Mega Deceptions

But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. (Hebrews 3:13)

What kind of friend is a social media friend? What kind of disciple is a social media follower? What kind of fellowship is there when all are looking at a Christian performer? And what kind of ministry are we doing when we are only funding the superstars?

I will start by asking us to define our terms.

A friend is basically someone one is familiar with, though different from a relative. It is someone you can run to for support during hard times.

A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. (Proverbs 17:17)

Can that even vaguely or remotely describe social media friends? Do we look to social media friends for anything similar to traditional friendship? Can we expect them to be available to us when we are hurting or in need? Can they offer a shoulder to lean on when we are weak?

Can we disciple people by remote control? Can we help people grow in a healthy way when all they are doing is following us on social media?

What sort of society is found on the social media?

Yet it is not the media that is bringing all the deceptions. The church has been playing those deceptions for eons. We have replaced simple Biblical descriptions with complicated unfathomable big words that can never save a drowning man, whether in sin or loneliness.

What is fellowship? What are the components of fellowship? What is discipleship and what are the components of the same?

Do you realize that presence is an element that MUST be there for both to be real? And by presence I mean a face to face close interaction. Let me give you some verses.

And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, (Mark 3:14)

Do you realize that Jesus was with those disciples at all times? He discipled them through all hours of the day, whether awake or asleep, for three years. No wonder they were called little Christos after it all! And we are convincing ourselves we are discipling when all we do is send CDs and other materials without caring to know whether they even have equipment to play them.

And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. (Acts 2:42)

Again we see them continuing what they had experienced in their discipleship. Presence was a key element in their fellowship.

Contrast that with modern fellowship. Compare it with fellowships where we have one person at the front and others listening to his exhortation; and most people do not know the person seated next to them. And we still say we are in a fellowship!

Even evangelism has fallen prey to the deception. Who is an evangelist? In modern terms it is the best hit and run preacher around. It is the person who can never settle in one place or develop lasting relationships to the people he preaches to. It is the person who boasts the most decisions with the least exertion, at least time or presence wise.

Yet what is the Biblical description of an evangelist?

And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. (Acts 18:11)

The shortest time we see Paul spending in a city is three months, and that was because he became the target of clear danger that the others decided that he had to leave, many times against his will. The success of his evangelism was therefore due more to his consistent and continuous presence than his eloquence.

And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: (1Corinthians 2:4)

He was effective because there was no stardom in his presentation of the Gospel. He was the embodiment of the Gospel he preached as he lived among the people God had sent him to. His apologetics was backed by the transparent way he lived among them. They did not prepare extensively so that he could come to preach to them. They simply saw in him a vulnerable minister whose transformation by the Gospel was undisputable and desirable.

Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first. (Galatians 4:13)

How many ministers are willing to be that vulnerable to the people they minister to? And why is that so difficult?

Do you remember that even when Jesus was sending out His disciples to preach the expectation was the same?

And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick. And he said unto them, Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece. And whatsoever house ye enter into, there abide, and thence depart. And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house. (Luke 9: 2 – 4; 10:7)

Presence is the difference. Preaching from up there makes you a different specimen of a person from the ones you are preaching to. Yet that is not God’s expectation.

A TV congregation is not a congregation. An internet church is not a church.

A congregation is a group of people who are growing together as they get involved in one another in their service (worship) of Christ. In fact most modern congregations fall flat when the Biblical definition of congregation is applied because they are people who have agreed to be spectators in their Christian lives as they fund the performers.

Let me explain. Most big churches will repeatedly warn their members against helping anyone approaching them for assistance and should refer them to the ‘experts’. They are also encouraged to bountifully give to those experts to enable them ‘serve’ the needy.

I am involved in ministry to the disadvantaged and know that allowing begging in the church will chase many of the rich with their offerings out of the church. But the solution is not to refer needs to the experts. I am convinced, and that through years of ministry, that the solution is opening fellowship among members of the church. And this explains why this problem is nonexistent in small churches since people know one another and will not need any admonitions from wherever to minister to needs amongst themselves. They therefore will not need the pulpit to minister to each other since their fellowship is real.

But the mega deception we call church thrives on shielding members from each other. Then the management (call them pastors) become the recipients of all the giving so that as the experts they can dole out drops of it wherever they see fit, many times after filling their pockets to overflowing. That is the reason we find some pastors living in palatial homes even as some members can barely afford food, some being unable to take their children to school.

I compare this to sports where a few people play the game and all the rest are spectators who have to celebrate or moan according to the results, some choosing to end their lives because their team lost a major one. Yet the greatest beneficiary is the owner of the team or club who may have no interest in the game you are so passionate about as he is only an investor. For him winning or losing is nothing unless it affects his earnings.

Presence is the difference between God’s church and a football game. Consider this.

Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. (1Corinthians 12:27)

The church is a living organism, not organization. It is therefore important to remind ourselves that not only is each member as important as the other, but is as involved in the overall function of the church of Christ. It is also important that the head of that body is not the pastor we have made (many make themselves) but Christ who died for it. This means that the orders for each and every member should proceed from that head and nowhere else. Again look at scripture.

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. (Ephesians 4: 11 – 16)

Leaders are meant to prepare people to be effective ministers as opposed to what most assume or even teach that they are the sole ministers and the rest are the funders of that ministry. Most teach that ministry falls only when the rabble stops funding them instead of what the Bible teaches, that ministry will fail when a member, even the most insignificant, loses their connection to the head who is Christ

Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked: That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. (1Corinthians 12: 22 – 25)

Consider your buttocks to get my point. Even those who love to expose their bodies to ensnare men will never want to expose that part of their body. Yet imagine life with that member of the body injured? I remember a child friend of mine falling on boiling water on his buttocks and the torture he went through; and children heal pretty fast!

