By David Ryser
Successful living, according to the counsel of God's written Word, is seeking, knowing, loving, and obeying God. (Fil Anderson)
I have known Don for more than 40 years. He is one of the godliest people I know, a man of uncompromising integrity and a great love for Jesus. He has spent most of his adult life as an itinerant minister, traveling across the United States sharing the Gospel of Jesus in churches and other settings. In all the years I have known him, Don has never compromised himself or his ministry for fame, position, or money.
For example....
Early in his traveling ministry, Don found himself seated in front of a desk occupied by a high ranking denominational official. This man had heard of Don's ministry. Don is specially gifted to hear from God and speak the things of God...with an occasional miracle thrown in for good measure. He is one of a very few people I know with a genuine prophetic gifting, not to be confused with the frauds and charlatans all too common in the church world. This official had a proposition for Don. He offered to provide Don with all the speaking/ministry meetings he could handle if Don would restrict his meetings only to churches within this denomination. This would be a temptation for anyone in traveling ministry, especially early on, because the success of a traveling ministry rests, in great measure, upon having places to which to travel.
But Don desired to go where God led him to go regardless of denomination or tradition. So, Don respectfully declined the offer.
Later, at a church where I served on the ministerial staff, Don lovingly confronted the senior pastor concerning an area where the pastor's life was out of balance and urged him to make some behavioral changes to avoid the inevitable negative consequences of this behavior. This took courage on Don's part because this church supported his ministry with a sizable monthly contribution; in fact, this church may have been his largest monetary supporter. It would have been easy for Don to overlook this pastor's behavior and not risk the loss of support; but, as I mentioned earlier, Don is a man of uncompromising integrity and felt compelled to say what God was telling him to say to this pastor.
The church cut off monetary support for Don's ministry. And never reinstated it. There were many other such instances during Don's 35 years of traveling ministry.
Don has seen it all in his years of ministry...the good, the bad, and the ugly. He has shared with me about how God moved powerfully and supernaturally in his meetings. He has also told me about some things...sad, dark, tragic, wicked, and even evil...I could scarcely believe would ever occur in any church. And even after all he has seen, heard, and experienced in his travels, Don has retained a childlike faith and innocence...without being naive. Don is a special human being and man of faith, and I am privileged to call him my friend.
Because we are friends, we speak often by phone. We visit by phone because Don lives a good distance from me, and he doesn't travel very much anymore. I look forward eagerly to each conversation, to hanging out with my dear friend and sharing about the things of God and our faith journeys.
During our latest phone conversation, we talked about something in the church world which very much disturbs Don. Don's whole life has been dedicated to God, and God has blessed him and provided him with everything he's needed whether spiritual, mental, emotional, physical, or material. Don believes in God's promises, blessings, and provision; and he is living proof that God takes care of His people's needs. And Don is grateful to God for His blessings.
But Don is not in love with the blessings. He is in love with Jesus.
And Don finds it difficult to understand how some Christians can lust after, and pursue, the blessings of God without wanting to have anything to do with Him personally and intimately. Don is disturbed by how some seek to manipulate the principles of God's Word merely for the sake of material gain. He's not disturbed so much that the theology is wrong. He is disturbed because the theology is biblical, but it is being misused in an unbiblical manner.
Enter the typical televised megachurch.
This church puts on a good show and teaches the congregants...and the television audience...they can have all of the material things they lust after as they apply the spiritual principles found in the Bible, so they can live the American Dream in Jesus' name. And as an added bonus, they don't have to be inconvenienced by having an intimate relationship with God. They are told they can get God's blessings without having to mess with Him. Don is baffled by how people can subscribe to this foolishness.
As we spoke over the phone, Don and I considered the possibilities of why this sort of preaching and teaching would be so alluring to God's people. Could it be that supernatural signs and wonders were being performed in the church services under the conditions described in Matthew 7:22 and thereby deceiving the people? We decided that was probably not the reason. For one thing, this kind of stuff doesn't seem to be happening in these churches. It's dead religion, however much animated. There is no evidence of any supernatural signs and wonders being performed in these services. So, it's nothing supernatural; it's just a message that appeals to fleshly greed and lust.
So, what could it be that was drawing people away from Jesus into crass materialism? As we considered the conundrum of why people would want to trade an intimate relationship with Jesus for mere fame, position, or money, another possibility occurred to us.
People love shiny things. And in that regard, we are just like crows. Crows are attracted to shiny things like bits of glass, gum wrappers, shards of mirrors, pieces of metal, etc...whatever they see that shines. They will pick up these things and take them to their nest. They treasure these things without regard for their lack of any real value. And no one can convince a crow that its shiny things are not as precious as it thinks they are.
Don't people have any more good sense than a crow?
It would appear not. Because by cherry-picking Bible verses, people have become convinced that they can have all of the shiny things they desire...apart from a relationship with God...if they can just gin up enough faith.
Faith in what? Or in whom?
So, Don looks at this mess and sums up the situation by saying, "They claim to be following the Book (the Bible). Do they not read the Book?" And he makes a good point, because the Bible has a lot to say about this kind of goings-on within the community of God's people.
Examples of this abound. Here are a few examples....
The Bible clearly states God's summation of this kind of non-relationship with His people when He says through the prophet Isaiah, "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught" (Isaiah 29:13 NIV).
The Bible also warns us against the love of money and its consequences (1Timothy 6:10), teaches us that our faith for material blessings is in vain if we are exercising our faith with wrong motives (James 4:3), and cautions us that, even if we do get all we want and gain the whole world, it profits us nothing if we lose our soul in the process (Matthew 16:26; Mark 8:36-37).
So now Don and I are left wondering why some of God's people...who are people of the Book...would ignore the clear teachings of the Book to trade an intimate relationship with God for the shiny things of the world.
Just like crows.
Responses to this article are welcomed. You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com
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