In the entire world, no other man is given glory, similarly to how Jesus is adored. But what has not crossed the minds of many worshippers is that Jesus is as physically present as He was in the first century. The same veil that occluded those of His time is still present today. Jesus is treated scornfully, today, just as He was treated scornfully, then.
“Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ Saul asked. ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied” (Acts 9:1-5) (NIV).
Apparently, Paul was persecuting Jesus. Although Jesus had been observed as having ascended up to heaven (Acts 1:11). Nevertheless, the fact that Paul was unknowingly persecuting Jesus is an observable phenomenon, even today. The only difference is that today, Jesus’s name has been adopted by charlatans, more than before.
People love miracles more than what Jesus taught. The charlatans take advantage of deceiving those looking for easy routes out of common problems. Each time Jesus delivered people from their infirmities, He always included the term:
“Your faith has healed you, go and sin no more.” See Mark 5:34 & Luke 17:19. Those people were healed by their own faith. But what could that mean, to those being conned in Jesus’s name? This is key, as helpful in sifting the charlatans.
Healing comes from one’s own faith, more than externally driven. Bear in mind that Jesus brought a message that sought to express a different way of behavior. In other words, faith removes suffering, while lack of faith brings suffering. Nothing exists without being caused.
Driving carelessly causes accidents. Precautionary measures enable avoidance of exposure to life-threatening calamity. A good father plans and toils, aiming at reaping abundantly from the fields, for the wellbeing of his children. This is different from those waiting for miraculous gains, without effort.
The teachings of Jesus cannot be understood without putting reason into what Jesus taught. Jesus was a great philosopher, whose teachings focused on human survival, rather than death. It is unnecessary to deify Jesus, in as much as everything He taught is applicable to those not hypnotized.
Logic dictates that any seed produces crops of its kind. It is, obviously, imprudent to despise the offspring, when revering the original. Only those of Adam’s deranged genealogy deify Adam for being the founder of the human race. The same cannot apply to the enlightened followers of Jesus, the second Adam.
“It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are of heaven” (1 Corinthians 15:44-48) (NIV).
This passage of Scripture reveals Cain’s character as resembling his father, Adam. This is equally true of Jesus’s followers, having been born anew. Sadly, the charlatans inappropriately use Jesus’s name, in order to deceive, rather than enlighten the ignorant. How does one help the deceived ones to appreciate the difference between worshipping Jesus and applying what Jesus taught?
Obviously, this cannot be easy, especially where the issue of “authority” has been deified in the Christian world. Very few people are willing to listen to those speaking outside the platform of ‘authority’—a term usurped by the charlatans. The most respected and valued commodity, as rivaling the human dignity in this world, is monetary wealth.
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money (Matthew 6:24) (NIV).
This is one of the most important Scriptures in the Christian Bible but totally despised. The charlatans have crafted the term “authority” in structures, for ordinary folks to avoid thinking independently, on matters of Christianity. Yet the aspirations of freedom come from Christianity.
“He who pays the piper calls the tune” goes the indelible adage. The financing of Church activities comes from the well-documented financiers. There is no secrecy in that wealthy people are given honor and dignity, just for displaying their financial abundance. Money cannot be ignored, as necessary, even in financing Church activities. Jesus did not discourage financial contributions. He, however, taught an unpopular method of giving:
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Matthew 6:1-4) (NIV).
Our Theologians are unwilling to accurately discuss the workability of this Scripture, viewed as dangerously invalidating the revered donors. But, here lies the cause of confusion. The charlatans use this loophole to penetrate Christianity. To be listened to, regardless of how truthful, one has to convince the potential donor.
The most respected people are the financially dominant capitalists. They have been the gladiators, sustaining the Christian charlatans, from time immemorial. The suppression of truth is made possible when highlighting the charlatans and invalidating those projecting the truth.
For that reason, alone, Christianity has become the most prominent money-making business. And yet suppressing the very converts that it portrays to serve. When Jesus suggested building His Church, He also stated that the gates of hell would not prevail against it. Even in the midst of suppression, the Church that Jesus established remains imperishable, albeit appreciated by very few individuals.
The wrong thing can be posing a suggestion on which particular denomination stands for God’s truth, among those multiple thousands of denominations. None of them would openly attest to being untruthful. It is, actually, unnecessary to champion the cause of exposing the apparent deceitful Christian denominations.
Truth does not come from denominations, necessarily. Truth comes from each individual Christian, as long as avoiding worshipping other gods. This cannot be an easy undertaking. The degradation of humanity is deeper than can be imagined. A deceived person sincerely holds to a deception assumed as true to himself.
