This is my prayer for you:
One of my big desires is for people to embrace some sort of uncompromising openness that is not fixated on being right- I-am-right-so-they-must-be-wrong kind of attitude, but yet hold true to the unwavering Truth which forms the foundation of His teaching. Strip away that lens or any preconceived notion, and truly go and listen and find value, and understand the heart of the sharing. if Christianity gives hope, I'm thankful that KI has brought hope in the name of Christ to many across the nations.
I have no idea where all these came from, but my first knowledge of its existence was when I first came to Christ. A videoed sermon by John Piper on prosperity gospel. I was so mesmerized and I loved it so much! It was very refreshing and the breath of truth which countered against what the world is propagating- in order to be successful, you must meet the following criteria in this world: rich, smart, high-flying etc. To some extent, I feel justified. So I was against prosperity gospel too, once.
Currently I thread along a dangerous line where it could be super controversial. How can you even subscribe to something that is outrightly wrong? I didn't- I never subscribe to prosperity gospel. I'm just... not against it. And that kinda formed my convictions and attitude about controversial issues like KI, Bethel and signs and wonders. Many things I do not yet know, and so I can only say that these are personal convictions for myself, and I dare not impose to say that they are for sure correct. I'm definitely unsure about it.
1. The notion of a complete gospel is irrational, and warped.
2. The accusations work both ways.
3. It's dangerous to think that we already know.
4. We cannot replace a relationship with a theology.
5. Gauge by the fruits.
6. Misrepresentations.
7. There are some really good messages!
1. Here's why I'm not against them: and it has to be looked upon from a standpoint of why many people are. They only preach about prosperity, and they take out the sin aspects of the gospel, about how we need repentance, and about the wrath of God etc... In other words, they preach an incomplete gospel, and their version of gospel is known as the grace gospel. It's funny how many people embrace the concept of extravagant grace of God to highlight our unworthiness, but baulk at the preaching of a grace gospel. That's besides the points by the way. But isn't it true that no one gives you a 100% gospel, because simply no one is able to. If you feel the sudden urge to close the window because of how nonsensical this sounds, PLEASE, give this a chance- read on. For the faithful attendants of church services, why do we have to to listen to the sermon again if it's something that we've already heard before? How about the bible, why read it over and over again? The most common answer I get during my younger days is this: because each time a new revelation is given in context of where we are. ie. the interpretation changes all the time in accordance to what God is talking to each individual about at that point in time. So how is that even a complete gospel, when new things are constantly being added to it. For those who wants to jump at this and say that no new things should ever be added, try reading through: Isaiah 43:19, Revelations 2:17, Jeremiah 33:3 etc.
2. I'm not saying, we can add anything that we want to hear. Far from it! 2 Timothy 4:2-5 reminds us to not twist the Word out of context in order to indulge our itching ears to hear what we want to. Remember the Pharisees? They were guilty of all these, and how unnecessary bureaucracies are imposed to make things difficult for people. Now that the Word has been made readily available, can I attempt to strike a balance too.
That interpretation can also mean this: our ears itch to hear that we are right, our ears itch to be justified, our ears itch to prevent changes. Recall those dramas where the oldies hang on to a familiar way of life, when a more convenient way of life has been made available? It makes me wonder, and it makes me ponder, how an itching ear look like? Could it be a case of pride and fear preventing us from receiving something better? I'm not saying that this must be true, but neither can I accept blindly that the former is right.
3. And subsequently I begin to question, and the first time the big question emerged, it sounded something like this: You know Mahatma Ghandi said that he likes our Jesus but he didn't like us (the christians), and I believe that he said that during a time where extensive racism was prevalent throughout India. The whites were probably doing a lot of things that did not reflect Christ, but they probably did not realize until much later when they had the benefits of hindsight. Meaning to say that, the whites did non-Christ thing, thinking that they were doing a Godly thing. Proverbs 16:2, "a person's ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the LORD." The pharisees did exactly that, and Paul exemplified that, persecuting all the Christians and doing God a service. When we think we are right, and we think we know the answer, we stop digging deeper, and we get stuck at a certain level. The wisdom of Godly men and the formalizing of the numerous doctrines would most definitely not be expended in one's lifetime, so it would be foolish to say that we already master it all. But can I also suggest that to work in cycles, having to restart with every generation is the most blatant failure to build upon what has been established before- we hinder our own walks, and we delay the new things that God wants to pour out into this place.
