Religious Men Who Prey on the Needy (Protestant and Evangelical Caucus/Devotional)

[Gamecock]

“Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

- Mark 12:38–40

Televangelist scandals have routinely made headlines for the past forty years or so. Many of these scandals have been sexual in nature, with preachers getting caught with prostitutes or found guilty of other kinds of sexual immorality. Other scandals, however, have been financial in nature. One televangelist who pledged to pray for those who donated to his ministry was found to have thrown the prayer request cards immediately into the trash after receiving the funds, never praying as he promised. Other televangelists have encouraged people to give money that they do not really have, to take out loans or lines of credit, promising people that if they go into debt “for the Lord,” God will make them millionaires.

Sadly, hucksters often use religion as a pretense for their own-financial gain. We are not talking here about hardworking and godly pastors and leaders who are paid well by their churches or other organizations. Instead, we refer to the hypocrites who see religion as a way to make a quick dollar and who intentionally prey on unsuspecting people, taking advantage of them for their money. This phenomenon, we read in today’s passage, is nothing new. In Jesus’ day, many of the scribes were guilty of devouring “widows’ houses.”

The scribes were highly respected in the first century, and many of them took advantage of that respect to enrich themselves. They would turn to widows in financial distress and make them promises that could not be kept if they would just give them their money. Some people who were not scribes themselves dressed up as scribes and convinced wealthy widows to give them large sums for the temple. Those false scribes then took the money and ran away with it.

Jesus had harsh words for such unscrupulous characters, but He also condemned the scribal class for hypocritical behavior that was not financial in nature. Their religion was all too often mere show. Long prayers were offered and long robes were worn in an attempt to prove their piety. However, ostentatious displays of religiosity were covers for hearts that sought honor for themselves, not for the Lord (Mark 12:38–40).

Truly, impenitent hypocrisy is one of those sins that mark us out as fools. When we pretend that we are more godly than we actually are, we might trick others, but we never mislead God. We must guard our hearts lest outward piety become a vehicle for hiding self-advancement.

Coram Deo

None of us fully lives up to God’s standards, but we are not hypocrites for trying. We are hypocrites only when we pretend to be holier than we are, when we present ourselves as humble when in fact our hearts are proud and conceited. Let us repent daily for any true hypocrisy that we might find in our hearts, and may we ask God to give us the grace to be honest about ourselves with others.

Passages for Further Study

Psalm 26

Matthew 6:1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 2 t“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Luke 12:1 In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, u“Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 3 Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.

1 Peter 2:1 So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have mtasted that the Lord is good.

[Gamecock]

Ping

[metmom]

Anyone who scams money off people in the name of god is a false prophet and I’m sure God will judge pretty harshly.

He has freely has offered us salvation as a gift, freely given us everything we need for life and godliness, and has promised to meet all our needs for the asking. And He even often gives us what we want to boot.

There is no need to go to men, no matter what they promise.

It does such damage to God’s good name. I’m sure their judgment will be harsh.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***Sadly, hucksters often use religion as a pretense for their own-financial gain.***

I remember reading of a man over 2000 years ago who heard a legend of a snake with a man’s head hatching from an egg.
So he created the egg, convinced the locals it was the one spoken of in legend.
Soon the “egg” hatched and inside was a snake! Within a short time the “snake” developed a man’s head (made of articulated leather) and he set himself up in the prophecy business. it lasted several centuries before finally dying out.

[ealgeone]

Watch late night tv on the religious channels. They’re still out there peddling the prosperity gospel.

[circlecity]

I used to represent a large insurance company and would often have to defend cases where someone would package several financial instruments, (including policies from this insurance company) as investment vehicles generally promising something like “guaranteed 10% returns”. It was almost always a fraudulent Ponzi scheme. The targets of the fraud were generally senior citizens, often widows who had funds from their husband’s estate and life insurance proceeds to invest as their nest egg. In every single instance the scamster used a religious come on to his victims. May such people burn for eternity.

[good1]

Sadly, hucksters often use religion as a pretense for their own-financial gain. We are not talking here about hardworking and godly pastors and leaders who are paid well by their churches or other organizations. Instead, we refer to the hypocrites who see religion as a way to make a quick dollar and who intentionally prey on unsuspecting people, taking advantage of them for their money.

Who are these people you speak of? Are they real, or have you just imagined them? If they are real, what are their names so I can check them out and verify your accusations concerning them.

[Gamecock]

Really?

Let’s start with Jim and Tammy Faye Baker