Kenneth Hagin himself said that many people get the impression that if you have faith you should go through life on flowery beds of ease. Nothing could be further from the truth. But faith in God will ensure that we will come through our trials and the suffering that comes with them into victory on the other side.
Peace...
So true....
What often seems to happen is that rarely are the founders of WOF ever quoted or seen in the context they spoke in simply because they spoke highly of how the Lord blesses His people as much as he expects them to go through.
IMHO, much of the discussion comes down to the issue of how we are to view those struggling economically—and whether God desires for them to be there…or, if he wants them comforted.
Specifically, the main thrust is how do we view the poor—in light of the view that those born impoverished are perhaps destined to be there rather than it being a matter where choice/circumstances determined their lot.
Scripture does say that we’re to be about addressing injustice wherever we see it (Exodus 23:1-3, Exodus 23:5-7, Leviticus 19:15, Deuteronomy 16:18-20, Deuteronomy 16:19-21, Deuteronomy 24:16-18, Deuteronomy 27:18-20, 1 Samuel 8:2-4, 1 Kings 10:8-10 , Job 31:12-14 , Psalm 9:15-17, Psalm 33:5, Psalm 50:6, Psalm 140:12, Ecclesiastes 5:7-9 , Isaiah 10:1-3 , Isaiah 11:3-5, Isaiah 29:20-22 , Isaiah 59:3-14, Isaiah 58:5-7, Jeremiah 22:12-14, Ezekiel 9:8-10 , Hosea 12:5-7, Amos 2:6-8, Amos 5:6-24, Micah 3:8-10 , Zechariah 7:8-10, Malachi 3:4-6, Matthew 23:22-24, Luke 11:41-43, )—with the Lord mentioning repeatedly he was quite TICKED off whenever his people chose not to live it out….or, in many cases, lay an issue of injustice at his feet that He did not cause.
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Job 8:3
Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right?
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If God blesses someone with riches, I Timothy 6 makes clear that they’re to be generous with what they have so that they can store up toward God and be rich in the life to come. If God called someone to have a mansion/his blessing was upon it, it’d be beautiful to see it used for something such as hosting those who are struggling—-or community outreachs such as barbecues and parties where one can do as Jesus Himself noted in Luke 14 when it comes to having a banquet and inviting the POOR, the cripple and the lame rather than only those who are well off..
For believers in other struggling countries, they indeed face suffering on a grand scale—and they are proud to do so for the sake of Christ. Yet, paradoxically, they also make clear many times that its far more difficult to live for Christ when there’s nothing but PHYSICAL comfort—to the point where they’re sending missionaries over to our own country to evangelize us since they feel that we have it worse….as we’re gradually put to sleep in a manner akin to “killing me softly”
Its also interesting how the issue of comfort makes a significant realm of difference when it comes to the subject of social justice—for as it concerns many of the ways in which addressing DISCOMFORT was the entire reason why action was taken.
It was one of the basic reasons when it came to slavery in the U.S or inequality for minorities in our land….and abroad, there are MANY nations in Asia where the economy is struggling–and the evidence of this can be seen in many of the trades they allow/support there which are apart of the Black Market/Underworld dealings, be it the SEX-Slave Trade or SweatShopes and many other horrendous things that others have died from…….and there’s a need for us in the West to aid them. Just read an article the other day at work that dealt with the issue of how smuggling wildlife is one of the top industries in the world—a sympton of the black market and organized crime….and in many ways, a rape of the natural world due to the bad economies of certain Asian nations.
And with that comes the believers trapped in things such as the black market of human trafficking—or even legitimate markets that work people to death, such as the sweat .
I would think that it’d be a matter of justice for believers to seek to address these things/pray and work so that they’d have comfort on those areas. For as was the case with the rise of Liberation Theology, it wasn’t so long ago that people in the Catholic church said that those who were born into poverty or hard times were destined to stay there/be “content” while those who are rich were also called to be where they were…with one social class of people ignored because of a teaching that said God wanted others to be stuck on a certain economic level
Whenever I think of others—such as a T.D Jakes, for example, and his bent toward Prosperity Theology—it seems to be apart of a larger issue within the Black Community in General…..as there are many teachers in a myriad of denominations holding to Biblical Prosperity because of the situations that certain people groups are in—and within Black Culture, getting off of the Streets/Out of the Hood has always been a long-standing issue. And alongside that is the issue of what’s known as “Libertation Theology.”
