Christianity: The True Ponzi Scheme
I’ve got a question for you. Let’s say you’ve got a very important event coming up, such as a job interview, a presentation at work or a family reunion. Catching a glimpse in the mirror, you realize you are in desperate need for a hair cut. What do you do?
A) Call your hair stylist and make an appointment
B) Find a pair of scissors and start trimming
C) Go to church and ask your pastor to cut your hair
I think it’s very likely that most of you picked A, maybe a few of you impatient ones picked B, but I doubt anyone picked C.
Why is that? You wouldn’t trust your pastor to cut your hair because he’s not trained to do that? Yet, how many times have you been subject to a pastor giving you advice on much more important issues like health or finances?
Yesterday added one more for me as I went to an emergent church and heard a christian sermon about money.
The message was about the difficult financial times and what to do about it. Which, at first, I thought would be great! Here’s a pastor who is going to take the opportunity of having a congregation of people who rely on him for advice and guidance, and do good by giving them necessary information during hard times.
Unfortunately, for his congregation, it was terrible advice.
There were several fatal flaws in this attempt of relaying christian beliefs, church history and today’s economic market.
Essentially, the advice was,
1) be more generous
2) do not focus on getting your self-worth from your salary.
Obviously this horrible christian sermon was based on the prosperity gospel that’s become so popular on Sunday morning TV.
I left the sermon with a question – how can you be financially generous (and give more to the church), if you don’t have enough money to pay your mortgage, or save for your kids education? Because it sounded like he was promoting to be irresponsible and hope that your generosity will come back around when you are broke. This logic contradicts every other bit of information I’ve ever received about financial planning, and belongs right up there with banking on winning the lottery for your retirement fund.
Second, it minimizes the virtue of making money. I can hear the evangelical christian chant, “store up treasures in heaven.” This common christian belief denies us of placing proper value to all the things we have in life that are not spiritual and intangible, but still significant and meaningful to us. If it is not a treasure in heaven, but an actual treasure here on earth, does that make it bad, or evil?
I love making money.
Making money is a spiritual act for me because I pour my time, energy, creative spirit and enthusiasm into my work. But, also, I know that my financial success can be a gift to those around me. And for my investment, I’d rather be with people who understand the value of that and are inspiring to be around.
Also, people who make lots of money are the ones that start charities, give to the poor and inspire others to success. If no one was driving the latest Audi R8 or living in that sweet mountain cottage, what incentive would we have to succeed and make this world a better place for all people?
The real rub is this: adopting the modern Christian mindset about money gives you every excuse to be poor, with out ambition and lazy towards working hard and making sacrifices.
If God is going to be faithful to your generosity and take care of you, as the pastor told me yesterday, what reason would you have to work? Why not work the system?
Maybe you shouldn’t take any advice from your pastor, because all of these prosperity gospel sermons make christianity seem like a new twist on the ponzi scheme.
July 13 2009 10:51 pm | Christianity and Jesus and christian humanism and emerging church and spirituality