Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, which should betray him, Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this. For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always. John 12:3-8.
As we look at the above scriptures, you will discover that using the poor as an excuse for critiquing Ministers and Ministries is an age long tradition. If you’re always on outreach you would be conversant with this statements: “why are you sharing tracts/flyers instead of money “ “why is the church building a bigger auditorium instead of giving the money to the poor” “why are you people wasting money on programs instead of giving to the poor “ it’s always the poor, the poor and the poor. The question many have failed to ask is “who is the poor. Why are they poor? Who made them poor? What can be done to get them out of poverty?
It’s been proved both scripturally and socially that giving to the poor can never liberate them from poverty but rather enriches the rich more because of the principles of sowing and reaping. Many nations quit the socialist system of government because it creates more human liabilities than assets. Just like Judas who appeared to fight for the poor when honour was done to Jesus but when he sold the same Jesus, he never remembered the poor out of his booty but rather died of guilt, so are many so called advocates of the poor in society. The same people forgot that Jesus had fed about five thousand men and their families and another four thousand and their families without making noise about it. There’s no genuine Christian who can be comfortable without ministering to the poor because giving to the poor is a ladder to God’s favour and blessings to the giver not to the poor. Prov 19:17, Isa 58:6-8.
WHO IS THE THE POOR?
The poor is not a person without money but a person without knowledge, vision or drive. Poverty is not a state but a condition. Irrespective of the amount given to him, you only end up creating a social nuisance. Please refer to George Classon’s book, THE RICHEST MAN IN BABYLON. The presence of the poor creates more opportunities for the visionary to get richer because the poor only thinks about how to meet his daily needs while the rich thinks about how to provide solutions to those needs. That’s why a beggar can make a hundred thousand Naira a month but will never quit begging.
Until China began to negotiate for technology in exchange for cheap labour and tax free operation with the West their poverty remained.
WHY ARE THEY POOR?
1. Mindset. Prov 23:7.
2. Background.
3. Environment.
4. Tradition.
5. Ignorance.
6. Witchcraft.
7. Mismanagement of resources and opportunities.
8. Absence of value for information. (We ran a nine months free school of wealth creation in church last year and it might surprise you to know that most of those on the church’s welfare scheme never attended the class but those in not in need attended and shifted levels through the knowledge they acquired. Will you now blame the pastor or church for their continued condition despite being in regular church services?)
9. The blame game.
10. The absence of financial planning.
WHO MADE THEM POOR?
1. The Government.
The government of any nation has a responsibility to minimize poverty. Every nation where poverty has been reduced is a nation where the government was and is genuinely interested in investing in:
1. Human capital development.
2. Infrastructural provision.
3. Investment in research and development as well as Value and reward for creativity.
4. A genuine war against corruption.
5. Equity in dealing with various ethnic nationalities.
6. Accountability in governance.
7. Provision of an unbiased social security system.
8. Observance of the rule of law.
9. Massive investment in education.
10. Provision of security for lives and properties.
Please refer to the Singapore, Malaysian, Chinese, Dubai etc examples.
Until this is done, the populace remains at the mercy of the church. Without the church dishing out messages of hope to the people, the suicide rate would have multiplied in Africa due to Government’s failure. This level of failure by successive governments has created a social problem that necessitated fraudsters abandoning their usual tools to take up the Bible and fleece many unsuspecting victims of the little they have because people are left with only expecting miracles from God to do what a government should do. As long as Government remains irresponsible, people will keep flocking religious centres for solutions thereby increasing proliferation of the good and the bad.
Look at Jesus’s counsel, Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. Matt 11:4-6.
Your anger, offense, blackmail against the church can never yield any result. Money was not the recommendation for the poor but the gospel. So, a major assignment of the gospel is to liberate people from poverty especially where there’s abundant government irresponsibility. (That’s not to say churches shouldn’t have welfare systems)
CONCLUSION:
Until the root cause is detected and dealt with, every attack on the fruits is only a waste of useful energy. Most of those critiquing Pastors and churches should start doing something towards the poor in their own little way and channeling their anger and attention towards holding the government accountable and responsible. If people can hold their government accountable and responsible, they won’t be cheap victims of fraudsters in suits and garments.
You can order for my book, SECRET CODES TO GODLY WEALTH by texting or calling this number, 09069952161.
See you next week on this platform.
Share with others if you’re blessed.
