The Prosperity Gospel And Moral Decadence In Ghana

Part I It is generally believed that there is a link between Christianity and ethics. For the goal of spiritual formation is to help individuals and societies to become decent, good, and moral citizens in their communities. This does not mean that all believing Christians are good people, or better than all other people. There are always morally superior individuals in every religion, and even among the atheists. However, faith in Jesus Christ can lead people to live a life of devotion, purity, and kindness. Christ calls us to a life of self-sacrifice to emulate Him. Christians are to have saved minds, and saved minds should lead to right thinking which leads to right living. Indeed, those who find Christianity intellectually unconvincing often praise its teachings and practices on the grounds that it provides a strong foundation on which we can build our societys moral structure. It is therefore paradoxical that recent increases in the number of churches, and church attendances have not been accompanied by improvements in morality and virtue in the Ghanaian society in general, and the Christian community in particular. There has been a lackadaisical attenuation of obedience, and a lackluster attitude to Christian norms and practices. Our society has lost its moral mooring where ethics has become obsolete. The churches have become breeding grounds for exploitation of the poor by false Bible teachers. These teachers teach unbiblical doctrines and engage in dangerous practices. Ideas have consequences! These men and women who parade through the corridors of the Christian community as ministers, prophets, and pastors teach different gospel from the one bequeathed to the saints. Their teachings and practices cant be described as anything but skulduggery. Some people in the Christian community have expressed genuine concern about the loss of values in our society. Ms. Joyce Aryee, recently chastised the Church for shirking its role of impacting positively on society despite its growing membership. She remarks that despite the over 60 percent Christian population in the country, social vices like corruption, bribery, drugs, immorality, laziness and drunkenness kept permeating every sector of the nation. On the same day, another Christian, Prof. Ankrah Badu attributes the moral bankruptcy in our nation to the double lives that many Christians live. He laments: "We throng the churches and other religious assemblies at the weekends while we do our own things outside these premises." He expressed concern about the level of corruption in every stage of the society and said it had become a competitive sport. This is true, but a sad commentary on our society in general, and the Christian community in particular. The question is: What went wrong? What happened to the Judeo-Christian teachings that extol piety and eschew immorality? In this article and others that may follow, I intend to argue that the Christian doctrines that teach modesty, piety, humility, good work ethics, and contentment have now been replaced with Made-in-North-American Exploitative Gospel commonly called Word of Faith, preached by false and unscrupulous Bible teachers. I plan to explore the problem from both theological and sociological standpoints. The prosperity teachers who teach prosperity to their adherents without teaching them the lawful means of acquiring wealth are partly responsible for the decline in morals and virtues

in our society. Of course, one cant blame these preachers for all the moral ills in our society. The question is this: Is the prosperity message as preached by some false Bible teachers biblically sound? The prosperity message is biblically unsound, and sociologically and psychologically dangerous. The first problem has to do with these teachers understanding of soteriology the doctrine of salvation. If a pastor gets this doctrine wrong, then the congregation can expect anything to happen in the church. Wrong understanding of the doctrine of salvation can lead to many aberrations and dangerous practices: For error begets error. It is therefore important for every teacher of the gospel to get this fundamental doctrine right. There are three aspects of salvation: As a PAST event- I am saved, as a PROCESS-I am being saved, and as a FUTURE event -I will be saved. We are saved from the penalty of sin the penalty of sin is eternal separation from God. When we believe in Jesus Christs death on the cross, his resurrection from death, his ascension to heaven, and his glorification at the right hand of the father, and put our absolute trust in Christ, salvation occurs. This aspect of salvation is what theologians call justification. This happens once in a lifes time. The second aspect is sanctification-salvation from the power of sins. We are sanctified daily by the instruments of grace such as the sacraments, prayers, Bible studies, fasting, worship, and fellowship with other Christians. The second aspect, unlike the first one happens every moment, every day, and every time until we die, or Christ comes. The last aspect is glorification- salvation from the present cursed world, sin, sickness, pains, sorrow, evil, death and Satan. This aspect of salvation also involves the transformation of our bodies, and the coming of the new world. The book of Revelation talks a great deal about this stage of our salvation. The book of Revelation Chapter 21 verse 1 talks about a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth will pass away. Also, verse 4 of the same chapter says, And God will wipe away every tear from our eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things will pass away. The apostle Paul, in 1Corinthians Chapter 15, spends the whole chapter explaining how our glorification will take place. He says, we will receive glorified bodies that cant experience pains, he says death will be annihilated, because there will be no more sin. Also, the Apostle in Romans 8: 20-22 talks about the fact that the present world is subjected to futility or frustration in this present age, and it is therefore looking forward to its redemption. That will be the consummation of our salvation. The problem with the false teachers is that they either lump the three stages together or moves people from stage one to stage three- which is a future event, instead of concentrating on the sanctification stage which is the present stage. The result of this bad teaching is the belief that if you are Christian you cant get sick, and even if you get sick, you can confess that you are not sick, contrary to the physical pains. This is a dangerous teaching that has wreaked havoc in many homes. Many Christians have lost their loved ones because of this erroneous teaching. Similarly, the idea of every Christian being wealthy is also based on this bad theology: The false teachers argue that we are the kings sons and daughters so if we are in the kingdom, then we should be rich in the kingdom, because we have the inheritance. The whole idea that a Christian is supposed to have a perfect health, and be wealthy is based on wrong exegesis and hermeneutics. These false teachers take Scriptures out of context to support their bad theology. I will deal with the wealth and health gospel in a separate article.

