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The author
Micael Grenholm, a Swedish charismactivist, apologist and author.
God vs Poverty, part 2: Giving
This is as the title suggests the second part of my God vs Poverty series.
Rich folks are experts on producing arguments why we shouldn’t give to the poor. Have you also heard Christians using this Bible verse as Bible proof for inaction:
“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” – 2 Cor 9:7
Was Paul’s point really that if you are a grumpy, greedy Scrooge McDuck, God is perfectly fine with that? No, of course Paul wants us to be cheerful givers, and he states in the next verse that we will be poorly rewarded in Heaven if we aren’t generous on earth, but his point is that we cannot force people to be generous. Giving to the poor still is our duty though: to refuse to give to the needy even if you’re able to, is sinful (Deut 15:9).
Another argument against giving to the poor is an unbiblical one: aid doesn’t work. This is both applied to foreign aid and giving to beggars on the streets. In the former case, people blame corruption and other structural problems, or they simply state that aid undermines incentives to work. In the latter case, people blaim drugs and other social problems, or state that rewarding begging undermines incentives to work.
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Capitalism and the Sin of Self-Interest
Yesterday, IPCC presented the first part of their new report about climate change in Stockholm, Sweden, and it was yet another reminder of the horrible catastrophy we have put ourselves into. The economic system that created climate change and other environmental problem is structurally wicked and needs to change quickly if we are going to save the lives of all the people that are in risk of dying because of environmental destruction and natural disasters. We have to challenge and change capitalism.
All the bishops of the Lutheran Church of Sweden wrote an article in our biggest newspaper today where they argued that changing our lives in response to climate change is a spiritual matter that the church has to adress. I completely agree. In fact, I think the reason why the capitalist economic system has put us into this mess is because it is detached from Christian holiness.
Of course, not everyone think this is the case. I once read an article by a Christian who claimed that the Bible supports capitalism, and he challenged the “misconception” that capitalism is based on greed and thus is sinful. This is not the case, he said, because self-interest does not equal greed, but is something all people base their lives on. Whenever we eat a sandwich we do it out of self interest, and there is nothing wrong with that, he said.
The problem with this argument is that the Bible actually says that self-interest is wrong:
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” – Phil 2:3-4
God vs Wealth, part 10: Now What?
To read other parts of the series, go here.
Christian communism? (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
It’s finally time to end God vs Wealth. And in this final part, I want to talk about some practical implications of this teaching and adress some questions that I think some of you who have followed the series have.
Question 1: Are you really saying that everyone should have everything in common?
I think economic equality is the goal and community of goods is an effective means to reach the goal. In fact, I don’t really know any more effective way to reach equality than Acts chapter 2. The model most churches use today clearly doesn’t work, and for many of them equality is not even the goal.
Of course, community of goods requires more than one person, so start with connecting with others who has the same thoughts as you. get inspired by New creation Christian Community and The Simple Way, and start building. Remember though that Christians communities should include the really poor and marginalised. Get to know poor folks in your area or neighbourhoods, invite them for dinner, love them, and if they’re up for it, live with them.
Also urge your church to start building international community of goods. Connect with say five churches in other parts of the world, look what common budget you have and split it equally. Then, rich churches will learn simplicity and poor churches will have more resources to meet needs and spread the Gospel. Win-win! (more…)
God vs Wealth, part 9: The Prosperity Gospel
To read other parts of the series, go here.
Image from internetmonk.com
The prosperity gospel is a popular teaching in many Pentecostal and neo-Pentecostal churches. Even though there are a lot of different views on prosperity, the concept is usually understood as economic blessings that God wants to give all believers. If you have a strong faith in God, you’ll get rich. Godliness is a means to financial gain.
But what does the Bible say? Well, in 1 Tim 6:5, Paul speaks about “people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.” So the prosperity gospel is simply corrupt and untrue. He goes on saying:
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (vv. 6-10)
A Church That Kicks Out the Poor
Photo: Michael Coghlan
(Thanks to Robert Martin for the video.)
A friend of mine just told me about her home church in a rich European city. Lots of wealthy people are going there, and eventually a poor Romanian beggar showed up asking for money outside the church. My friend and her friends felt compassion for this poor woman, got her some breakfast and invited her in. People were staring. People were whispering. A lady came to them and said that the Romanian woman is scaring her children and that she’s probably involved in trafficking, with criminals taking the money she is begging for. Eventually, a man came and led her out of the church. She wasn’t welcome.
