Photo by Jeremy Thomas on Unsplash
Thunderstorms are natural. They look beautiful, but they are dangerous causing much damage and loss of life. They are a normal occurrence in a world gone wrong. In the same way, greed is common in sinful people, and we human are all sinful. Separating out truth from error is difficult for sinful people. Many churches have giving talks which at best are intended to be helpful, but because of sin, they can engage human greed to extract money from people wanting more money.
Does God want sinful people to be wealthy? Does God want sinners to be healthy? Does God want you to live forever and never die? If the answer to that last question requires some qualifications, so do the first two.
Is there anything a sinful person can do that wont be tainted by sin? There is always someone presenting an opposing point of view. So, I have to remind myself not to get angry at someone for simply holding another opinion. All of us get criticised from time to time for having different ideas. It is good to present our perspective as an opinion piece rather than hand it down as certain truth.
With regard to the prosperity gospel (hard and light versions) which has been endlessly promoted and criticised by many on the Internet (so I don’t have anything new to offer), the danger is to present our point of view as God’s truth. It is not that divine mystery prevents us from knowing truth, but for us sinful humans to know our condition, that as sinners truth may elude us because of sin, not because it is unknowable.
Humility is the issue at the heart of our debates over the prosperity gospel, women in ministry, gender issues, etc. Let us hold lightly to our opinions. They are but the deliberations of our sinful minds. But let us hold tightly to one another, for our brothers and sisters in the church are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
