The Need for Reformation Against Profit-Driven Churches

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The Reformation is remembered to have been started by two major events - the 95 Theses of Martin Luther and him burning the indulgences. The whole slogan of the Roman Catholic institution was that when a coin in the coffer clings - a soul from Purgatory springs. The Roman Catholic heresy said that Purgatory though it wasn't a second chance for people who died without grace. Rather it was taught that those who died in the grace of God must still be cleansed in Purgatory for their sins. In short, anyone who died in the mercy of God must still burn off their sins which isn't biblical. The death of Jesus on the cross is sufficient for sin so there's no need for Purgatory. The whole business of Purgatory allowed so much ill-gotten money for the Vatican throughout the centuries. This reminds me of how often masses said for the deceased faithful last for decades or even centuries. Every sacrament received required money!

The problem of being a profit-driven church is not exclusive to Roman Catholicism. Unfortunately, you have "born again Christian" preachers like Joel Osteen and Creflo A. Dollar who claim to be men of God but teach the dangerous prosperity "gospel". These are megachurches that have huge size but hardly speak the truth. They could care more about pleasing people than pleasing God. What's so important to know is that we've got people who are careful not to offend anyone but God. It doesn't matter if they offend God as long as they don't offend men. These profit-driven churches don't care about God. All they care about getting filthy lucre. However, God's Word warns against ill-gotten wealth (which is termed as filthy lucre in the King James Version) in Timothy 3:3-8, Titus 1:7-11 and 1 Peter 5:2. Pastors must not be given to ill-gotten wealth.

How does a profit-driven church operate? It cares about having more members than substance. Thsi is a far cry from Leonard Ravenhill who once said he could care less if he had less members if they were all faithful. While it's true that tithes and offerings are necessary to keep any local church going to pay its bills but if the pastor is only after money then he isn't a man of God. They could care more about how much money goes into the offering box than how many people hear the Gospel and get saved. They use carnal means to get people into their churches. No real preaching of repentance. It's no wonder why the sinner's prayer has been condemned by some preachers because how many pray a prayer but never receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior? They put their trust in a decision than a person. While some sinner's prayer evangelism worked but it's not because of the sinner's prayer but because the pastor never gave a watered-down message and lovingly confronts sin.

The big problem of the profit-driven church is that the pastor is living a luxurious life when he shouldn't. It's hypocrisy to criticize the Vatican for its ill-gotten wealth if we don't target pastors who use religion as a commercialized business. If the Vatican got wealthy from its simony then so did pastors who preach a sugar-coated fake gospel. It's absurd to criticize the Pope for having a private jet when you've got quack pastors who have private jets too. If the pastor is richer than all the members combined and he's not suffering for Jesus then something is very wrong. You may want to look at their houses or bank accounts. You can imagine it that when a pastor is richer than a businessman then you ought to get suspicious. That's why it's highly recommended pastors need to get a lifestyle check to weed out fake pastors in sheep's clothing.

How dangerous is the profit-driven church's preaching? It's also a huge source of several false converts. Ray Comfort's video called "Hell's Best Kept Secret" exposed one of the biggest roots for false conversion is people-pleasing. While it's true that it's God's will you prosper financially yet it's also His will that you suffer losses for a reason. God made Job prosper and suffer throughout the Book of Job. Unfortunately, the profit-driven church also teaches works salvation by teaching that if you are faithful then you will always be fruitful materially. Unfortunately, 2 Timothy 3:12 says that those who live godly are destined to suffer persecution and they won't live an easy life.

Right now the battle is not only to burn down the indulgences of Rome but also the prosperity gospel materials of profit-driven churches. This is another battle of continuing the Reformation past its 500th year. The 500 years of the Reformation is part of the 2000 plus years of the church history. The Reformation helped expand the Church and put an end to the Dark Ages. Today, this is the last church age called Laodicea or the lukewarm church. The profit-driven church is a real menace that must be dealt with accordingly as part of continuing the Reformation.

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