My personal pet peeve is rarely discussed and I would be interested in your views; the abuse by ‘leadership’ as it relates to investments (ponzi schemes, multi-level marketing, etc) under the umbrella of the worlds treasures will be transferred to the faithful.
From a BDBO reader.
What a good pet peeve to have.
Going to some churches is like being cornered at an Amyway convention and getting sideswipped by the seven deadlies, we walk into what should be a sanctuary and get waylaid by hucksters who count on us confusing needs, wants and rights.
“Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.
“Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have! ”You can’t worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you’ll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can’t worship God and Money both.
 ”If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds. Matthew 6: 19-26 The Message
A bit further down:
What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works.
“Don’t worry about missing out.”
My take on this issue? I would defer to Jesus. He tossed them out of His (and our) Father’s house … overturning their ‘marketing tables,’ just for good measure.
Matthew 21:12 (The Message)
He Kicked Over the Tables
12-14Jesus went straight to the Temple and threw out everyone who had set up shop, buying and selling. He kicked over the tables of loan sharks and the stalls of dove merchants. He quoted this text:
My house was designated a house of prayer;
You have made it a hangout for thieves.
Now there was room for the blind and crippled to get in. They came to Jesus and he healed them.
Jesus did, we often don’t.
People in pews give trust easily, I think it’s wise to use the same principles you use in real life as in – “if it’s too good to be true…
It is like an Amway convention – but literally sometimes. My goodness, has anyone else noticed how many Christians fall for pyramid scams and MLM crap like that? When someone I don’t know in church starts telling me about “business opportunities” I flee.
Isn’t it just possible that we Christians are set up to be gullible for the predators out there. After all, our creeds demand we believe in the supernatural. In spite of Josh McDowell and his ilk, there is no evidence for our belief in the supernatural — that’s what Paul told us faith is for. Since we are not really used to living our life based on looking for clear evidence, this lifestyle seeps over into the part of the world that really needs us to demand evidence for believing in something such as AMWAY or other ridiculous claims made by other Christians. Ever take your car to a Christian mechanic? It’s a coin toss.