Needless to say, my friend and her friends were chocked. They took this lady to another church. Here, she was radically saved, receiving Christ as her saviour. She was very happy, but even though if she wasn’t kicked out this time, most people didn’t speak to her or tried to build a relationship with her. My friend and her friends were the exception of course, they collected money for her to pay for her son’s surgery back in Romania, but it was hard since many fellow Christians didn’t want to give.
Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? (James 2:2-6)
Before we judge these churches though, examine yourself and your own congregation. John Chrysostom said “When you are weary of praying and do not receive, consider how often you have heard a poor man calling, and have not listened to him.” Are there any poor people in your church? If not, why don’t they come? If there are, are their needs met? What is your attitude to the beggar on the street? Do you give to the one who asks you as Jesus commanded us (Lk 6:30)? Do you have prejudices like in the video above?
Should Christians Wear “Formal” in Church?
Around the world, many people dress “properly” when they go to church, meaning wearing expensive stuff like suits, dresses, and jewelry. Especially pastors and preachers are expected to wear expensive. I don’t like this for the following reasons:
1. The poor are alienated. Some people are basically so poor that they don’t afford a suit, and the preachers silently distances themselves from them. I know a man in Sweden who told a minister “Thank you so much that you wear normal clothes when you preach, I always feel excluded when the pastor wears a suit.” Clothes are symbols, and “formal” clothes are symbols of wealth. It just doesn’t match with James 2:1-7.
2. It’s based on the thought that church is something you “go to” at a specific time at a specific day, while the Scriptures says that the believers are the church at all times. We are not in God’s house more when we are dressed up in church compared to when we are naked in the shower. Thus, it doesn’t make sense to wear differently than usual when you “go to church” because you ARE the church 24/7.
3. Above all: it’s simply not biblical to dress expensive when you go to church. Some people try to create a theology around it, claiming that it’s honoring God and stuff. But the Bible never says that, and we never read that the disciples dressed in a certain way during their meetings. The only time the New Testament talks about expensive clothes and jewelry is when it forbids us to wear it (1 Timothy 2:9, 1 Peter 3:3)!
God vs Wealth, part 8: Were Jesus and Paul Rich?
To read other parts of the series, go here.
I always get confused when some Christians argue that Jesus was rich, since it is like claiming that Donald Trump is poor. How can you think that a homeless, jobless foot-walking preacher was wealthy? Have they found a hidden Bible verse that states that Jesus had a mansion somewhere, despite saying that “the Son of Man has no place to put his head” (Mt 8:20)? Have they found an ancient document that shows that He actually owned a jet plane? My Bible says that he was totally aid-dependent, recieving His support from women and sharing everything with His disciples, practicing community of goods (Lk 8:1-3, Jn 13:29).
But the main argument for the rich Jesus is His seemless garment. John 19:23-24 says:
When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
“Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”
This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,
“They divided my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.”
I’ve seen countless articles and heard many sermons that use this passage to prove that Jesus was rich, since they claim that a seemless garment must have been the clothing of the wealthy. I’m not sure if I would call a homeless, jobless, foot-walking guy who didn’t have anything but a shirt rich though. And more importantly, I can’t find any evidence that only rich people had seemless garments. The Bible sure never says it. And it isn’t hard to create seemless clothing. All you really need to do is to cut a hole in a blanket and ta daa – you got a seemless poncho.
Is the Bible Supporting Capitalism or Communism?
The other day a friend sent me this article, written by Swedish economist Paul Segerstrom, about “what the Bible teach about economics”. The title should rather have been “Why capitalism rocks and communism sucks, and here’s some Bible quotes to prove my point”. It isn’t well written and it is using very weak arguments. I still want to comment it though, since it is an oppurtunity for me to share what I think about capitalism vs communism (hint: I think the Kingdom is better than both of them).
In summary, Segerstrom is saying that the Old Testament is teaching great respect for private property, especially in the tenth commandment (“you shall not covet… anything that belongs to your neighbor” – Ex 20:17). The Old and New Testament is a unity and both Paul and Jesus were teaching about the ten commandments, thus they also defended private property. Of course, we should be generous in charitable giving to the poor, Segerstrom is careful to emphasise this – still he doesn’t like equality but says that good ol’ Abraham proves that we can and should be richer than others.
