All About the Money
Many years ago, a Swedish pastor friend of mine said, "Ah, these American preachers, all that they like to talk about is money."
I understood where he was coming from. When he said this in the 1980s, he was accurate to a certain point. Now I have lived in the US for 31 years so far, and I can say that his statement is not really true today. The vast majority of pastors in America are NOT about money, they are all about reaching people. They are serious about the matters of the Gospel and of the Kingdom of God.
One must also recognize the fact that committed Christians in America are generally very generous people, giving freely to the work of the Gospel and to the poor. This is because they have been taught what the Bible says on the subjects of money, stewardship, giving, sowing, and reaping.
I remember our year at RHEMA Bible College in Oklahoma 44 years ago. With the exception of Rev. Kenneth E. Hagin and Rev. Billy-Joe Daugherty, most of the preachers that we heard in those days used to teach some cringe-worthy things that to our European minds sounded very odd. Things like, "Jesus wore designer clothes, that is why at the cross the soldiers cast lots for his robe instead of dividing it into pieces" or "If you drive a Ford it does not bring glory to God, but if you drive a Cadillac, then people will look at you and say 'Wow! Look at how God has blessed him!'" Little or no mention was ever made of the fact that God's financial blessings were to be used to reach the lost with the Gospel, and to help the poor. It was all about houses, Cadillacs, Rolexes, and about accumulating wealth for oneself.
For Britta and I coming from Sweden, all this was very difficult and disturbing for us. Yes, the faith message had changed our lives, and our hearts were for the Gospel; and we believed in what the Bible said about prosperity. We believed that the purpose of prosperity was primarily to enable the Church to fulfill the Great Commission. So, one may say that Britta and I agreed with most things that we were taught in America, except for the extreme elements of the teaching on "prosperity." A side effect of this was that some people I know would say things like, "Christopher Alam is a good guy, but he does not believe in prosperity." For them, if you did not embrace the extremes, you did not believe it at all. It was very difficult for us.
But a lot of good things have happened since then. Brother Hagin, a very gentle, non-confrontational man, took a stand and called in 40 of the most-influential faith preachers. He addressed them and tried to correct these and other errors. Then came his book, "The Midas Touch," which I would say is the best-ever book on the subject of Biblical finances and prosperity.
To cut a long story short, the great thing is that most, if not all, people have grown and matured a lot since those early days. Many faith preachers are now talking about missions and about reaching the lost for the Gospel, more than ever before. When the Covid-19 pandemic came and people were starving in Africa, I saw faith preachers make huge sacrifices to help those in need. I saw small faith churches give thousands of dollars to help the people.
So, to my friends watching faith preachers and churches from the outside, let me tell you this: they are no longer "all about money" as you might be tempted to think. They are about the Gospel, about people, about reaching the lost everywhere.
I am an Assemblies of God minister, and my roots are in what Dad Hagin taught us. I am thankful for the faith message that changed us and imparted to us faith to reach the world with the Gospel of our Lord Jesus. Thank God for the Word of God, for Pentecost, for faith, healing, prosperity, and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Thank God for everything that God has given us to enable us to reach this world with the Gospel of Jesus!
Originally posted on Facebook by Pastor Christopher Alam