Making a count of all the great prophets and teachers of the word of God who lived, names like John the Baptist, Jesus Christ, Paul, Elijah, Ezekiel and others come to mind. They spoke the word to people for the remission of sins, healed the sick, prophesied to people about the greatness or sadness that awaited them. As far as is known, all this was done in an environment of total submission to God’s orders and they never accepted any material reward for all the great things they did in the lives of many. But in all of them they gave glory to the name of the Most High God.
Jesus Christ in giving the twelve their mission in Matthew 10:5, the instructions were; “While you go, proclaim the Good News, the Kingdom of heaven has come near. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons and cleanse lepers. Freely you received, freely give. Do not take gold or silver, gold or copper in your belts “. There is no ambiguity in these instructions from Jesus Christ to his followers. However, he mentioned that in all of these, the workers deserve their food. I am still not a guru of the word of God, but I believe that the food was necessary for his livelihood.
After many years since the Lord Jesus gave these instructions to his followers, many are the acclaimed prophets, teachers, healers of today who have simply forgotten these instructions despite reading them every day in the line of duty. and accumulate wealth with impunity. . Could it be that another interpretation is given to these clearly outlined instructions of Jesus Christ? Do you believe that? I don’t think that is the case. They have simply become nothing more than businessmen of religion. Today’s world has given other names that seem less criminal to other wise things that are prohibited by the Word of God. Stealing has become fraud and lust has become an attraction. Our spiritual leaders today seem to be towing this phenomenon and it bothers me greatly.
In my country today, people pay for anointing oils, wounded water and others to get healing from their various ailments. Why must there be anointing oil before someone is healed? Jesus and his followers simply spoke words of faith to the believers and they were healed. I see the sale of anointing oils by some church leaders as a way to make money. This is a market of Christians who are convinced of their beliefs and will always buy these oils regardless of the price. Surprisingly, the amount of money one gives in exchange for these oils is proportional to the healing one gets. But I believe that men and women were healed by their faith and not by the amount of money they gave in the time of Jesus and please don’t tell me that time has changed because God’s word never changes.
Some ministers portray that they heal by their own power. This could be true and you wouldn’t have had a case with them if their sources of power were stated. But if they claim their healing comes from Almighty God, why then would a man take the glory and pay for it? But this is what you see of each temple that is sprouting. Interestingly, his focus is on healing and prophesying because these are the things that Christians today will pay for. What has happened to the ministry of the word to the lost? People have been successful in becoming entrepreneurs of the religion and have made it big in the industry. This is the very motivation for the rise of churches and temples everywhere. I was recently walking down Prempeh II Street in Adum and there was a preacher with a loudspeaker announcing that ten people give each one a Ghana cedi to justify their entrance into heaven. Up to here the “Enterprise” has arrived.