Poverty from the Pulpit
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
In recent times, the phenomenal growth of the church (or more appropriately, those who profess a relationship with God) has defied traditional sociological explanations. The growth and spread of the Christian faith seems to have taken on a fervour that has not been witnessed in church history. The church itself seems to have repositioned itself in the way it aggressively recruits people into its fold. One noticeable trend is the way the message is packaged and presented. The presenters of the message are more adroit and persuasive than their predecessors in office. It could be because there are more skilled messengers, now trained in the art of persuasion, than there used to be. Or may be the end times are here and the Spirit is being allowed to do His job more than ever before. The prevailing trend is that the slant of the message has shifted from the seeming abstract to more pragmatic concerns. The usual hope for a better world to come, when people get to heaven, has shifted to having the good life, here on earth before the one to come in heaven. The message now is, you can have the best of two worlds- the here and now, and the one hereafter.
One word describes this new packaging-PROSPERITY. Everyone loves it, and people are falling over themselves to out-do each other. Most pulpits having gotten people hooked on this prosperity diet are raising the bar of marketing that will make conventional marketing firms green with envy. In a country like
One other thing that seems to have come with this new presentation is the subterranean impression that the need for the message is one sided. This is the way most product or service adverts make us feel. Pulpits present the prosperity message as though it is only the pews that will benefit from it; whereas the truth is, as presently done, the pews are the losers while the pulpits are in a win-win situation. Either demons are crawling all over the place or the devourer is devouring the pew’s hard earned money. The pew is encouraged to bring in the tithes and offerings, sow a seed into the kingdom, tap into the anointing that is flowing or invest in a partnership that yields a thousand-fold. Some of this is true but a lot of it leaves question marks. One wonders why it is only money that is attacked, or why, when other aspects like health or marriage is attacked, the remedy boils down to sowing money to lift the siege.
...While the new rave pulpits are busy teaching the rest of us to sow and reap, not many of them have taken this teaching to heart. What one sees is a pattern where people are sowing but the church does not even sow. The ministry of Christ reflected a pattern of sowing into the lives of the community and people He ministered to. He addressed physical and spiritual needs. The works and the word went together in the early church hence they were able to minister to needs and people were also added to the church daily (Acts 2.44-47; 4.32).
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
Poverty has several definitions, depending on who's defining and from what perspective. For this discourse, we define it as emptiness that borders on acute lack-—be it spiritual, social, material, economic, financial or political; the absence of basic provisions that makes a person’s life meaningful and bearable. It’s not just the absence of food, shelter or clothing but also the absence of health-care (by whatever definition), social rights and access to education, justice and public political space to shape events in the social environment. It's a measure of societal development (Seers 1977).
Poverty level defines social status--which determines social access. Poverty is better explained or defined fully by the person experiencing it, with the right words and/or images for others to understand. Poverty is personal yet very public, as its presence is a collective condemnation of society (secular/spiritual).
Paradoxically, poverty from close quarters (trusted by us), is like friendly fire in a combat zone. Armies train their soldiers to take on enemy fire, and prevail. Friendly fire? It’s not only a different kind of fire, it's unanticipated and response is difficult. Its impact is painful and response is challenging because relationships are involved. There's a shocking devastation because of its source. Poverty from a close quarter like a pulpit is really difficult to comprehend left alone deal with.
Though difficult, friendly fire requires a response and to get on with the war at hand. We need the same approach in dealing with poverty from a very close source like a pulpit. Poverty from the Pulpit is a Christian-sociological analysis of poverty within the body of Christ in this era of “prosperity theology” that pervades Christendom today. It asks Christians everywhere to question their perception of poverty and see where the source of their poverty is and where the solution lies.
About the Author
Igho Herbert had his first encounter with the LORD Jesus as a 16-year old in High School. Born of Urhobo extraction in the Niger Delta region of
The author is blessed with two children. His hobbies are Bible study; international political developments discourse, watching football (soccer) and Golf.