Segerstrom is stating several times that some Bible verses indeed can be used to support socialism “if taken out of their context”. However, he is not commenting any of them. He’s not even mentioning the community of goods in Acts 2 and 4, something you would expect from a real study about “what the Bible says about economics”. It gets really awkward in the section “What does Jesus teach about economics?” (p. 13) where Segerstrom quotes Matthew 19:18-19 to show that Jesus wants us to follow the ten commandments, but doesn’t even mention verse 21 in the same chapter where Jesus is commanding the rich man to sell everything he has and give to the poor – nor any other of Jesus’ countless economic teachings!
Videos from my Trip
Heart for filming
The first prophetic word I recieved in SA was that I would use my video camera to spread God’s glory. So here are some of the glorious stuff i filmed down there:
Mama Tesia Nicole, South Africa’s version of Heidi Baker, asked me to do a video for them about Village of Hope, their community center in Backdoor which works to improve people’s lives and spread the Gospel of hope. In Backdoor, the unemployment rate is around 80 %, the HIV rate is extremely high and only one third of the youth finish high school. To tackle these problems, Village of Hope includes a pre-school, a feeding programme, a youth center and more.
In this video, Pastor Surprise Sithole shares two testimonies in Iris Revival Church, Nelspruit South Africa: Firstly, a church member has been healed from cancer; secondly, Surprise’s wife Tryphina and their son Enoch saw a castle in the sky. The castle was levitating in the air. Both of them saw it clearly. Suddenly the castle was covered by clouds, and when they disappeared the castle was gone. “What do you think it means?” some one asks Surprise. “Well, a castle belongs to a King.”
The Danger of the “Sowing and Reaping” Teaching
Don't have to tithe
In my previous post, I wrote about how God does want to prosper the poor but not to bring them to a state of luxury and wealth but to a state of generosity and sharing so that there may be equality for all. I wrote that the dangers of the prosperity teaching is that it glorifies gluttony and despises simplicity. But I didn’t mention the, in my opinion, greatest danger of the prosperity teaching here in Africa – the theology of sowing and reaping.
I was listening to a pastor teaching other pastors about how to break poverty bonds. He talked about prosperity and giving. At first I thought it was a nice combination – sure God can prosper the poor but it’s also the responsibility of the rich to give. Then I realized that what he was saying was that it is the responsibility of the poor to give to the pastor or the ministry in order for God to prosper them, because you reap what you sow.
He was exhorting these South African pastors never to be afraid of demanding generous offerings even in very poor churches, because “no one is too poor to give”. His proof texts for these statements were 2 Cor 8:1-4 and 9:6, where Paul is telling the Corinthians about how the Macedonians, despite their “extreme poverty”, gave generously over their ability, and that if you sow generously you will reap generously.
I raised my hand and argued against him. Firstly, the Macedonians and Corinthians were giving to the poor of Jerusalem, not a pastor or a church building (the latter didn’t even exist). Secondly, 2 Cor 9:6 is not necessarily talking about a financial reward, especially in the light of Mt 19:21 and 1 Tim 6:5. Finally, while Paul seems impressed of the Macedonians giving so generously despite their poverty, he is careful in pointing out that he doesn’t want the Corinthians to do the same:
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Good and Bad Prosperity
In need of prosperity
The prosperity gospel is basically saying that God will bless you with money. A lot of money. In the West (especially in the U.S.), prosperity preachers often prove how blessed they are through buying luxuries, mansions and jet planes. This grotesque gluttony has spread to the African continent, where superstar pastors are “prospering” en masse while their church members are starving.
That was what I knew about prosperity teaching. And then pastor Jerry brought me to a shack church in the South African bush, where most church members are unemployed as well as have lost family members in AIDS. And he preached prosperity. God will give you a job. God will change your situation. God will lift you out of poverty.
I even started to like the prosperity message and preach it myself. Because it’s true, God wants to prosper the poor and break the chains of poverty. The Bible was written in a developing country, and the prosperity it talks about is not about cars or suits but about getting good harvests so that you’ll survive the winter, and to have a job so that you don’t have to be a beggar. Biblical prosperity is not about bringing people to a state of luxury, but to deliver them from poverty to a state of generosity and sharing, so that it may be equal for all (2 Cor 8:13).
