Sunday 19 August 2018

Self-righteousness vs true religion.

When Joseph Prince (JP) preached about righteousness, to declare it, and all things shall be added, that is, you name it, car, finances and house, it kept me thinking about the righteousness that humans proclaim directly upon themselves. 

More relevantly, I ask: What makes a man good and a man evil? What makes him sacrifice for another and what makes him abuse another? How is JP's teaching on righteousness translated or applied in our everyday living? 

But first, let's see what has fixated the World of late.

In the midst of the World Cup 2018 in Russia, what has truly captured the World's attention is the rescue of the 12 boys and their coach in Chiang Rai. 

So far, eight of the boys have been rescued, leaving four boys and their coach. It is said that their coach is weak because he has been feeding his boys leaving little for himself. 

Leaders from all over the world, from all religions and races, including international football superstars at the World Cup, are praying for them, praying for the rescue efforts, and praying for their safety. 

Even Elon Musk has offered to help and the FIFA has promised them (once rescued) a front row seat in the finals of the World Cup 2018. 

All in all, the world is holding her breath for the boys and their coach, and we stand deeply inspired by the dedication and devotion of the Navy Seal divers and rescuers who literally put themselves on the line.

Let's return to JP. 

He preached that it is not about doing right so much as it is about believing right. 

Once you believe it, declare it, internalise it, and live it, you reap big. You reap houses, cars and financial wealth. Your life will be abundantly blessed with longevity and prosperity. 

In fact, at one point, JP even applied Matthew 6:33's "seek ye first and all these things will be added unto you" to a Christian's self-declared righteous life and claimed that such a believer will become no different from a prosperity magnet wherein he will have more wealth than he can ever imagined. 

The thing about JP is that his message is simply irresistible. I would call him the prince of correlations, that is, if you declare it, you are. If you claim it, you have. If you believe it, you're there. If you confess it (righteousness), you never even were (that is, sin-less). And if you name it, it's yours. 

This brings me to Saman Gunan. His name is less familiar to us than his action. Saman lost consciousness on his way out of the Tham Luang cave complex, where he had been delivering air tanks. 

The deputy governor of Chiang Rai said: "His job was to deliver oxygen. He did not have enough on his way back." 

Saman sadly died and his partner had to retrieve his body out of the cave. 

This reminded me of James 1:27 about true religion. 

It reads: "What God the Father considers to be pure and genuine religion is this: to take care of orphans and widows in their suffering and to keep oneself from being corrupted by the world."

This scripture is comprehensive in its simplicity. It is about actions and not just beliefs. It is about sacrifices and not just declarations. It is about "orphans and widows" and not just being a magnet for prosperity. And it is about keeping oneself from being corrupted by the world and not believing oneself to be elevated by the world to great riches. 

To me, the boys and their coach are crying for help. They are the "orphans and widows" of this world. They are pleading for a good samaritan to walk their way, stop and tend to their wounds, provide them a resting inn to heal, and see to it that they are provided for thereafter. 

That's what people like Saman are doing, even giving their life, time and efforts for the boys. 

For me, that's true religion in demonstrable acts. That goes beyond just believing, to giving, to persisting, to sacrificing, and to delivering. 

With that, I return to JP's declaration of righteousness as I end here. 

JP once said that God doesn't want us to "dissipate" our faith by having faith in a house, a big car or financial successes. He preached that every morning, just declare His righteousness on our life and "all good things will be added unto us".

At one point, he even said that that's the essence of the gospel, a gospel according to Joseph Prince, who is veritably the prince of gracious correlations. 

Personally, I can see how helpful (to a certain extent) JP's message could be for those who are obsessed with sins, repentance and confession. 

It is said that Martin Luther entered the confessional with such annoying frequency to confess every trivial sin conceivable that one of the priesthood had to rebuke him by pleading with him to really kill someone, and then return to confess the sin for absolution. 

Maybe JP's message would be an antidote for believers like that? 

But as a whole, JP's message does not stop there. That is what makes it uncanny. He goes further to promise a form of prosperity that I am concerned may work against the human message of grace at Calvary. 

His slant is always about the reward of righteousness and it is always about material, tangible rewards. His calling card is bigger houses and cars, and greater wealth. The depth of his message on radical grace is about the depth of being prosperous.

It is seldom about the house of mourning, but a house full with riches. It is seldom about the road to Calvary, but about reaping it in with abundant successes. 

And it is seldom about doing the right thing, making the right choices about it and sacrificing at the expense of one's comfort, gain and convenience, but about right believing, right proclaiming and right receiving.

I believe there is a place for such teaching (to some extent), but in the real world, where people like Saman whose sacrifices come closest to what the scripture would call a pure heart and the true religion, I am afraid that JP's self-declared righteousness runs the risk of being more self-serving than self-denying, and more self-enriching than self-sacrificing. 

Alas, most times, the number does not endorse the message. The lamentable reality is that, the number merely endorses the number. Cheerz.

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