The Social Climbers

[elijah23]

Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is at hand—all we have to do is repent.

When I am resisting temptation, I know I am absolutely secure—no harm can come to me. You can kill me, but you can’t send me to hell, and that is all I am concerned about.

I see people fighting for power, committing the sin of pride. It’s called social climbing. How unhappy they are, but they won’t stop for a moment to consider what they are doing.

 

[D4Christ]

I see people fighting for power, committing the sin of pride. It’s called social climbing. How unhappy they are, but they won’t stop for a moment to consider what they are doing.

As for Christians...why should they stop when most of the messages heard in church talk about gaining victory in all areas of their lives with some of the biggest emphasis on finances. "Live your best life now...claim your houses in the name of Jesus...touch that car and it will be yours...send in $1,000 and with faith you will see a ten-fold increase."

How do you not want what others have when your pastor and his wife drip with jewlery from the pulpit and then credit their sucess and social elevation on their faith. Not that financial success is bad. But the pressure to be financially successful and more powerful in one's community is, imho, just as strong in the church as it is in the world.

 

[elijah23]

As for Christians...why should they stop when most of the messages heard in church talk about gaining victory in all areas of their lives with some of the biggest emphasis on finances. "Live your best life now...claim your houses in the name of Jesus...touch that car and it will be yours...send in $1,000 and with faith you will see a ten-fold increase."

How do you not want what others have when your pastor and his wife drip with jewlery from the pulpit and then credit their sucess and social elevation on their faith. Not that financial success is bad. But the pressure to be financially successful and more powerful in one's community is, imho, just as strong in the church as it is in the world.

Each church has two governments, it would seem to me:

First, there is the government that on the surface seems to run the church, a mixture of people with great integrity and people who are social climbers. This would include the clergy, elected council members, etc.

The other government is the people in the church who the congregation actually trusts and turns to in times of difficulty.

 

[WIP]

I don't think that someone that strives for success in this world is necessarily placing his/her greed ahead of God. We all have our own idea about what it means to succeed. I feel I am successful. Does that mean my success or the means to it is a sin? Only God can answer that question for He knows what was in my heart and in my mind.

We should be careful about being judgmental as that too is a sin. I've heard it from many Christians. They, like most people, complain about taxes, pay scale, work hours, other people's incomes, other people's spending habits, what the Jones' have, etc. Every time I hear these complaints I'm reminded of the parable of the workers in the field that, although agreed to the terms of their employment, complained when they learned others were paid the same for less work.

Like I've said many times before, most everyone's definition of a rich person is, "Anyone that has more than me."

 

[D4Christ]

I don't think that someone that strives for success in this world is necessarily placing his/her greed ahead of God. We all have our own idea about what it means to succeed. I feel I am successful. Does that mean my success or the means to it is a sin? Only God can answer that question for He knows what was in my heart and in my mind.

We should be careful about being judgmental as that too is a sin. I've heard it from many Christians. They, like most people, complain about taxes, pay scale, work hours, other people's incomes, other people's spending habits, what the Jones' have, etc. Every time I hear these complaints I'm reminded of the parable of the workers in the field that, although agreed to the terms of their employment, complained when they learned others were paid the same for less work.

Like I've said many times before, most everyone's definition of a rich person is, "Anyone that has more than me."

My comments were not about people striving for success....who deliberately wants to be a failure? Rather my comments were based on a type of "climb to the top" drive that we often see and expect from the world but often see and experience right in our own churches. Of course most churches will package this drive differently like "getting closer to God, increasing ones faith, becoming more involved." However, I think the effect it has on people, in what they do, or are willing to do to be acknowledged as someone to be admired in church, is probably no different than the effects someone experiences trying to get promoted at their own jobs. At some point the goal (may) outweighs the pupose for being involved in the church in the 1st place.

This is not a sweeping over generalization...but rather an obeservation and an educated guess based on how I have observed some people behave. Oberservations imho are not judgment,s for how can we protect ourselves from being decieved if we are can't acknowledge the deception has taken place.

 

[elijah23]

I don't think that someone that strives for success in this world is necessarily placing his/her greed ahead of God. We all have our own idea about what it means to succeed. I feel I am successful. Does that mean my success or the means to it is a sin? Only God can answer that question for He knows what was in my heart and in my mind.

We should be careful about being judgmental as that too is a sin. I've heard it from many Christians. They, like most people, complain about taxes, pay scale, work hours, other people's incomes, other people's spending habits, what the Jones' have, etc. Every time I hear these complaints I'm reminded of the parable of the workers in the field that, although agreed to the terms of their employment, complained when they learned others were paid the same for less work.

Like I've said many times before, most everyone's definition of a rich person is, "Anyone that has more than me."

I’m thinking more in terms of a church, where certain people might be trying to grab control and then run the church in such a way as to satisfy their own selfish goals.

 

[WIP]

Do you think that churches are somehow imune? Reread 1 Corinthians 1. It began in the beginning and continues to this day because the church congregations are composed of sinners.