Bethel Church and the Kingdom of God

In Which I 'Splain How The One Is Mistaken About The Other

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St_Peter_Finding_the_Tribute_Money_in_the_Mouth_of_the_Fish_-_Nationalmuseum_-_22539.tiff

After posting yesterday I promptly collapsed back on the sofa and slept for like three hours, and then climbed my way up to my bed in the attic and slept some more. It may be the case, after all, that I am mortal, and that the last six or so weeks have done me in. I seriously hope I’m not getting a summer cold or anything awful like that.

During the hour or so that I was awake, I went over to Protestia’s X feed to catch up on the madness and discovered that Alistair Begg preached his last sermon last Sunday and that John McArthur is still very ill and, upsettingly, that his congregation has suffered a serious financial shortfall and is having to cut their budget by something like 20%. I don’t know what’s going on over there in the West, but over here in the East, even though our congregation (small though it is) is growing, and was trucking along financially in the pink in March, in April and May we saw a steep drop in giving and the Vestry had to dig into savings. There’s no discernible cause, except maybe financial anxiety in general, the worry of having to pay taxes, and the volatility of the stock market. Attendance is great, so it is a bit of a conundrum.

Fortunately, there I was, yesterday, scrolling through Protestia and I happened upon just the solution. Bethel Church—that big one that is always explaining that it’s no big deal to raise the dead or banish all illness out of your life—has creeds that they recite that are not about Jesus but are all about money. There are four of them over on Protestia’s website. I thought it would be fun to see what we over here in orthodox, biblical Christianity Land are doing wrong. The rubric, according to the person standing on the stage in front of the big screen is, “Say it as a family with some fire.” That is, the gathered throng is supposed to shout this in the general direction of the Divine, I guess.

Offering Reading Number One

As we receive today’s offering,
We are believing the Lord for:

Jobs and better jobs
Raises and bonuses
Benefits
Sales and commissions
Favorable settlements
Estates and inheritances

Interests and income
Rebates and returns
Checks in the mail
Gifts and surprises
Finding money
Debts paid off
Expenses decrease
Blessing and increase

Thank You, Lord,
for meeting all of my financial needs
that I may have more than enough
to give into the Kingdom of God
and promote the Gospel of
Jesus Christ.

Hallelujah!

What I love about this, honestly, is the pseudo specificity. They are asking not just for God to provide the daily crust, but to find money and checks in the mail, estates and inheritances. Build me yet more bigger barns O My Soul is apparently the way to go about the Christian life.

Seriously, I do love the odd and unexpected check in the mail. It’s one of the astonishing ways that God takes care of his people, moving in their hearts to be generous towards each other. St. Paul, you might remember, wandered all over the known world organizing that big offering for the impoverished church in Jerusalem. It was a big deal both for the givers, the messengers, and the recipients, and all of it brought glory to the Lord Christ and continues as a model for us in the church.

Nevertheless, I do not know what this vague “believing God for” phraseology is all about. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in his only Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ, light from light and the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come and so on and so forth. The word “believe” in this case indicates personal and corporate trust in the One who made all things and also came to redeem us from sin and who dwells in us. To say back to God who he is is to accept him on his own terms, to acknowledge the riches of his mercy. The solemn business of reciting a creed is the spiritual act of standing upon the rock of God’s mercy, is choosing to build a life on something substantial rather than the shifting effervescent sands of chance and desire.

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