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Crushing the Spirit of Apartheid
Nelspruit
I knew SA would be unequal, but this is ridiculous. White River is a 100% Western town, with supermarkets, KFC:s, cinemas and luxurious houses with large fences. 15 minutes from it you will find Backdoor, an informal township where thousands live in favelas without running water, where there is 80 % unemployment and where so many are suffering from HIV.
Backdoor
The contrast is so painful. It’s obvious to all that the poor aren’t poor because of lack of resources, but because they have been oppressed and neglected for decades.
White River
However, it would be wrong to say that apartheid created Backdoor’s poverty. The swati people living there were probably just as poor before they immigrated to Backdoor, or even poorer. What apartheid does is that it ignores people and denies them their rights. And even though there has been some progress during the later years, the spirit of apartheid is still alive here, separating people based on their colour.
God vs Wealth, part 7: The Woman with the Alabaster Jar
Image from theepottershand.com
In the previous parts of my God vs Wealth series, I’ve explained why I’m convinced that Christians neither should be rich nor spend money on unnecessary stuff like luxury, beauty products and entertainment. There’s a common counter argument against this though: the woman with the alabaster jar.
In Matthew 26, Mark 14 and John 12, we read about this woman who poured out really expensive perfume from her alabaster jar on Jesus’ body. The disciples get upset and tell her that that perfume could have been sold for a lot of money, which could have been given to the poor.
However, Jesus’ defends the woman and calls her act “beautiful”. Countless (rich) Christians have told me that this is the proof that there are times when we don’t have to give our money to the poor but spend them on luxury instead. If it was okay for Jesus, and He was sinless, why would it be a problem if we from time to time enjoyed some extravagance and glamour?
My answer to that is that this text cannot be applied to any situation today whatsoever. I’ll show you what I mean. Firstly, we have to realize that the disciples are doing something very logical if we think about the teaching Jesus already has given them. He commanded them in Lk 12:33 to sell everything they have and give the money to the poor – of course they get upset when a woman refuses to do the same with an extremely expensive perfume (it says that it was worth 300 denarii – a year’s wage for the avarage worker).
Seven Reasons Why Inequality Sucks
Inequality in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Photo: Milton Jung
I’ve already described how the Bible tells us to support social and economic equality and bridge the gap between the rich and the poor. Now that I am going to one of the most unequal countries in the world, I feel the need to return to this topic. Let me explain why I’m convinced that inequality is immoral, unjust and unholy.
There is a very common argument against equality, used by Christians and non-Christians alike: inequality is acceptable and right if everyone benefits from it. For example, if inequality produces more economic growth than equality would have done, and rich and poor alike benefits from this growth, then inequality is something good.
There are several problems with this argument:
1. Inequality produces social problems. In 2009, Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett authored a book called The Spirit Level, which looked upon how inequality impacts social issues in OECD countries. The results were staggering: they found correlation between inequality and infant mortality, crime, poor health, lack of education, etc. Of course the poor suffered most, but even the rich were worse off in unequal societies compared to equal ones. Thus, the thesis that everyone can benefit from inequality is not true when it comes to social aspects and quality of life.
God vs Wealth, part 6: The Old Testament
To read other parts of the series, go here.
“What about king David?” people ask me when we debate whether a Christian should be rich or not. David was a “man after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22) who clearly loved and feared the Lord, and yet he was very rich. Same thing is true for many believers in the Old Testament – kings like Solomon or Hezekiah as well as landlords as Abraham and Job. They believed in God, and still were rich.
However, we must remember that just because you are a believer, all your actions do not necessarily reflect the will of God. The only person in the Bible that we know lived a totally holy life is Jesus Christ. But when it comes to Abraham for example, he had married his sister. Should we use that as an argument for us to do the same?
Likewise, when it comes to David and Solomon, they lived in polygamy. We know however that Scripture condemns polygamy in other places. And interestingly enough, the same Bible verse that forbids Old Testament kings to take several wives also tells them not to accumulate wealth. This verse is not so famous, but is is a clear debunking of the “what about king David”argument. In Deutoronomy 17, God speaks of the lifestyle of the future king of Israel. Among other things, He says:
He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. (Deut 17:17)
Charismactivism 