Intelligent Holy Ghost Christianity

Yesterday, I received an email from a reader asking about what my thoughts were on these days we’re living in.  He wrote:

In reading various Christian sites, I see a wide range of attitudes toward what is going on in the world today.  I’m sure you have seen the same.  One group says that things are peachy (for the Christian, anyway) and God is not going to let anything bad happen to us.  All the way to the other side that says, buy guns, hoard food and water, head for the hills, the stuff is going to hit the fan!  And, of course, everything in between.

I responded to his email, but after thinking about it, I might not have done him justice.  So I thought I’d flesh out my thoughts on a Friday blog post.

Praying for the Economy

Some weeks ago I read about what amounted to be a field trip to the New York Wall Street Bull to pray for the economy.  Evidently, some “prophetic” minister said that God had spoken to him and told him to do this.  Frankly, I thought this was ignorance gone to seed.

In the book of Acts, the Holy Ghost spoke through a prophet named Ananias who prophesied about a coming famine.  Ananias’s prophecy was not to do a public stunt with prayer, but to inform one part of the Body of Christ so that it could help out the other part most affected by the famine.  We see the same kind of selflessness on the part of Barnabas when he sold his own land and laid the sales money at the feet of the apostles so that it could be distributed to those in need.

The American Christian response to crisis has been to stage publicity stunts or encourage those in need to “be warmed and filled.”  We ought to follow the guidance given in Acts and James and sensitively help those who are frail among us.

Automotive CEOs, Wall Streeters, and Full Gospel Preachers

Recently, the automotive CEOs flew up to Capitol Hill with tin cups in hand.  There has been a big brouhaha about the fact that they arrived in multi-million dollar corporate jets.  The flights cost about $20,000 apiece where comparable first-class flights from Michigan to Washington would have cost about $850 round-trip.

Prior to these ill-fated flights, many of the country’s white-shoe Wall Street firms had to be bailed out.  These were the firms that were supposed to have the latest and greatest expertise in the money markets.  Their executives enjoyed seven figure salaries, the most expensive perks imaginable, and houses in the Hamptons.  Though they garnered all this personal wealth, it is evident that they mismanaged, for years, the fiduciary duties they owed to their shareholders.

Unfortunately, it appears that many of our popular preachers haven’t been immune to this culture of extravagance.  While one cannot begrudge the man (or woman) who enjoys the fruits of his labors, he has to wonder if all the computerized mailing lists, plantings in “good ground,” and automatic payment withdrawals have produced rotten spiritual fruit. (Warren Buffett has said that private jets are too expensive for him.)

Personally, I believe that these economic times presage the end of mega-ministries and incorporated Christianity as it’s been practiced in America.  In the near future, more ministry supporters will question why they should finance the extravagant lifestyle of the “man of God” (why is he good ground as opposed to some other Christian) to their own detriment.

Frankly, those ministries who have preached the ready-made phrase, “God is a God of Increase - He is always increasing,” will have some ‘splainin’ to do with the employees they want to lay off.

In my mind, Full Gospel ministries will hearken back to the lone preacher, the single man (or woman) who demonstrates the Gospel in Spirit and in power.

[Note: While writing this post, I noticed that Focus on the Family is laying off 202 employees, effective immediately.  It has also been announced that a bank is foreclosing on the Without Walls Church - a large charismatic church with a claimed membership of 30,000.]

Reigning in What Life

For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.  (Romans 5.17, NASB)

In the Greek New Testament, there are two words that are usually translated “life”in the King James and other translations: one is zoe and the other is bios.  Zoe is the God-kind of life that Jesus spoke of when he said, “I’ve come that they may have life (zoe).”  Bios, on the other hand, is our natural life or our natural life as sustained by resources, wealth, or goods.  John uses bios to describe earthly riches in his epistles.

For many years in the Word movement, second-generation Word preachers have preached Romans 5.17 as if it says that the Christian will reign in bios or the natural life as sustained by wealth.  Consequently, we’ve heard many sermons about how Christians are to become wealthy with the wealth of the world.  In one local church, for example, the bookstore sells several sermon packages where the pastor is pictured posing in front of a bevy of exotic cars (one for each series).  All of the series deal with the idea of reigning in the bios life.

The fact is that Romans 5.17 doesn’t speak of bios, but of zoe when it says “life.”  The Christian will reign in (or by) the zoe-life of God through the One, Jesus Christ.  We see prime examples of this ruling and reigning in the book of Acts, e.g., Philip preaching Christ and demons screaming as they are cast out, Paul performing special miracles, Peter raising a girl from the dead.

As the “reign in bios” is not founded upon the rightly-divided Word, it is sure to fall like the house built on sand with the storms of the economy.  While we, as Christians, are redeemed from the curse of poverty (see Col. 3.13), that fact does not turn us into Wall Streeters.

[Note: This car was parked outside of my office just last week.  The license plate says “Abndnt.”  The driver goes to the local church I described.  Many in the church have plates like this.]

Modesty and Constancy

Personally, I believe that the world is entering the “beginning of the birth pangs” that presage the end of the age.  Jesus said that this particular epoch of time would have earthquakes and wars, etc.  It doesn’t jive that Christians wouldn’t be affected in some way by these monumental events.  We’re not of the world, but we are certainly in it.

The Word instructs us to live modestly with our eyes set on things above (Col. 3.1-2).  We should be determined to reign in the zoe life with the bios life a distant second.  We should live with more concern for men’s souls than with iPhones.

On a practical level, even armed with the knowledge that we are redeemed from the curse of poverty, my family endeavors to live within its means.  We gave up credit cards a long time ago and found that we didn’t miss them.  When you seek to set your eyes on things above, the powers of MasterCard truly grow dim.

We have continued to support certain ministers, not so that we can be enriched (giving to get), but so that the Gospel may go forth and Jesus may be glorified.  While we may have to tweak parts of our lives during hard economic times, we strive to maintain a constancy with the Word.

If Jesus tarries for twenty years, he should find us doing the pretty much the same thing then as we are doing today.  That is the way of a Christian whose life is established on the Word.

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