Financially Misled Christians

A self-proclaimed prophetess had posted on her Facebook feed, inviting her followers to purchase some special oil which had the ability to bring wealthy for them. She claimed that all those that will purchase the oil at K500, they would receive Mercedes Benz in 2023. A look at this story is no different from the many Christians that are being duped by their religious leaders into believing that financial success is simply spiritual. As a Christian, one of the core principles of faith is to live a life of integrity, honesty, and stewardship. This includes how you manage your finances. Unfortunately, there are some individuals and organizations that have taken advantage of this by promoting financial practices that are not only unwise, but also go against biblical principles.?Is money growth a spiritual matter that requires only prayer and anointing oil or there are principles that even the Bible reveals about financial success?

Miracle Money

Some religious leaders have encrypted the concept of money miraculously appearing in someone’s purse, wallet, pocket or account of their follower as a demonstration of the power of God.

Their central message is that God wants them to be rich and poverty is an idea from the devil. This has led to these followers not to do any work or business but simply go to the mountain to pray.

However, what is surprising is that these Christians are first told to sow a financial seed to their churches before this miracle money hits their account.

The question is, why do the leaders need physical money from their followers when they too can just tap into the spiritual money too? If we are not careful with lessons that tell people of the possibility of earning money through only prayer, we risk having a prayerful but lazy group of people that cannot do anything meaningful to better their own lives and the country at large.

Money making has principles that need to be followed but this does not include simply sprinkling holy water in wallets and expect money to appear. The bible clearly tells Christians in 2nd Thessalonians 3:10 that if one is not willing to work, they should not eat. It also says in James 2 that faith without works is dead. The gospel of teaching people that they should have faith to receive money without any works could explain the reason as to why many Christians are poor. You cannot be giving your physical money to a spiritual leader while he claims that miracle money will appear in your account. It is not right that people will continue to be duped of their hard earned incomes by leaders who are after their money.

Christians should learn the principles prescribed on how to make and grow money instead of being misled into shortcuts. We need a generation of men and women who will use their minds and hands to be productive instead of spending most of their time on social media, typing I receive!

Investment advice

If one needs metal fabrication, you visit a welder, if you need to build, a builder is appropriate and if need spiritual guidance, a religious leader will help. However, the number of Christians who have been swindled by their religious leaders after seeking for financial advice is still on the rise and worrying. A person would get their pension and is advised by their pastor to allow them to keep and pray for the money so that it would increase but this has mostly ended in tears.

In 2018, a Lusaka woman was swindled of K260, 000 by the pastor who had promised to help her start a business and build a house for her. In 2020, a Lusaka Pastor swindled a church member of over K122, 000 obtained from the sale of a family house after the pastor offered to pray for it before use.

These are but some of the many stories that have been told of people that get wrong investment advice and end up losing even the little money they had. These financially misled Christians may believe they are following God's plan for their finances, but in reality, they are being led astray by misguided teachings.

It is important to note that your religious leader may be knowledgeable in what they teach about the bible but that does not make them master of all trades. Why should someone mislead you into surrendering your money to them instead of simply providing guidance?

While Christians trust their religious leaders and strictly follow whatever they say, reasoning should not be set aside. Get advice from the right people who are either trained or have experience in that area instead of risking being swindled by the church leaders.?

Prosperity Gospel

The prosperity gospel is a belief system that teaches that financial prosperity is a sign of God's favor and that Christians who are faithful and obedient will be blessed with wealth and abundance. This belief system often encourages giving large amounts of money to churches and televangelists in the hopes of receiving a financial return on their investment.

While it is true that God desires to bless his people, the prosperity gospel is a distorted and harmful teaching that can lead to financial ruin. Giving should never be done with the expectation of a financial return, and wealth should never be the ultimate goal of our lives.

Financially misled Christians are found in many churches and ministries around the world. While it is important to trust in God's provision and blessing, we must also be careful not to fall into the traps of unwise financial practices.

By staying grounded in biblical principles and seeking wise counsel, we can avoid financial ruin and use our resources to bless others and advance God's kingdom. To be forewarned is to be forearmed, let us not be misled.