Professional Pickpockets In The Pulpits
by Van Robison
Jesus Christ is the absolute standard
of all human conduct and life. When Jesus first began
His earthly ministry, He quoted a prophecy about
Himself from the book of Isaiah and we read at Luke
4:18, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he
has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he
has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach
deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight
to the blind, to set at liberty them that are
bruised." Also in Matthew 11:5, "...and the poor have
the gospel preached to them." Jesus told His disciples
when He sent them out, to preach "The Kingdom of
heaven is at hand" (Matthew 10:7). And in the next
verse (verse 8), He said "...FREELY YOU HAVE RECEIVED,
FREELY GIVE." It would be obvious that as the
disciples traveled around and preached the Gospel of
the Kingdom of God, that someone had to feed these men
and also provide them shelter for the night's lodging.
But that aside, they still nevertheless at the command
of Jesus Christ, did not charge money to convey Christ
to others. If they had, it would have been a betrayal
of their commission from Christ.
It would be totally disingenuous for Christ to tell His
hand picked disciples to GIVE FREELY, and for Him to turn
around and charge money for His own personal preaching.
Nowhere in the teachings of Jesus Christ can it be found
that He ever took up "tithes" and money offerings to
finance His personal ministry, and likewise He also
commanded His disciples to GIVE FREELY and NOT CHARGE for
the Gospel. Professional pulpiteers in our day and age do
the opposite of what Jesus Christ taught His disciples and
they DO NOT GIVE FREELY. Their justification will be found
in certain passages of the New Testament, as well as
certain passages from the Old Testament. Nevertheless, even
the apostle Paul ("apostle" meaning "one sent", and NOT an
office of power, authority, or control over the flock of
Christ) stated in Acts 20: 29-35, when he was speaking to
the "elders" (verse 17), that he NEVER took money to preach
the Gospel of Christ, and that he worked with his own
hands. He also stated the same thing that Christ said to
the "elders", that "it is more blessed to give than to
receive" (Acts 20:35) and he was speaking to the
"elders"--not to the people in general.
The church world is full of professional pickpockets who
rob the poor in the name of Jesus Christ and would gladly
take your home, your bank account, and your life savings in
the name of preaching the Gospel to the world. Entire
ministries have been born revolving around "the joy of
giving" and "generous giving." In spite of what men teach,
the real truth is found in the teachings of Jesus Christ,
and Jesus Christ never taught anything about giving to
"non-profit" organizations or to church corporations. On
the other hand Jesus taught other teachings such as that
when you do your alms (charity or giving), do it in private
(Matthew 6:1-4) because that is the way God wants you to
live. He also taught a very fundamental teaching in Matthew
25:34, "Then shall the King say unto them on his right
hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world. (35) For
I was hungry, and you gave me meat: I was thirsty, and you
gave me drink: I was a stranger, and you took me in: (36)
Naked, and you clothed me: I was sick, and you visited me:
I was in prison, and you came unto me. (40) And the King
shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you,
Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these
my brethren, you have done it unto me."
It is heart warming to know that Jesus says, "Come, you
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom." In context,
Jesus made reference to the heart and attitude of life that
we should all live by and it has nothing to do with
"non-profit corporations", but instead He says this:
- I was hungry and you fed me.
- I was thirsty and you gave me drink.
- I was a stranger and you took me in.
- I was naked and you clothed me.
- I was sick and you visited me.
- I was in prison and you came unto me.
It is nothing short of MOCKERY what many pulpiteers preach from their soapboxes and it is for certain that many have come with ANOTHER gospel. They are professionals of deception and they appear as angels of light. Many are the preachers who will pick your pocket in the name of Jesus Christ and claim that you will be blessed for your contributions. It is nothing less than spiritual abuse.
If Jesus Christ walked our streets today, would His conduct be like that of the professional pickpockets in the pulpits?