Learned of it when studying for my career in Social Work/Social Justice Advocay—and IMHO, its truly one of the most beautiful expressions of what the scriptures discuss when it comes to seeing a brother/sister in need of provision but simply wishing them well…or telling them to be cool with where they’re at (I John 2-3). Others who are founders within the movement would be people such as priest Gustavo Gutiérrez. James Cone would be another influential leader in the movement—as he contexualized it within the framework of something known as Black Liberation Theology. Brilliant man, IMHO…and highly enjoyed reading his works, seeing that in the black community what he was saying were things we’d be feeling for ages.
With Liberation Theology, much of it arose in response to what happened often throughout church history….as it concerns Ascetism and focusing seldom to none on the physical and believing one becomes more spiritual as they have less. It was highly influential in the Catholic Church for a good bit…and in many other churches since who say God’s not concerned for things such as healing of the body (as Jesus did often) or having goods….condeming others who dare to believe in praying for the sick to get healed/believing Gods heart is for wholeness and that its not wrong to live comfortably. Its what often kept those who were poor in their states, as their condition was “spiritualized” and made to look bad if one tried to rise up from that….as the prevailing view was that God “ordained” each of us to remain in the state of life that we were born into—and so if you were born poor, you were not to fight against it.
It was very similar to what’s happening in India right now with Hinduism and the Caste System, as it relates to the Dalits (i.e. “Untouchables”
who were born that way due to “bad karma”….and so to try addressing their physical plights should be avoided.
I’m reminded of Martin Luther King and where he comes from on the issue of Prosperity, as often it seemed that emphasis was placed upon the spiritual—-yet the physical was of not importance…with those who were against blacks using the dynamics of “heaven” to convice others it was wrong to care about physical institutions such as Jim Crow or Slavery. As Martin Luther King said best, , “A minister cannot preach the glories of heaven while ignoring social conditions in his own community that cause [people] an earthly hell.”-He said this in regards to other colored preachers of his day who’d talk about God and yet not do anything on physical conditions others dealt with. Some of its similar to others who have a “pie in the sky” mindset, as opposed to others who are of the mindset that heaven is to be brought to Earth
As Martin said on the issue of poverty:
The curse of poverty has no justification in our age. It is socially as cruel and blind as the practice of cannibalism at the dawn of civilization, when men ate each other because they had not yet learned to take food from the soil or to consume the abundant animal life around them. The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty
……….But while so many white Americans are unaware of conditions inside the ghetto, there are very few ghetto dwellers who are unaware of the life outside. The television sets bombard them day by day with the opulence of the larger society
…..He is still at the bottom, despite the few who have penetrated to slightly higher levels. Even where the door has been forced partially open, mobility for the Negro is still sharply restricted. There is often no bottom at which to start, and when there is, there’s almost no room at the top. In consequence, Negroes are still impoverished aliens in an affluent society. They are too poor even to rise with the society, too impoverished by the ages to be able to ascend by using their own resources. And the Negro did not do this himself; it was done to him. For more than half of his American history, he was enslaved. Yet, he built the spanning bridges and the grand mansions, the sturdy docks and stout factories of the South. His unpaid labor made cotton “King” and established America as a significant nation in international commerce. Even after his release from chattel slavery, the nation grew over him, submerging him. It became the richest, most powerful society in the history of man, but it left the Negro far behind.2
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Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?,1967.
It’s sad, for example, when seeing how much the BLUE Jean industry is thriving and we deem it a sign of “Success” despite how many are worked to death/mistreated severely….and often times, they don’t know of any other way to escape the system or feel like they’ve been empowered. Due to the issue of globalization and how they in the factories due to the consumer demand, we in the West aid in their discomfort—-and yet, for the sake of a product, we’ll say that they need to stay at that level of discomfort……nevermind that we ourselves would not wish to be there.
For a good documentary on the issue, one can go online/investigate an article under the name of "China Blue":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwMZ2b9hdTY
For a good example of others seeking to bring justice to the economic community, I’m reminded of the ministry of of David Gibbons. He’s a Cool kat, IMHO, as the man has made a ministry of going out into streets/doing ministry in radical ways. He’s apart of something known as Third Culture….and it truly has reminded me of what Christ said when He said what it meant to be a Good Samaritan–bringing PHYSICAL comfort to those who are discomforted (Luke 10:25-39)…and how to live out the Gospel.
For a video to view on the issue, one can go online to Youtube and look up something under the name of the following:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUEzSZFO_ko&feature=related
Additionally, one can go online to YouTube and investigate the video under the name of the following:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx9okkEtCps&feature=related
Xealot, a non-profit organization, is a group of courageous, committed individuals whose goal is simply to transform communities globally. They invest in the long-term sustainability and development of troubled communities around the world. This video is used internally within their organization to recruit prospective volunteers and donors.
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