A minister like me is not more important to God’s scheme of things than the person nobody knows in the middle of nowhere who is interceding for Christians undergoing severe persecution, even death for their faith. An eminent apostle (in our eyes) is not more valuable to God than the one who restores esteem and faith to children from discordant and nonexistent families. And the one who builds mega church buildings through his bounty does not count for more in God’s eyes than the one who gives a cup of cold water to a wayfaring pilgrim.

Again see what God uses to judge. Never do we see Him using buildings, even in His name, to judge people. He uses our treatment of people as His yardstick. Matthew 25 is one such passage.

And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?  When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?  Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. (Matthew 25: 33 – 40)

The assessment is not based on the missionary trips they made and funded or the kind of church auditoriums the built or did not build. It is based squarely on the ministry they performed on the vulnerable.

Incidentally this is the reason marriages are breaking at alarming rates. We are placing premium on the wrong things. Again let me explain.

A woman employs a chef who makes wonderful food. The same doubles up as a nanny to take care of her children even better than she could ever do. Then she wonders why her husband runs off with the servant and deserts her. A man employs a grounds man skilled in all the manly duties and wonders why his wife cheats on him with this lowly character or his daughter runs off with him.

You see, money is a very dangerous tool when not used properly. A family grows together by doing things together as that is how God wired us to function. That is why relationships established in hardship are for the most very deep and lasting. That is the reason persecution increases the potency and witness of the church of Christ.

A wife who uses money to do all her work may appear very smart. A man who transfers all his handyman responsibilities to an employee may also think he is very smart. They may actually think they are freeing their time to develop their relationship. Unfortunately the opposite happens. Why?

God meant those roles to bring closeness to the couple. It is as the wife is battling the sights and smells of the kitchen and the stresses of nursing the children that she develops greater appreciation for the husband she is cooking for and the father of the children she is nursing. It is as the husband is fixing things and tending and protecting the household that he develops greater appreciation and love for the partner and other residents of that house. Remove those roles and we get into a greater problem.

Incidentally that is why marital breakage rarely happens to those who have no money to employ all those burden carriers. They bond as they are sharing those roles.

You see the woman was made as a suitable helper for man. In other words she was supposed to be a partner at work. Using money to make her a partner in recreation flies back hard since there will be immense frustration. And this also explains why many children flee homes where there is everything to live on the streets as the drive to work is frustrated when someone has nothing to do that they would rather scavenge for food from bins than live in such unnatural surroundings that outsiders think are most ideal.

And it is the same in the church. A church that pays for everything from cleaning to music to catering will not develop any fellowship. I contrast it to my village days where everything from cleaning to building the church was done by the members without any expectation of payment. One could fault the doctrine or even the salvation of members but there was no doubt about the oneness of the church. And it came out clearest when there was a crisis or celebration. Due to that many people joined the church so that they would enjoy the benefits of that fellowship. Conflict was sneered upon because none wanted to be excluded in their hour of need. ‘Who will bury or marry you?’ was the greatest argument against not being a member of a church.

The focus of the church today is numbers and the money they bring in instead of fellowship. A church with a large auditorium and huge parking lot is treated as a better and more successful church than a church in the slums that is transforming one life after another with the Gospel of Christ.

I believe that the churches that are or have been locked or converted to other purposes are testament of that. They sent missionaries and were left with only one purpose; fund those ministers (missionaries and preachers). With no other purpose, their fellowship starved to death as there was nothing positive to do apart from funding the performers, especially because it was no sacrifice as there was enough money to fund those superstars. They of course lost the drive to continue attending or participating in the church.

And there ye shall eat before the LORD your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the LORD thy God hath blessed thee. Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the LORD: And ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your menservants, and your maidservants, and the Levite that is within your gates; forasmuch as he hath no part nor inheritance with you. Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest: (Deuteronomy 12: 6, 11 – 13)

This is what God knew when He offered these orders. Sending tithes to the Levites and priests without joining them was sure to bring fatigue in the things of God.

By the way cooking together enriches fellowship more than having it made by professionals or meeting in hotels. Battling the smoke and heat builds partnership and friendships that can never be built otherwise. And that is the reason Africans insist on an animal being slain as opposed to buying meat from butchery in family or communal events. Of course in some there is a sacrificial element which is negative but there are conversations that happen during the exercise that would not happen elsewhere especially to the generational gap when a father is doing it with his sons.

A church that does many things together deals the death blow to the disconnect between members that requires pastors to broker. A simple thing such as cooking and eating together regularly the capacity of rekindling the fire and passion for God as we get involved with one another instead of cheering the superstars ministering to us in song and motivational preaching.

Again looking at what is called lifestyle diseases, especially obesity we will see a similar thing. Money and its pursuit relegates the body to a holder of a brain that does all the thinking and gadgets take all the weight for the body. The most exertive exercise most do is tapping those computer keyboards and lifting food to mouths.

No wonder the body rebels. It was meant to work for a living, not be carried in cars and lifts as it does nothing. The same is also repeated at the home front, from dishwashers and laundering machines to hosts of servants it does almost nothing physical. And then it is denied enough sleep as the brain insists on working overtime when it should be resting.

Will we start functioning the way we were fashioned to?