Let us review the idea of giving secretly, prompting Jesus to present it as a datum, in His teachings. The answer lies in that, unlike the first Adam, the second Adam is Spiritual, as opposed to the physical. Physical humans easily identify with the physical world but are blind spiritually. That does not take away the fact that humans are spiritual beings, as created in God’s image.
What motivates a physical person to give, is different from what motivates a spiritual person to give. The accolades that result from giving are what motivates physical humans to give. The spiritual person, as spiritually unlimited in energy and supply, does not identify with the physical person. That person is neither male nor female. Neither racially identified nor associated with societal background.
Nevertheless, the greatest advantage in giving secretly is to keep pride in check. Those of the Adamic offspring feel good when adulated, without which, one is led to the behavior of Cain, who murdered his brother, Abel. Conversely, what motivates a spiritual person is not attracted by adulations from physical humans.
Therefore, God’s work cannot be financed by physical humans. Although known physically, those giving in secret cannot be physically identified. They are of the offspring of the second Adam, Spiritually knowable of Jesus. Although existing in physical nature, those people are as peculiar as Jesus was peculiar.
Just as ordinary humans failed to identify Jesus, those of this world cannot identify God’s children, although God’s children exist in their midst. Questioningly, the deceived Christians manifest love for the Jesus they cannot identify with.
The true Jesus remains in their midst. Their vulnerability to deception is in failing to distinguish between the Spiritual beings, as opposed to the physical beings. The apostle John clarified this point, as exposing the apparent falsehoods, transfused into Christianity.
“Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister” (1 John 4:20-21) (NIV).
Jesus stated that it is impossible to serve two masters. God and money cannot be worshipped concomitantly. Only the deceiver and the deceived consider money to be more important than the dignity of an individual. The comfort in wealth is the only determining factor in exposing Christian charlatans.
No one takes honor in financing Church programs if giving is done in secret. It is easy for an ordinary person to assume that Church leaders, divided into five categories, are the beneficiaries. Such leaders comprise the Apostles, evangelists, prophets, pastors, and teachers, according to Ephesians 4:11.
Originally, God’s work was sustained by such leaders, who could not be envied. Peter and the rest of the early apostles are recorded as having been Christ’s brothers. They were gruesomely murdered, just as Jesus was murdered. Deacon Stephen was also stoned to death. The price of being the brother of Jesus cannot be enviable.
God’s work cannot be adorable to physical humans. Jesus was killed after being disgracefully mocked by the degraded sinners: “The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, ‘He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.’” (Luke 23:35) (NIV).
His brothers, as manifested in the group of the first apostles, went through similar experiences. This is what the worshippers of Jesus fail to appreciate. They claim to love Jesus, yet they mock him, through His physical brothers. Before leaving, Jesus asserted this reality, as empirical to those walking according to His teachings.
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you as a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me’” (Mathew 25:37-40) (NIV).
Kindly take note that the righteous ones being referred to, are not necessarily the brothers of Jesus. The righteous ones are merely rewarded for feeding the brothers of Jesus. Those brothers of Jesus are generally the mocked ones, just as their brother, Jesus, was mocked by those lampooners of this world.
Also notice that the brothers of Jesus are different from the well-known pastoral leaders, surviving on dubiously collected tithes from their congregants. The tithe-receiving pastors cannot be associated with hunger, lack of clothes, or prison. Compare the secret givers with those feeding Jesus’s brothers, in Jesus’s time:
“Do not take a purse or bag or sandals, and do not greet anyone on the road. “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house. ‘When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you” ‘(Luke 10:4-8) (NIV).
Secret givers provide stark realities, concerning the man, to whom most Christians claim to be dedicated. The careful analysis should befuddle those, all along assuming to love Jesus. The next question to address is: How can one distinguish Jesus, among the charlatans?
Andrew Masuku is the author of Dimensions of a New Civilization, laying down standards for uplifting Zimbabwe from the current state of economic depression into a model for other nations worldwide. A decaying tree provides an opportunity for a blossoming sprout. Written from a Christian perspective, the book is a product of inspiration, bringing relief to those having witnessed the strings of unworkable solutions––leading to the current economic and social decay. In a simple conversational tone, most Zimbabweans should find the book as a long-awaited providential oasis of hope.
The Print copy is now available at Amazon.com for $13.99
Also available as an e-copy at Lulu.com for $6.99
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