4. If there is one thing that we need to be darn sure about, it's not which is the right gospel to preach. It is who is this God whom we are following. We cannot replace a relationship with a theology. A genuine personal relationship with God allows us to discern in accordance to the knowledge of His nature, His character, His plan, and His intention for humanity, which is summarized by this one word- love. I've heard people like Joseph Prince, Joel Osteen etc. Did what they preach sound too good to be true? Yes, definitely! Then there's nothing wrong! Jesus coming to die for us already epitomizes the most undeserved gift to humanity, which by the way overshadow even the best of what a man can preach. Ephesians 3:20, it sounds too good to be true, BUT IT'S TRUE! I've heard very legit concerns like people coming to Christ for the blessings instead of God, so let us turn to the gospel... Ready? Why did the woman by the well come to Christ- so that she can have the living water. The sick, the poor, the wrecked; they came to Christ for healing, for blessing, for a touch. So what's my point- The love of God has to be realized, not preached, and I personally find it a very self-righteous thing to deny a desire to get something out of this relationship. That is self-denial at best, hypocritical at worst. So really, it doesn't bother me how these people come to Christ, as long as a relationship with God is initiated. I have faith that God will guide it and groom it, and before long the motivation will shift. I came to Christ wrecked, but now I love Christ with an insane passion. Oh by the way, I think it is also the responsibility of the people around to come alongside to support in this discovery journey. Wrong motivation is no valid scapegoat for our own laziness or reluctance to invest in other people's lives. Those who slipped through because they got put off by "you are sinful", "repent, or die", etc... I choose to former (it's a personal choice).
5. It is almost impossible to know other people's genuine attitude, because people can mask their actions, lest you are one of those who say "I can read your mind". These people are... annoying to the max! But I would like to believe that most people are like me, and we really don't know! So how? John 15:8 and Matthew 7:17, we gauge a person's walk with God by the fruits he bear. Simple enough. 1 John 4:20, love has to be justified and prevalent in a person's life instead of plain verbal claims. It aways baffles me how come the most active churches in the community in terms of evangelism, healing ministries, and even sending mission teams always share some traits in common- they move in exorbitant faith, believing in even the resurrection of the dead (not 2000 years ago, but the here and now). I draw clear lines against holy huddle. If you want to say these people are crooks, show me your fruits.
6. When I attended a church when I was 15 (I wasn't a Christian back then), I was freaked out by a public display of tongues- everyone suddenly rose up in unison engaging in a weird ritual of nonsensical chanting and blabbering. My next church visit wasn't until a year later. Even after coming to Christ, I was very bothered in the few conferences that I went to, when a small group of young people almost always go into a state of trance and uncontrolled laughters. It had some sort of semblance to cultish rituals, and I was waiting to see what the speaker would do about them. After all, those were bad disruptions... How about the sacredness of the Holy ground... Surely they would do something about it. Come on, say something... But each time, I was wrong. They ignored them and carried on with the message. I was baffled for months. Each time there was a conference, I constantly reminded myself, I shall not judge, I shall not judge, I shall not judge... Until one day, a message, not intended to address this particular concern that I have, spoke to me. We have a preconceived idea about how the manifestation of God's presence in our midst should look like, but actually there is no mold. Laughing, screaming, even running backward are not that different from tearing, clasping our hands, lying on the ground. It's a personal moment, with God. Remember David dancing naked in 2 Samuel 6:14, most stories are told like this, that David was dancing and because he was dancing so mightily, he felt warm and he took off his clothes. This gives it a more logical chronology, but the bible only mentioned about David dancing naked, as for why he was naked... You get where I'm coming from? Also, we cannot make our gauge based on false things- therefore having semblance to cultish practices doesn't mean that these too are cultish. Try this analogy, we see a stack of counterfeit note, and then we see the real one, and we say this looks like that so it must be fake also. How foolish?! The real note should be the point of reference, not the fake ones!
7. Finally, I still can't say for certain that I'm right, but these are my convictions. But even if they are not, I must acknowledge that they have some really good messages, which are biblically sound. Give them a proper listen! Don't go youtube and load those edited versions which deliberately cut out portions and take them out of context. Listen to them in its full complete version, I'm almost certain you will be blessed by it.
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