Last night, coming home from a weekend away, as soon as I dropped bag in my condo unit I decided to worship with a congregation that meets in a theater two blocks away from my condo. Now, before I continue, I'd like to say, this is not an attack on the church, but more of an introspection on my part and a reminder to my fellow Christians to be sensitive to what you hear, say, do pertaining to our faith in the risen Lord.
I made my way up and was greeted by a horde of ushers at the door, one handing an offering envelope, one holding out a dish of menthol candies to ensure a "sweet-smelling sacrifice of praise," and one greeting me a heart "Happy New Year!" I arrived just in time for the "prelude" which had a bad start with the drummer not giving the right timing, and it also ended abruptly at the signal of the stage director.
The Worship Team came out with the female lead singer shouting at the top of her husky voice- "Hallelujah!" We sang and sang. Following the fourth song, a short Chinese man in his early forties came up and said, "It is time to have Communion." So, my immediate reaction was to bow, and quietly ask God to prepare my heart for the ordinance while he read the preface found in 1 Corinthians 11.
The man started exhorting the congregation with these words: "Brothers and sisters...if there is a New Covenant that means there was an Old Covenant where people were required to offer animal sacrifices for their forgiveness." I thought, "OK, theologically correct." And then he continued, "If a person were rich he would sacrifice a bull, if a person were middle-class he would offer a lamb or a goat, if person were poor, he will offer a dove." I thought, "OK, still on track." He went on to say, "If there is no New Covenant, you and I will have to bring animals for worship- if you're rich, a carabao, if you're middle-class bring a pig, if you're poor, bring a chicken." And I thought, "Hmm...not quite, pig is unclean." He then said, "We need to sanctify our sin." And I thought, "How in the world can we 'sanctify' our sin? Does he mean 'sanctified (separated) from sin'"? But even "sanctified from sin" doesn't sound quite right. I hoped he just made a mistake until he said it again, "sanctify our sin," and again, and again. "Sanctified unto God" is more like it. I wanted to raise my hand and correct his statement. But I was a first-timer, and thought. "Let it go, Jon..let it go." And behind me, a man in his twenties said, "Yes, Lord. Sanctify my sins." And I was like, "Bummer, there goes a convert to heresy." I cannot question the sincerity, but a little grammatical mistake in a statement makes a whole lot of difference in its meaning. We had communion.
We sang some more-- a lot of "me" centered songs. The worship leader kept exhorting the congregation that we must worship the God who has done everything he can because he wants to bless us immeasurably- financially, relationally, physically and spiritually. Christ came one Christmas and died one Good Friday in order that we may be prosperous! He wants us to be rich in every way. That's one big dose of Prosperity Gospel right there.
Then the offertory came together a "shot" of Prosperity Gospel with a twist. The Children's Pastor came up with a 7-year-old girl who gave a testimony. The testimony goes, "Two Sundays ago, I gave twenty pesos in the offering. When I came home I got an angpao (red envelope) containing P200!" The pastor goes, "Guys, God will return what you give a hundred, even a thousand fold. So Let's pray: God we give our tithes today...help us to give sparingly because we know when we do, we will soon reap sparingly!" And from my bowed posture I looked at the pastor and felt a discernible tone of sincerity, he probably didn't know that he said a really bad prayer! That's the twist. There was a special number by a group of college-age women who danced to a song by American Idol, Fantasia!
Then the sermon came- a BIG shot of Prosperity Gospel based on selected passages from the book of Psalms that talk about security in the Lord. The pastor talked about the economists' forecasts for 2009 and said, "Those are facts, but they are not truth...Facts are just information, truth is truth." I thought, "Hmm...Should I even buy that explanation?" He went on to say, "We should not even believe those forecasts any more, we must stand on God's Word, He said he will bless us then he will bless us. The Bible says, the blessings of God maketh rich! Who wants to be rich?" There were exhuberant shouts from the crowd. Everyone seem to want to get rich! Who doesn't? The preacher goes on to say, "You're a child of God, you are destined for greatness...You have to speak blessings on your finances, relationships, health and spirituality...Don't say 'sales are bad' because it will be bad if you keep saying it. Instead say, 'God is blessing my sales'! so your business will prosper. If you want to be rich, pay your workers higher than minimum wage so they too will get richer...God is out to make you rich! And when He blesses us, He doesn't add troubles to it. You will have no more obligations- no debts anymore. Christ already paid your debts." The sermon pretty much ran that same course for 35 minutes then he asked the congregation to line up on the four aisles, each aisle is designated for a particular area one might want to be rich in- finances, relationships, health and spirituality. I stayed on to see which line would be the longest, and I wasn't not surprised at all with the result. Everyone seems to want to get rich!
I came out of the service empty. I'm a pastor, I'm supposed to be mature enough to handle such mistakes in theology and worship to receive something at least, but I didn't. I felt sincerity in their worship, but there are things that need to be corrected. Was I too critical or was I just a little too "educated" and "equipped" by the church to which I belong and serve that anything I hear that is contrary to what I have been taught from Scripture get flushed down the drain or perhaps my recycle bin hoping to glean something from it somehow?
My prayer is that pastors, church leaders, and "ordinary" Christians would stop looking at God as Santa Claus, or as some grand dad who spoils kids. We have a great responsibility in making God known to others as the Bible says He is, and not what we think He may be or what He can give us.
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