Another problem that stems from the concept of salvation is the controversy over justification. The main question in dispute is whether a person can be saved by embracing Jesus as Savior, but not as Lord. The question centers on faith and works. Does a saving faith necessarily produce the works of obedience? There are two camps in this debate, there are those who rightly believe that true saving faith must necessarily and inevitably yield works of obedience to the lord. But, there are others called antinomians, who wrongly assert that though faith should produce works of obedience, it does not always do so. These antinomians hold the view that Christians are released from the obligation of observing the moral laws. This means that somebody can be a Christian and still live in an immoral or amoral lifestyle and still be saved. The idea here is that you can be saved from the penalty of Gods future judgment to come without a change in your sinful ways. So, according to antinomians teachings, a Christian can be saved and still indulge in all anti-social behaviors: Drug trafficking, adultery, fornication, lying, bribery, and corruption and still goes to heaven. The result of this teaching is that instead of being the salt and the light of the culture, the church has adapted to the spiritual darkness around it. Antinomianism is a dangerous teaching that has undermined the moral structure of the church. Martin Luther says, We are saved by faith alone, but a saving faith is never alone. A real faith in Christ has to produce obedience to the Lords commandments. The next section of this article looks at the sociological implication of these teachings, especially the teaching of the prosperity gospel. The American sociologist Robert Merton (1949), in his Social Structure and Anomie, talks about the discrepancy between goals and legitimate means to achieve them. Merton borrows the term anomie from Emile Durkheim; but he uses it for crime. Merton was concerned about the means people use to achieve hopes, goals, dreams, wealth, or expectation. He observes that there are cultural goals- things that are widely accepted as worth striving for, especially wealth. Similarly, there are also institutionalized means or societally approved ways of achieving these goals such as training and education, getting normal job, and saving the money that is earned.

But, usually what many people want to achieve are beyond their means. If their commitments to the goals are strong, then they will adopt deviant means to achieve them. In another words, if goals are not achievable through an accepted mode, then illegitimate means have to be used to achieve them. Therefore, too much emphasis on prosperity in the church and not enough emphasis on spiritual formation or biblically means to achieve the goals leads to spiritual anomie. The Ghanaian Christian Community is now in a state of SPIRITUAL ANOMIE. For many Christians in the country, there is lack of opportunity to become wealthy; however, the false teachers continue to assure them that they will become rich if only they will give them the little money they have. But, contrary to the teaching of the false Bible teachers, God does not pour money from heaven into Christians pockets. The devotees to these teachers have no choice but to use whatever means to get rich. It is therefore not uncommon to hear people who claim to be Christians involved in all kinds of corruptions, fraudulent deals, and many anti-social behaviors in our society. The false Bible teachers raise the expectations of Christians, causing them to use dubious means to fulfill these expectations.

If you dare ask these Christians how they acquire their wealth, they will response with their super-spiritual clich, Oh, the Lord has blessed me. The lord will not bless people who

profess His name, but drag that same name through the mud. These people dishonour the name of God, forgetting that the unbelievers judge the genuineness of their faith by their walk and not by their talk. It was the 19th century German philosopher, Heinrich Heine who said, Show me your redeemed life, and I might be inclined to believe in your redeemer. Jesus says, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all other things will be added unto you. But, the false teachers, and ministers say, seek all other things first, and the kingdom of God will be added to you later. Jesus promises us peace amid troubles and trials, but not a perfect world.

In concluding this section, let me assure my brothers and sisters who are genuinely seeking God that Christianity is not solely about money and health; after all, we are all going to die. The death rate is one per person; we will leave whatever we acquire behind, and finally they will be destroyed. St. Augustine in his massive literary work, The City of God, notes that religion is about where we seek our happiness. To Augustine, happiness is not about money, but it is about the seeing of God that makes us happy. He observes that the church of God is a sojourner in its pilgrimage on earth seeking eternal peace, being happy in its hope, not in present reality. The quest for happiness in this world is never fulfilling, for there is always the fear of losing what we have. So let us live a life that will count forever, for there is still opportunity for us to influence our culture.

Let me recommend these two books to those of you who want to grow in the Lord. They are: The Holiness of God by Dr. R. C. Sproul, and Knowing God by Dr. J.I. Packer.

The Prosperity Gospel And Moral Decadence Part 2

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 cant 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 medicinemen 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 didnt know the Lord. Yes, they were regarded as the priests of Gods people, but their hearts were far away from God, for the Scriptures say they didnt 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 dont truly deliver what they promise. How many times have these false teachers promised people healing and couldnt deliver it? How many times have they asked people to give their money to them so they can be rich and couldnt 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: Dont 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 dont drink and drive, it means dont 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 Lords 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 Gods men in the Old Testament. Men of God are those who have been uniquely called to proclaim Gods 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 ones 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!