Wednesday, July 9, 2003
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Wednesday, July 9, 2003 |
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Does your faith set you free ... or bind you up? By JOHN HATCHER Jesus would say, "If the son of man sets you free, you shall be free indeed." Jesus, more than any religious figure of his day, before, and since, encouraged his followers to embrace freedom as a joy of the faith. He wanted his followers to make decisions on their own, informed by God's will, but not bullied into God's will. There's a difference. Recently I received an actual letter (as opposed to e-mail) in which a member of our church said, "I grew up in a church that dealt more with judgment and prosperity than anything else." She said that in the last year or so she had come to realize, however, that "you cannot understand God's judgment until you understand God's love." Because of discovering God's great love in the context of his freedom, she now wakes up every morning to "look for the exciting things God wants me to do with my life." This young lady certainly does my heart good as I hear that another somebody has got a hold of living within the freedom, joy, excitement, and love of Christ. But there are religious spirits out there in the great beyond spirits that seek to bind, enslave, cripple, and make people dependent upon them. These spirits even are found in some respected churches. First, there is the prosperity spirit. This spirit demands that one become financially prosperous in order to prove godliness. Did not Jesus say that it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven? Did not Jesus say, "Blessed are the poor?" When faith is fatally flawed with finances, that's bondage. My mother was a scholar of the Bible compared to my pitiful status as a student. Never once did my mama think or teach her children that being in God's will meant economic prosperity. She taught us that being in God's will meant telling the truth, hard work, and going to church. Please don't get me wrong. Compared to my counterparts in East Africa, I am rich. I am a sultan of cash. And Americans, when compared to most of the world's population, are very rich. And I don't think wealth is a sign of unrighteousness. Many people are wealthy because their parents were wealthy or because they worked hard in a lucrative profession or they just played the stock market right. J. C. Penney was very wealthy. But at the end of his life, he was giving 90 percent of his income to charity and living on 10 percent. He certainly is a model for the real rich. I go along with the late singer Pearl Bailey, "I have been rich and I have been poor. Rich is better." Second, there is the pious spirit. This spirit makes one into a self-righteous hypocrite. When these folks open their mouths, they pious all over you. They talk and act like they never had a bad thought or did a bad deed in their lives. You would not dare spill your guts with this religious jerk. If you did, they would immediately consign you to hell and write you off their social calendar. Jesus had his strongest word for these folks. He could never come up with any kind words for them. He said they try to put others in the same bondage they experience. Oh yes, there are churches with this pious spirit. They love Bible studies. They hate Bible application. They are long on prayer but short on social action. Their Sunday services are sterile, void of any hint of the dangers, toils and snares of life. Reality check. No, better yet, spirituality check: does your faith keep you free or bind you up? John Hatcher is pastor of Outreach International Center 1091 South Jeff Davis Drive Fayetteville, Georgia 30215 770-719-0303 |
