By M L Satyan
Bengaluru, June 13, 2023: I received a WhatsApp video in which a person (name and place unknown) is seen giving a talk. This provoked my thoughts and inspired me to share my reflections for the introspection of the readers. The content of the talk is given below:
“A true man of God helps you depend on God and not on him. But a man of greed wants you to depend on him so he can extract money from you. A lot of so-called preachers charge people money for their ministry. The more you pay, the more they pray. Today many churches and prayer camps charge money for what they call prayer and healing. If you give 50 dollars, you get a prayer. If you give 100 dollars, they will lay their hands and anoint you. If you give 500 dollars, they will fast for you. And if you give 1000 dollars, they will prophesy and see a vision for you. Nonsense!
Anybody who charges you for prayer or healing is in error. A day of judgement is coming on the fake pastors and preachers of this land. They tell you, “Buy this anointing oil. Buy this holy water. Buy this prayer cloth.” Do not be deceived. Jesus never sold any miracle and neither did the apostles. We have to get back to the original place today where we depend on Jesus and Jesus only.
The cult of celebrity pastors and preachers must end. Here is the mistake we make today. We think that if a preacher speaks words that come to pass, well then it means that he is a true man of God. We think if a preacher performs miracle signs and wonders, then, he must be operating in God’s supernatural power.
But the fact is that you can speak prophetic words that come to pass and still be a false preacher. You can perform miracle signs and wonders and still not operate in God’s power. Since it is important, this needs to be emphasized. Deception is not just wrong words. It is also a wrong lifestyle. A false preacher may have the right words and even predict things correctly, but if he has a wrong life, then, he is a false preacher.
There is a pastor in Tanzania who says, “Since I am anointed, my feet cannot touch the ground while I am preaching. He stands on top of some of his audience while he preaches. What is that? Nonsense!
The pride in preachers today is making God angry. The preachers tell you, “Bow down” and people do so. They tell, “Kneel down” and the people do so. They tell, “Touch my feet” and the people do so. Stop it! Jesus and only Jesus must be glorified.
A few years ago, Pastor Rabalago of Mount Zion General Assembly in South Africa was spraying Doom, a super multi-insect killer on people’s faces to cure their sickness. Another Pastor Light Monecki of the Grace Living Hope Ministries commanded his congregants to drink rat poison as a demonstration of power of faith. They all died immediately after the deliverance of their services.
Ask yourself. Where is in the Bible? There is a great of error running through churches today. It is destroying preachers and ruining churches. It is causing people to backslide and destroy their faith. It is the mockery of the truth and making people to lose their faith. It is causing good Christians to turn from the truth and fall into evil.
Jesus had already warned about the false prophets, pastors and preachers. These preachers befriend you and deceive you. The greatest challenge today is not persecution; it is not economic collapse; it is not uncertainty in government. The greatest challenge we face today is the spiritual deception.”
This talk speaks about innumerable preachers I have seen and heard of in various parts of the country, especially in Tamil Nadu. There are preachers who live in palatial houses, do their family shopping only in European countries, travel in expensive cars and follow all types of extravaganzas. What is the secret of their wealth is a million-dollar question.
In this context I wish to give some excerpts of a story written by Osho in his book titled Zen. Once Jesus thought, “I must go and visit the earth again, because after two thousand years of Christianity, now the earth may be ready to receive me. Now, they will not reject me as they did before, because when I went there before, there was not a single Christian, I was a stranger. Now, half the earth is Christian; millions of churches and priests are continuously preaching my words.
He came again, of course on a Sunday as only on this day you can distinguish who is a Christian, because Christian religion has become a ‘Sunday affair’. It is not concerned with life, it is just a ritual to be done, a formality to be fulfilled – without any heart in it.
Jesus reached his village and stood in the marketplace. He was a little apprehensive because people looked at him but nobody recognized him. And then a few people gathered around him and they started telling him, “You look just like Jesus and if you are the real Jesus, then, escape before the priest comes out of the church; otherwise, you are bound to get into trouble.”
And then came the priest. He looked at Jesus and said, “Come down, you ruffian! What do you think you are doing, insulting our God?” Jesus said, “Can’t you recognize me?” The priest collared him and said, “I recognize you well. Come and follow me.” He took him into the church and locked him inside a cell.
At night the priest came with a small candle in his hand and unlocked the door. He touched Jesus’ feet and said, “I recognize you well! All these years we have managed everything well and Christianity is established. Please do not disturb us.
You just stay at your place! you need not come here!”
Is this story not real in today’s Christianity and Church? We have palatial church buildings and popular institutions. Does Jesus reside there? We have countless factions of Christian groups. Are they really bearing witness to Jesus? We have a huge number of miracle workers and charismatic preachers. Are they really practising the values that Jesus preached? How long are we going to follow them? Should we not free ourselves from the religious deception?