The Gospel is a burden removing, yoke destroying power of God. It is not for sale. Church is not a business. Jesus did not die to make men millionaires but primarily to save us from our sins, and to produce sons and daughters who will be kingdom role models, heaven’s diplomats on earth, and genuine disciples of Christ in word and in deed.
If it’s not from God, you may suffer after giving your last meal. In fact, I have personally experienced this in the past. But here is my point: “we must not be intentional about profiting personally from people.” We must not design programmes for the sole purpose of personally profiting from the people. In the story I’ve just shared about our ministry, I knew how much of economic stress was on the people.
Now, here is the background to this story. My heart was grieved when I saw a beloved minister of God, whose name I would never mention, charging fees for people to attend a programme. I don’t mention people’s name in circumstances where I’m trying to address negative issues. Please note that every new generation is always an improvement on the previous one. Our children will amplify our values. If we don’t clean up the current mess, the future is very bleak. Like the sons of Eli and Samuel, they will not just charge poor people money to attend services, they will sell church properties in exchange for business interests. To avert that, the change must begin now. They must see the purest form of worship from us.