📖 Wagalatia — Somo la Kina — Sehemu ya 11: Injili Nyingine — Injili ya Mafanikio📖 Galatians Intensive — Unit 11: Another Gospel — The Prosperity Gospel

Kifungu cha msingi: Wagalatia 1:6-9 — pamoja na Wagalatia 6:14; 1 Timotheo 6:5-10 (SUV)Anchor: Galatians 1:6-9 — with Galatians 6:14; 1 Timothy 6:5-10 (NKJV)

Neno Kabla HatujaanzaA Word Before We Begin

Sehemu hii ni tofauti na zile mbili zilizotangulia. Mashahidi wa Yehova na Watakatifu wa Siku za Mwisho ni makundi yaliyopangwa ambayo yako nje ya imani ya Kikristo ya kihistoria. Injili ya mafanikio si kanisa la pekee, bali ni fundisho lililoenea ndani ya makanisa, mara nyingi likichanganywa na mambo mengi yaliyo kweli. Waumini wengi wenye moyo mnyofu hukaa chini ya fundisho hili, na baadhi ya wanaolihubiri huenda wanampenda Bwana. Kwa hiyo ni lazima tuwe waangalifu maradufu: kulitaja kosa waziwazi, lakini pia kuwakumbuka watu. Tunapaswa pia kukubali kwa furaha yale yaliyo kweli ndani yake — Mungu ni mkarimu, hupendezwa kutoa vipawa vyema, wakati mwingine huponya, na imani kweli ina umuhimu. Kosa si kwamba Mungu hubariki, bali ni jinsi fundisho hili linavyopotosha baraka yake. Kama kawaida, tunapima kwa Neno la Mungu na kushika kweli katika upendo (Waefeso 4:15).This unit is different from the two before it. Jehovah's Witnesses and the Latter-day Saints are organized bodies outside the historic Christian faith. The prosperity gospel is not a separate church but a teaching that has spread inside the churches, often mixed with much that is true. Many sincere believers sit under it, and some who preach it may love the Lord. So we must be doubly careful: to name the error plainly, yet to remember the people. We should also gladly grant what is true in it — God is generous, He delights to give good gifts, He sometimes heals, and faith truly matters. The error is not that God blesses but the way this teaching twists His blessing. As always, we test by the Word of God and speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).

Injili ya Mafanikio ni Nini?What Is the Prosperity Gospel?

Injili ya mafanikio, inayoitwa pia injili ya afya na utajiri au vuguvugu la Neno la Imani (Word of Faith), hufundisha kwamba Mungu anapenda kila mwamini awe tajiri wa mali na mzima wa mwili, na kwamba mafanikio haya yamehakikishwa kwa wale walio na imani ya kutosha. Mizizi yake inatoka kwenye fikra za kimetafizikia za "New Thought" (Fikra Mpya) za karne ya kumi na tisa, ikipitia walimu kama E. W. Kenyon na Kenneth Hagin, na ilienea sana kupitia mikutano ya uamsho wa uponyaji ya katikati ya karne ya ishirini na kupitia televisheni.The prosperity gospel, also called the health-and-wealth gospel or the Word of Faith movement, teaches that God wills every believer to be materially rich and physically well, and that this prosperity is guaranteed to those who have enough faith. Its roots run from the metaphysical "New Thought" of the nineteenth century through teachers such as E. W. Kenyon and Kenneth Hagin, and it spread widely through mid-twentieth-century healing revivals and television.

