinds of diseases, yet the Bible describes him as the man of perdition. These and many other examples from the Scriptures give us good grounds why we should not take anyone professing to be a minister, or, prophet as “a real man, or woman of God.” The New Testament warns us repeatedly about false prophets. The apostle Peter warns us against false teachers and describes them as “wells without water,” “clouds carried by a tempest,” and while they promise much, they don’t truly deliver what they promise.
How many times have these false teachers promised people healing and couldn’t deliver it? How many times have they asked people to give their money to them so they can be rich and couldn’t deliver it? Peter says in 2 Peter 2:17 that they are deceitful, and will exploit you with their deceptive words.” He says they speak great swelling words of emptiness, using eloquent speech that sounds impressive and promising but lack substance. However, their true allurement is through “the lust of the flesh which includes such things as immorality, materialism, and pride. Their trade is to offer promises that appeal to human greed or the flesh. This is exactly what the prosperity preachers promise their adherents: Health and wealth.
Other distinguishing marks of false teachers are: First, the wrong use of Scriptures to defend themselves, and second, the wrong use of Scriptures to frighten those who dare challenge their aberrant doctrines and practices. One trademark of false teachers is their use of Scriptures to resist judgment from other people. Many false teachers have quoted Mathew 7: 1-2 as a pretext to escape criticisms: “Judge not, that you be not judged. For what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” What does Jesus really intend to teach us in this Scripture? Both Christians and non-Christians have used this Scriptural verse often to avoid exposure of wrongdoing in their lives. People use this Bible verse without understanding its real meaning. Take for example, a statement: “Don’t drink and drive,” and ask yourself, what does it mean? Any reasonable and objective person will interpret this statement within the context. It will be quite preposterous for me to reprimand a friend for drinking water, or soda while driving. Why? This is because my friend expects me to understand that when the law says “don’t drink and drive,” it means “don’t drink alcoholic beverage and drive.” One of the basic principles in hermeneutics - the art and science of interpretation of Scriptures is context, context, and context!!!
What does Matthew 7:1 mean when Jesus says, “Judge not, that ye be not Judged...” Any good student of the Bible will find that the above quotation is immediately confronted with "He that is spiritual judges all things" (1 Corinthians 2:15), and "We shall judge angels" (1 Corinthians 6:3). The Christian is to judge things in his own life and the lives of others (1 Corinthians 11:13, 31; 5:3; 6:24). He is not to judge a brother as unsaved just because a brother or a sister disagrees with him on minor doctrinal points of practice (Romans 14:1-10, 13). He is not to judge anything hastily from an unscriptural standpoint. The key to understanding this verse is the standard with which one is judged. The context is important in understanding the true meaning of this Scripture. Any text without a context is a pretext.
The second Scripture misused by the false teachers and prophets is 1Samuel 24:9-12, “You shall not touch the Lord’s anointed.” But as I have pointed out on many occasions, biblical exegesis is always based on context, context, and context. This Scripture has nothing to do with questioning the behavior or conduct of people who profess to be ministers, but act contrary to the teachings of the Scriptures. This verse has a lot to do with killing somebody anointed by God. For verses 10 of the 1 Samuel 24 says, “Look, this day your eyes have seen that the lord delivered you today into my hands in the cave, someone urged me to kill you. But my eye spared you, and I said I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the LORD's anointed.” Despite the clarity of this Scripture when read within the context, the false prophets and teachers hide behind it to avoid exposure to their wrongdoings. People of God need to learn how to read the Scriptures for all they worth in order to avoid deception and exploitation by false Bible teachers.
The question then is: Who is a real man of God? The phrase a “man of God,” by which the apostle Paul identifies Timothy is a wonderful, but a rare designation in the New Testament. However, the phrase was common in the Old Testament, the use of which both the apostle, and his deputy, Timothy, were familiar with. The apostle Paul uses this phrase or name to remind Timothy of his spiritual responsibility. The phrase, “man of God was first used in the Bible to describe Moses – the greatest prophet of God in Deut 33:1.
So when the apostle Paul describes Timothy as a “man of God,” it put him in a long line of elite company of God’s men in the Old Testament. “Men of God” are those who have been uniquely called to proclaim God’s word. The question is: How are men of God recognized? The real men of God, according to Scriptures are marked by the following: 1) What they flee from 2) by what they follow, 3) what they fight for, and 4) by what they are faithful to. Earlier in verses 9 and 10 of 1Timothy 6, the apostle warns followers of Christ to be content with food and clothing. He writes, “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness…”
Then, in 1Timothy 6:11-13, he continues “But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, and lay hold on “eternal life.” He advises his deputy, Timothy, to flee from the love of money-greed and all its associated vices. This is the province of false teachers and liars who pervert the faith for gain, who make merchandise of people, who seek filthy gains, and who preach for money. It is therefore, important to know that the present-day prosperity message flies in the face of correct interpretation of Scriptures.
This article has argued that there are good reasons for people to be skeptical about the genuineness of anyone who claim to be a minister but preaches different gospel from the one bequeathed to us by Christ and the apostles. It has also discussed some of the marks of false teachers and prophets, and has debunked some of the Scriptures that these false teachers use to shield themselves from criticism and public scrutiny. Further, the article has also elucidated on the qualities of real men of God. I think that for Christianity to reassert its proper place in Ghanaian culture, it must first reclaim its heritage from the false teachers, and preach nothing but the whole counsel of God.
Good Christians should understand that Christianity is about magic, but a living encounter with a Holy God, who calls us to be holy. Magic according anthropologists and sociologists is directed toward immediate problems. It seeks to force supernatural powers to do one’s will. But we serve a living and a sovereign God who answers our prayers at His own time. So let us come before the face of God!
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