QC and SG accountability (25/10/19)
We considered what it was that made an organization (like the OCF or VCF) different from a church. Although these gatherings of Christians are also part of the universal church, these organizations are called parachurch organizations. True churches are characterized by 'true preaching' and by administration of the sacraments. Parachurch organizations may have the former, but not the latter. Parachurch organizations also usually make it explicit in their goals that they exist to come alongside and assist the church.
We listened to an excerpt from a sermon from a preacher who noted that many OT saints were very rich, said that God gives wealth and happiness ("The blessing of the Lord makes rich and he adds no sorrow with it" Pr 10:22) and that poverty is a curse that God does not desire His children to suffer. His thesis was that Jesus was rich. This seems very unlikely from the testimony of scripture: His parents offered 2 birds rather than a lamb at his dedication as a baby(Lk 2:24, c.f. Lev 12:8), He himself said that He had no permanent place to stay (Mt 8:20) and he was betrayed for the relatively low sum of 30 pieces of silver, suggesting that the common purse of Jesus and His disciples was not extensive.
It is important to note that OT promises focus on material rather than spiritual blessings, which is the case in the NT. This is because in the OT, God worked through a specific race (the Jews) and a specific nation (Israel) to proclaim His glory to all who would see the blessings of faithful covenant living. So the promises of prosperity to the people of God in the OT are to the nation. We are not meant to apply them indiscriminately to our day and our context, just as we are not meant to apply all the provisions of the Mosaic law.
Another theological error made by prosperity teachers is an 'over-realized eschatology; i.e. they bring the fullness of the physical and material blessings that are to be ours in the end-times into our lives now. So health and prosperity are ours in part in this life, but will not be an invariant experience for all Christians until Christ's return.
The importance of dealing with prosperity theology is, I think, that we are asked to have a godly approach to riches. We are told that we cannot serve both God and money (Mt 6:24). It is hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of heaven (Mt 19:24), because the rich tend to trust in their wealth to provide all the world can offer. We are commanded not to desire to be rich (1 Ti 6:7-10). So it is right to work effectively and to seek better paying jobs, but not primarily to gain wealth for ourselves. We should be giving generously as an antidote to greed, knowing that a tithe (= 'tenth') is the OT standard of giving, whereas we in the NT covenant have superior blessings and should be correspondingly more motivated to give.
We listened to an excerpt from a sermon from a preacher who noted that many OT saints were very rich, said that God gives wealth and happiness ("The blessing of the Lord makes rich and he adds no sorrow with it" Pr 10:22) and that poverty is a curse that God does not desire His children to suffer. His thesis was that Jesus was rich. This seems very unlikely from the testimony of scripture: His parents offered 2 birds rather than a lamb at his dedication as a baby(Lk 2:24, c.f. Lev 12:8), He himself said that He had no permanent place to stay (Mt 8:20) and he was betrayed for the relatively low sum of 30 pieces of silver, suggesting that the common purse of Jesus and His disciples was not extensive.
It is important to note that OT promises focus on material rather than spiritual blessings, which is the case in the NT. This is because in the OT, God worked through a specific race (the Jews) and a specific nation (Israel) to proclaim His glory to all who would see the blessings of faithful covenant living. So the promises of prosperity to the people of God in the OT are to the nation. We are not meant to apply them indiscriminately to our day and our context, just as we are not meant to apply all the provisions of the Mosaic law.
Another theological error made by prosperity teachers is an 'over-realized eschatology; i.e. they bring the fullness of the physical and material blessings that are to be ours in the end-times into our lives now. So health and prosperity are ours in part in this life, but will not be an invariant experience for all Christians until Christ's return.
The importance of dealing with prosperity theology is, I think, that we are asked to have a godly approach to riches. We are told that we cannot serve both God and money (Mt 6:24). It is hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of heaven (Mt 19:24), because the rich tend to trust in their wealth to provide all the world can offer. We are commanded not to desire to be rich (1 Ti 6:7-10). So it is right to work effectively and to seek better paying jobs, but not primarily to gain wealth for ourselves. We should be giving generously as an antidote to greed, knowing that a tithe (= 'tenth') is the OT standard of giving, whereas we in the NT covenant have superior blessings and should be correspondingly more motivated to give.
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