Madai yake makuu ni haya. Wanasema kwamba afya na utajiri vimehakikishwa kwa ajili yetu katika upatanisho wa Kristo, hivyo ugonjwa na umaskini ni dalili za dhambi, za shambulio la pepo, au za upungufu wa imani. Imani yenyewe huchukuliwa kuwa sheria au nguvu ya kiroho: kwa "ukiri chanya" — "kuitaja na kuidai" baraka — maneno ya mwamini hudhaniwa kuileta baraka hiyo iwepo, karibu kana kwamba Mungu analazimika kuitii kanuni hiyo. Na kutoa hufundishwa kama "imani ya mbegu": fedha zinazopandwa katika huduma huahidiwa kumrudia mtoaji zikiwa zimeongezeka mara nyingi. Katika umbo lake lililokithiri zaidi la Neno la Imani, baadhi yao wamefundisha hata kwamba damu ya Kristo peke yake haikutosha kuleta upatanisho, na kwamba ilimbidi afe kiroho na "kuzaliwa mara ya pili" kuzimu — kosa zito linalogusa upatanisho wenyewe, ingawa si kila mhubiri wa mafanikio analishikilia. Tumeyaeleza madai haya kwa haki kadiri tuwezavyo. Sasa ni lazima tuyapime kwa Maandiko.Its main claims are these. Health and wealth, they say, are secured for us in the atonement of Christ, so that sickness and poverty are signs of sin, of demonic attack, or of a lack of faith. Faith itself is treated as a spiritual law or force: by "positive confession" — "naming and claiming" a blessing — the believer's words are thought to call the blessing into being, almost as if God were bound to obey the formula. And giving is taught as "seed faith": money sown into a ministry is promised to return to the giver multiplied. In its more extreme Word-of-Faith form, some have even taught that Christ's blood did not by itself atone and that He had to die spiritually and be "born again" in hell — a grave error that strikes at the atonement itself, though not every prosperity preacher holds it. We have stated these claims as fairly as we can. Now we must test them by Scripture.

Kupima Mzizi (1): Hazina TofautiTesting the Root (1): A Different Treasure

Habari njema ya injili ya kweli ni Kristo mwenyewe: msamaha wa dhambi, kufanywa wana wa Mungu, kipawa cha Roho Mtakatifu, kuunganishwa na Kristo, na urithi usioweza kunyauka kamwe. "Atukuzwe Mungu, Baba wa Bwana wetu Yesu Kristo, aliyetubariki kwa baraka zote za rohoni, katika ulimwengu wa roho, ndani yake Kristo" (Waefeso 1:3), urithi "usioharibika, usio na uchafu... uliotunzwa mbinguni kwa ajili yenu" (1 Petro 1:4). Injili ya mafanikio kimyakimya hubadilisha hazina hii kwa nyingine. Huifanya habari njema kuwa afya, fedha, na mafanikio sasa hivi, hivyo kitovu cha injili huhama kutoka kwa Kristo na msamaha wa dhambi kwenda kwa mwamini na starehe yake. Hubadilisha dhahabu ya injili kwa shaba ya ulimwengu huu. Hata pale inapomshika Mungu wa kweli na Kristo wa kweli, imebadilisha injili ni nini, na hiyo ndiyo alama ya kwanza dhidi yake.The good news of the true gospel is Christ Himself: the forgiveness of sins, adoption as God's children, the gift of the Holy Spirit, union with Christ, and an inheritance that can never fade. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3), an inheritance "incorruptible and undefiled... reserved in heaven for you" (1 Peter 1:4). The prosperity gospel quietly exchanges this treasure for another. It makes the good news to be health, money, and success now, so that the center of the gospel shifts from Christ and the forgiveness of sins to the believer and his comfort. It trades the gold of the gospel for the brass of this world. Even where it keeps the true God and the true Christ, it has changed what the gospel is, and that is the first mark against it.

Kupima Mzizi (2): Neema Iliyogeuzwa Kuwa BiasharaTesting the Root (2): Grace Turned into a Transaction

Alama ya pili ndiyo ile ambayo Wagalatia iliandikwa ili kuifichua. Injili ya mafanikio huiongezea neema kazi iliyofichika: imani yako, ukiri wako chanya, na utoaji wako wa "mbegu" vinakuwa nyenzo zinazomsukuma Mungu kutenda. Hivyo neema hugeuzwa kuwa biashara, na baraka inakuwa kitu ambacho mwamini hukiwasha badala ya kukipokea. Lakini Paulo anasema, "Baada ya kuanza katika Roho, je! mnataka kukamilishwa sasa katika mwili?" (Wagalatia 3:3), na anaonya, "Msidanganyike; Mungu hadhihakiwi" (Wagalatia 6:7). Mungu si mashine ya kuuza bidhaa, wala hataendeshwa kwa kanuni: "Lakini Mungu wetu yuko mbinguni, alitakalo lote amelitenda" (Zaburi 115:3). Imani ya kweli ya kibiblia si nguvu tunayoitumia, bali ni tumaini linalotegemea ahadi za Mungu, na kiini chake ni Kristo, si imani yenyewe. "Itaje na uidai" humfanya mwanadamu kuwa bwana na Mungu kuwa mtumishi wa maneno yake; imani halisi husema, "si mapenzi yangu, bali yako yatendeke" (Luka 22:42), na, "Ajaponiua, bado nitamtumaini" (Ayubu 13:15). Kwa imani watakatifu wa Waebrania 11 "wasijazipokea zile ahadi" katika maisha haya, lakini bado walimtumaini Mungu (Waebrania 11:13, 39).The second mark is the one Galatians was written to expose. The prosperity gospel adds to grace a hidden work: your faith, your positive confession, and your "seed" giving become the levers that move God to deliver. Grace is thus turned into a transaction, and the blessing is something the believer activates rather than receives. But Paul says, "having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?" (Galatians 3:3), and warns, "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked" (Galatians 6:7). God is not a vending machine, and He will not be managed by a formula: "Our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases" (Psalm 115:3). True biblical faith is not a force we wield but trust resting on the promises of God, and its object is Christ, not faith itself. "Name it and claim it" makes man the master and God the servant of his words; real faith says, "not My will, but Yours, be done" (Luke 22:42), and, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him" (Job 13:15). By faith the saints of Hebrews 11 "did not receive the promises" in this life, yet they trusted God still (Hebrews 11:13, 39).

