EXCERPT FROM

THE BOOK RIGHTEOUS & RICH
Ed Johnson, Author

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There is a spirit of oppression in the Church that mirrors the same spirit of Babylon operating in the world. There is a disparity in the Body of Christ; a have and have-nots! And the haves are okay with the have-nots being deprived of their inheritance. I often hear and read of those fighting for financial equality in the world refer to a 10% or a top 1% that controls the world’s wealth.  Well, there is a 10% and a 1% in the Church controlling Christian wealth - Christian elites. They, too keep information, opportunity, and resources to themselves. Many do this on purpose. Shame on them! And if that is you, know this: You will answer for it in the Judgment!

Some have-nots have found their wealth in living deprived lives and preaching a Gospel of sacrifice. If the Lord has called you to a life of poverty, that is fine. But you cannot make poverty a doctrine. Poverty does not get you a seat at the Banquet Table of Christ. He will still judge your works to check the purity of your motives to see why you did what you did with your poor life. Neglecting your earthly assignments for ministry is just as derelict as the converse (neglecting your ministry for financial prosperity). Ask the servant in Matthew 25 who received the one talent. There should not be an affluent Jesus and a disenfranchised Jesus: Just Jesus! 

While I write this book, our nation grapples with ethnic groups rising against ethnic groups. I have been encouraging the sheep that I pastor to be careful of being drawn into the world’s chaos because it is the prophetic timetable of God, spoken by Jesus Himself, for identification and warning to the Church of His return. I am extremely careful because the same issue being addressed and fought in the world is present in the Church and the world has no problem pointing out our hypocrisy. As I see ministers of God fighting for equality in the world, I cannot help but wonder if, just maybe, they got tired of waiting for their counterparts to embrace them in the Church! I often hear the testimony of the singer Helen Baylor, “We all want to be loved.”  I am not confused. We are still struggling with the unity of the faith because of our dogmas, but if we look closer, we will see affluent people who embrace our doctrine.
 

 We attended seminaries with them and studied with them, but they will never invite us to speak at their church because our presence represents an uncomfortableness their congregants are not ready to deal with yet. As long as we stay in our places assigned to us by them, they are all right. But, any attempt to improve our quality of life, based on a Scripture we believe frees us from abject poverty, is met with resistance and derision. They label us with terms like heretic, deceiver, false prophet, etc. Well, let me give you a label: satanist!