The theme
for our church in October is “A Church Rich in Spirit”, meaning a church that
is rich in spirituality rather than being prosperous in material and earthly
terms. God is a spirit, and the church belongs to God. It is called the home of
the Everlasting Lord. The church is wealthy before God and it seeks to be rich
in spirit. It diligently strives for things that are considered by God to have
eternal value. Just as the apostle Peter reminded the church, “Therefore, my
brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if
you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome
into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter
1:10-11)
In recent
years, “Wealth and Health Gospels” have been popularly preached in evangelical
churches throughout North America. Brothers and sisters should be careful not
to be misdirected by such teachings. Look at the Crystal Palace Cathedral of
Robert Schuller in California. It cost tens of millions of dollars to build.
Such an extravagantly imposing structure correctly reflects the gospel they
emphasize: when people are saved through faith in Jesus Christ, God’s grace
will be physically manifested in material wealth in this life. That means that
the blessing of being with God is evidenced by material wealth. They believe
that the will of God is that children belonging to Him be affluent. Since we’ve
all become His children through our faith, the possession of material wealth
allows us to glorify the Lord. They will further use as verification the fact
that prosperous countries are all Christian countries. In fact, they are in
error at least in interpreting the bible. For example, they will misquote 3
John 2: “Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go
well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.” as “I pray that …. you
will prosper …”. In fact, in the original text the author was wishing through
this greeting that the relationship between the recipients of the letter and
others, or various concerns, will be well. The original intent of the author
was to pray that “things will go well”. To purposefully construe the author’s
salutation as intimating that God’s will is for us to become rich is misinterpreting
the bible. As well, they also take John 10:10: “have (life) to the full” to
signify the enjoyment of a life of bounty when entering through the door of
Christ’ salvation. Actually, John was pointing out that believers will enjoy
this gift of life by God to the full measure. Besides, the eternal life
mentioned in the gospel of John is equivalent to the Kingdom of God conveyed in
the other gospels. So, John’s fundamental denotation of eternal life is
definitely not a life rich in material things. It is an error of biblical
interpretation by the promoters of Wealth Gospels.
On the
other hand, a church that is rich in spirit means that when people have freely
received the grace of God, they must continue striving to know Him. The writer
of the book of Hebrews says, “Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings
about Christ and go on to maturity.” (Hebrews 6:1) Peter reminds us that since
God has blessed us with everything we need for life and godliness, we should
escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires and gain in God’s
divine nature. Further, we should “make every effort” to train our spiritual
lives, so that we will grow in many facets and have in increasing measure
qualities such as faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance,
godliness, brotherly kindness and love for all. Some have called these the “8
steps of development” that show us what to aspire to, in order that our
spiritual lives will mature and grow. At the same time, if we eagerly seek
betterment, striving to cultivate the above, we will not unproductiveness. As
well, we will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ.
By:
Daniel To