Je, Yesu Alikuwa Tajiri?Was Jesus Prosperous?

Kama mafanikio ya mali yangekuwa nishani ya kibali cha Mungu, basi hakika Mwana mpendwa wa Mungu mwenyewe, Mtu aliyebarikiwa kuliko wote waliopata kuishi, angekuwa tajiri kuliko wote. Hakuwa hivyo. Yesu alizaliwa katika familia maskini na akalazwa horini, kwa sababu walikosa nafasi (Luka 2:7); alipotolewa hekaluni, wazazi wake walileta sadaka ya maskini, ndege wawili wadogo (Luka 2:24). Katika huduma yake alisema, "Mbweha wana pango, na ndege wa angani wana viota; lakini Mwana wa Adamu hana pa kujilaza kichwa chake" (Mathayo 8:20) — hakuwa na nyumba. Alipoingia Yerusalemu kwa mara ya mwisho, ilimbidi awatume wanafunzi wake wakamletee mwana-punda wa kuazima, kwa maana hakuwa na mnyama wake mwenyewe (Marko 11:2-7). Vazi pekee lenye thamani yo yote alilokuwa nalo — kanzu isiyo na mshono, huenda ilikuwa zawadi — askari waliipigia kura chini ya msalaba alipokuwa akifa (Yohana 19:23-24). Na badala ya kuwaahidi wafuasi wake utajiri, alionya, "Ni rahisi ngamia kupenya katika tundu la sindano, kuliko tajiri kuingia katika ufalme wa Mungu" (Mathayo 19:24). Kama mafanikio ni ishara ya baraka ya Mungu, basi ni wazi kwamba Yesu hakuwa nayo — jambo lisilowezekana kufikiriwa. Kwa hiyo utajiri si kipimo cha kibali cha Mungu, na umaskini si uthibitisho wa kutopendezwa kwake.If material prosperity were the badge of God's favor, then surely God's own beloved Son, the most blessed Man who ever lived, would have been the richest of all. He was not. Jesus was born to a poor family and laid in a manger, because there was no room for them (Luke 2:7); at His dedication His parents brought the offering of the poor, two small birds (Luke 2:24). In His ministry He said, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head" (Matthew 8:20) — He owned no house. When He entered Jerusalem for the last time, He had to send His disciples to fetch a borrowed colt, for He had no animal of His own (Mark 11:2-7). The one garment of any value He owned — a seamless tunic, perhaps a gift — the soldiers gambled for at the foot of the cross while He died (John 19:23-24). And far from promising His followers riches, He warned, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (Matthew 19:24). If prosperity is the sign of God's blessing, then Jesus plainly did not have it — which is unthinkable. So wealth is not the measure of God's favor, and poverty is no proof of His displeasure.

