Liba Hopeson | BTC
Giving is an important obligation for human beings to do. God commands and encourages us to give to Him and people generously. He loves a person who gives ungrudgingly. So, we preach and teach people often to give our money and wealth bigheartedly for God’s kingdom. However, lest we are careful, this gospel can go wrong and bring dire consequences. Today in Naga society, prosperity gospel is rife, which needs serious rethinking and reflection. If we go at this pace without any consideration and assessment, instead of bringing glory to God’s name, it is bound to bring disgrace to God and to human. For the sake of pushing or prompting people to do what God demands of us, there is a danger of discouraging and infuriating them, and at last lead them to the pit.
It is undeniable that God commands us to give to Him. Thus, taking certain Scriptures related to giving, many God’s ministers preach splendid and captivating sermons. Statements such as, ‘give and it will be given back to you’, ‘it is better to give than to receive’, ‘if you don’t give, you are robbing God’, so on and so forth are often uttered to inspire and encourage people to give. Their words are so cajoling, mesmerizing and promising. As far as I know, many a times, sermons are delivered in a way that the givers could expect to receive more from what they have given. In our church today, it is rare to hear a preacher preaching, “we must give and do not expect anything back from God.” It doesn’t mean God will not or cannot give, but He deserves to get from us without any condition. We ought not to expect anything back when we give to Him. Unquestionably, God will give us generously if our motives and intentions are good and right. But sadly, our words to the congregation are so wrongly uttered, deviating away from God’s view many times.
At times, some people complain God for not giving them after they have given much to Him. So, it is perceivable that they had expectations to receive double or more for what they have given to God. When they don’t receive from God after a long wait, they are overwhelmed by discouragement and despair. Significantly, it is highly possible that they are immensely influenced by the ‘prosperity gospel’ – ‘give and it will be given back to you’. It is obvious God can give back to us if we give to Him. Nonetheless, our way of presenting the Gospel go wrong, failing in sharing about the right motive and intention. Different reasons could be there for this failure. Sometimes, I am compelled to reason about the popular statement of Karl Marx, “economy is the base of everything”. Is religion subject to economy? Of course they are interrelated. But it prompts me to ask many questions. The simple reason is, in the sight of many people, religion and God appears to take the backseat frequently. The intimation, ‘without money we cannot serve God is very powerful today’. Apparently, we need money and wealth in serving God. Hence, on the pretext of serving God faithfully, we tend to give first priority to money or wealth very often. When there is urgency, though the need is for personal or for church, we are tempted to proclaim ‘prosperity gospel’ in a hasty way without considering the Scriptures properly. In such situation, the decision which is entirely God’s could be taken by us and present it to others. In simple words, let me put this way – we tell people that God will certainly give us back if we give to Him. It is a big temptation for Christian Ministers to act like God when there is an urgent need(s). When different people give to God and do not receive back from Him because of their wrong motives, they would turn their face towards the preachers of prosperity gospel and accuse them. They will get the liar tag. Therefore, it becomes extremely important to reconsider the notion about giving and refrain from preaching wrong gospel if we have been doing.
What follows on this write-up may appear somewhat a judgmental critique. On the other hand, it would be worth pondering and reflecting together, for it is a reality. Today, in many Churches, prizes are given to those who give the most tithes annually, and in some Churches for contributing the most for missionaries. In fact, some Churches divide the Church members into three groups – Government employees, business men and cultivators and give prizes. I don’t have any problem with it earlier. But today, as I ponder and reflect about prosperity gospel, I am pressed hard by certain questions. Here, I am not intending to remark that it is a sin to give prizes to those who give the most tithes, nor do I intend to dissuade the Church leaders to desist doing it. However, if we think deeply, there is a complication in it, for there are different sections of government employees, different business men and women, so also cultivators. Of course, there cannot be perfection in anything on this earth, yet, when the judgment which is supposed to be heavenly is done in earthly manner by human, it becomes a complex matter. It might be a loss not only here on earth, but also when we are in heaven. It is highly possible that many people give tithe more and more just to get prize, and particularly to gain fame, as we love fame. A kind of competition in giving is prevalent today, brushing aside the real meaning or purpose of giving. If we just give to let others think that we are good, or Godly, our reward on earth and heaven in enormously doubtful. The writer is not discouraging all the Churches for doing it, for even my Church is not an exception, notwithstanding, our intentions should be properly checked and corrected. If we give prize to make the members give more so that we can develop and compete with other Churches (in earthly sense), we should rethink and rectify it. If our sermon on giving is also for the cause of worldly or earthly matters alone, we ought to realize and change. Evidently, ‘prosperity gospel’ is sweeping across our land, which is presented wrongly by many, and hence need a change. It should not be for the prosperity of the Church alone, forgetting the real meaning and purpose of giving. Yes, it is better to give than to receive, but it is better to present the gospel truthfully than to demand indirectly for wrong cause, using the name of God and Scriptures.
