Getting It Wrong

New Megachurch in Abuja, Nigeria

One of the lingering impressions I’m taking away from this trip to Nigeria is how possible it is for well- meaning Christians to get it wrong. Today, the overwhelming theme among many Christian churches in Nigeria is the prosperity gospel. Teaching that God wants to bless his faithful with health and wealth, the “name it, claim it” theology now dominates Christian areas of the country. Even here, there are now massive megachurches sprouting up, led by pastors who point to their personal biz jets as evidence of God’s blessing. But more often than not, these church kingdoms are built on the contributed earnings of poor people taught that, if they give sacrificially, God will eventually reward them with the desires of their hearts. To me, this theology is closer to the mindset of a casino gambler than that of solidly biblical Christian.

As Anita and I spend a few days in Austria on our way home, we’ve seen another form of Christianity that has gotten it wrong. This time it’s the old, traditional Catholicism present in the many historic churches and cathedrals we’ve visited. The two dominant pictures we see in every case are Jesus as a tiny, helpless child or as a suffering, crucified criminal. In either case, the Son of God does not come across as a conquering victor over sin and death, but as an uncompelling symbol of weakness. As one Austrian Christian brother put it, most Austrians rarely view Jesus as someone with whom they need a personal relationship because they believe in God and have been baptized. Why do they need a relationship with Jesus?

Here are two representations of what I'm talking about, the first taken from a church in Salzburg, the second from St. Stephen's cathedral in Vienna.

Both these experiences in Nigeria and Austria have been good reminders that Christians everywhere must be careful how to apply God’s Truth lest they simply get it wrong!