Msalaba, Mateso, na Utajiri wa KweliThe Cross, Suffering, and the True Riches

Agano Jipya lote hufanya msalaba na mateso kuwa kiini cha maisha ya Kikristo, ilhali injili ya mafanikio haiachi nafasi kwa mambo hayo. Paulo anaandika, "Lakini mimi, hasha, nisijisifu, isipokuwa kwa msalaba wa Bwana wetu Yesu Kristo" (Wagalatia 6:14). "Imetupasa kuingia katika ufalme wa Mungu kwa njia ya dhiki nyingi" (Matendo 14:22); "wote wapendao kuishi maisha ya utauwa katika Kristo Yesu, wataudhiwa" (2 Timotheo 3:12); sisi ni "warithi wa Mungu, warithio pamoja na Kristo; ili kwamba tukiteswa pamoja naye, tutukuzwe pamoja naye" (Warumi 8:17). Wala afya ya mwili haijahakikishwa sasa. Mwiba wa Paulo mwenyewe katika mwili haukuondolewa, ingawa aliomba mara tatu; Bwana alijibu, "Neema yangu yakutosha; maana uweza wangu hukamilishwa katika udhaifu" (2 Wakorintho 12:9). Paulo alimwacha Trofimo huko Mileto akiwa mgonjwa (2 Timotheo 4:20), na alimshauri Timotheo kuhusu magonjwa yake ya mara kwa mara (1 Timotheo 5:23). Alikuwa "amejifunza kuridhika na hali yo yote" aliyokuwa nayo (Wafilipi 4:11). Uponyaji kamili wa mwili unangoja ufufuo (Warumi 8:23). Na huu ndio utajiri wa kweli wa injili: "ingawa alikuwa tajiri, alikuwa maskini kwa ajili yenu, ili ninyi kwa umaskini wake mpate kuwa matajiri" (2 Wakorintho 8:9) — matajiri si kwa fedha bali katika Kristo na katika urithi usionyauka.The whole New Testament makes the cross and suffering central to the Christian life, where the prosperity gospel leaves no room for them. Paul writes, "God forbid that I should glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Galatians 6:14). "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22); "all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution" (2 Timothy 3:12); we are "heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together" (Romans 8:17). Nor is bodily health guaranteed now. Paul's own thorn in the flesh was not removed, though he pleaded three times; the Lord answered, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). Paul left Trophimus sick at Miletus (2 Timothy 4:20), and counseled Timothy about his frequent ailments (1 Timothy 5:23). He had "learned in whatever state I am, to be content" (Philippians 4:11). The body's full healing waits for the resurrection (Romans 8:23). And here is the gospel's true wealth: "though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9) — rich not in money but in Christ and in an inheritance that does not fade.

Kupenda Fedha na Wale Wanaofundisha kwa Ajili ya FaidaThe Love of Money and Those Who Teach for Gain

Maandiko husema kwa ukali usio wa kawaida kuhusu fedha na kuhusu wale wanaotumia dini ili kuzipata. Paulo anaandika juu ya "watu walioharibika akili zao, walioikosa kweli, wakidhani ya kuwa utauwa ni njia ya kupata faida. Jitenge na watu kama hao" (1 Timotheo 6:5). "Lakini utauwa pamoja na kuridhika ni faida kubwa"; "tukiwa na chakula na mavazi, tutaridhika na vitu hivyo"; "wale watakao kuwa na mali huanguka katika majaribu na tanzi"; na "shina moja la mabaya ya kila namna ni kupenda fedha" (1 Timotheo 6:6-10). Yesu alisema waziwazi, "Hamwezi kumtumikia Mungu na mali" (Mathayo 6:24). Petro alionya kwamba walimu wa uongo, "katika kutamani... watajipatia faida kwenu kwa maneno ya kudanganya" na "kuwafanya ninyi kuwa bidhaa" (2 Petro 2:3); Paulo alionya juu ya wale wanaofundisha "kwa ajili ya faida ya aibu" (Tito 1:11). Ni jambo zito kwamba mara nyingi injili ya mafanikio huwatajirisha walimu wake kwa matoleo ya maskini na ya waliokata tamaa, wale wale ambao Yesu alikuja kuwabariki.Scripture speaks with unusual severity about money and about those who use religion to get it. Paul writes of "men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself" (1 Timothy 6:5). "Now godliness with contentment is great gain"; "having food and clothing, with these we shall be content"; "those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare"; and "the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil" (1 Timothy 6:6-10). Jesus said plainly, "You cannot serve God and mammon" (Matthew 6:24). Peter warned that false teachers, "by covetousness... will exploit you with deceptive words" and "make merchandise of you" (2 Peter 2:3); Paul warned of those who teach "for the sake of dishonest gain" (Titus 1:11). It is a sober thing that the prosperity gospel so often enriches its teachers from the gifts of the poor and the desperate, the very ones Jesus came to bless.

Kwa Nini Hii Ni "Injili Nyingine"Why This Is "Another Gospel"

Kusanya alama hizi pamoja: hazina tofauti, ambapo afya na utajiri vimewekwa mahali pa Kristo; neema iliyogeuzwa kuwa biashara inayowashwa kwa imani, ukiri, na utoaji; maisha ya Kikristo yaliyoondolewa msalaba na mateso; na kupenda fedha kulikovikwa lugha ya imani. Hata pale inapomshika Mungu wa kweli na, kwa sehemu kubwa, Kristo wa kweli, imebadilisha injili ni nini na imeiongezea neema kazi. Hilo latosha kuileta chini ya onyo la Paulo: "ijapokuwa sisi, au malaika wa mbinguni, atawahubiri ninyi injili yo yote isipokuwa ile tuliyowahubiri, na alaaniwe" (Wagalatia 1:8). Wagalatia walikuwa wakigeuzwa kuelekea "injili ya namna nyingine; wala si nyingine" (Wagalatia 1:6-7) — upotoshaji wa injili ya Kristo. Ndivyo ilivyo hapa. Injili ya mafanikio ni injili nyingine: si kwa sababu inakana Mungu ni nani, kama madhehebu potofu yafanyavyo, bali kwa sababu inabadilisha injili ni nini na kugeuza neema kuwa faida.Gather the marks together: a different treasure, with health and wealth put in the place of Christ; grace turned into a transaction activated by faith, confession, and giving; a Christian life emptied of the cross and of suffering; and the love of money clothed in the language of faith. Even where it keeps the true God and, largely, the true Christ, it has changed what the gospel is and has added a work to grace. That is enough to bring it under Paul's warning: "even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:8). The Galatians were being turned "to a different gospel, which is not another" (Galatians 1:6-7) — a perversion of the gospel of Christ. So it is here. The prosperity gospel is another gospel: not because it denies who God is, as the cults do, but because it changes what the gospel is and turns grace into gain.

Kulitambulisha Kosa, Kuwarejesha WatuMarking the Error, Reclaiming the People

Kwa sababu injili ya mafanikio ni upotovu unaofanya kazi ndani ya makanisa, jibu letu lina pande mbili. Upande mmoja, ni lazima tulitambulishe fundisho la uongo na kukataa kushiriki ndani yake: "waangalieni wale wafanyao fitina na mambo ya kukwaza kinyume cha mafundisho mliyojifunza; mkajiepushe nao. Kwa maana watu walio hivyo hawamtumikii Bwana wetu Kristo, bali matumbo yao wenyewe; na kwa maneno yao laini na maneno matamu huidanganya mioyo ya watu wanyofu" (Warumi 16:17-18); "jitenge na watu kama hao" (1 Timotheo 6:5). Hatushirikiani katika ujumbe huu wala hatuuachii mimbari zetu, na walimu wanaolitumia kundi kwa makusudi kwa ajili ya faida wako chini ya maonyo mazito ya Maandiko. Upande mwingine, ni lazima tuwakumbuke watu wengi wenye moyo mnyofu waliokamatwa ndani yake, ambao baadhi yao kweli wanampenda Kristo. Hatuwatupilii mbali; tunatafuta kuwarejesha kwenye injili ya kweli. Lengo letu ni la kukomboa: kuwaita watu kutoka kwenye shaba kwenda kwenye dhahabu — kutoka kwenye injili ya kupata vitu kwenda kwa Kristo ambaye yeye mwenyewe ndiye thawabu yetu kubwa mno, na kwenye tumaini linalobaki kuwa habari njema katika umaskini, katika ugonjwa, na hata katika kifo, kwa sababu hazina yake ni Kristo na urithi usioweza kuondolewa kamwe.Because the prosperity gospel is a corruption that works inside the churches, our response has two sides. On the one hand, we must mark the false teaching and refuse to share in it: "note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple" (Romans 16:17-18); "from such withdraw yourself" (1 Timothy 6:5). We do not partner in this message or lend it our pulpits, and teachers who knowingly exploit the flock for gain fall under the solemn warnings of Scripture. On the other hand, we must remember the many sincere people caught in it, some of whom truly love Christ. We do not write them off; we seek to win them back to the true gospel. Our aim is redemptive: to call people from the brass to the gold — from a gospel of getting to the Christ who is Himself our exceeding great reward, and to a hope that remains good news in poverty, in sickness, and even in death, because its treasure is Christ and an inheritance that can never be taken away.

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