(I know this news is old, but I came across it recently. I post it with my remarks because I want people to understand the difference between what she said at that time and to what the Gospel speaks of. I don't know if she has recanted what she said. I can only pray that she has and has repented before the Lord. Sometimes out of ignorance people say what they actually believe is true. For Ms. Blige, I fully believe it has to do with the faulty "Name and Claim IT/ Prosperity Gospels" rampant among many churches nowadays. Regardless, she has a Bible and if she studied it enough, she would have a problem with what she was thinking.)
'God wants Blige to wear bling'- Mary J. Blige says she has found religion, but she makes no apologies for her earthly materialism. In fact, she says God has willed her to wear bling.
“My God is a God who wants me to have things,” the singer tells May’s Blender magazine. “He wants me to bling. He wants me to be the hottest thing on the block. I don’t know what kind of God the rest of y’all are serving, but the God I serve says, ‘Mary, you need to be the hottest thing this year, and I’m gonna make sure you’re doing that’.”
Since when did Christ’s death, burial and resurrection mean that the gift of God was a blessing for us to have “things?” This is one of the biggest problems with the church in general today. Christ did not die for us to have “stuff.” He did not die to give us a home, two cars in the garage and perfect health. He did not die for women to get tummy tucks so that they could find a man or vice versa. Yet this young lady has falsely believed that God cares about her having the latest “it-things.” Is it wrong if we have stuff? No. But the purpose of God was not so that we could be rich in order to consume it upon our lusts. Yet as the scriptures say, “These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouths speak great swelling [words], having men's persons in admiration because of advantage Jude 1:16.” [Side note* read the whole the chapter] Undoubtedly, people will look up to her and agree, setting themselves up for spiritual failure.
Ms. Blige wants to look good and have all that stuff because she wants to be “MISS IT”! Her desire is to be the center of attention. She has created an idol of her own believing that her god wants her to be popular. True servants of Christ don’t want to be glorified; they want to give glory- to God! When John the Baptist did his work, he stated, “I must decrease so that He might increase!” Paul stated in Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Nowhere in scripture are we told that God wants any of us to be the hottest thing on the planet (this year or any other). If some of the most honorable men in the Bible did not look to earthly riches for their joy, why should we?
Christ’s sacrificial death goes farther than even our own desires dictate. As stated earlier, Christ’s death was not so that we could be empowered by the things in this world. In fact, scripture clearly shows (and life even testifies) that the things in this world are temporal. Even natural science agrees. Things in this world are short lived and must come to an end. Even the nicest toys will break one day. And they always do. They, unlike our Lord can never stand the test of time!
So what does Christ’s death provide? What are we “saved” from? We are saved from God himself. With all the hoopla today about how “special” we are, few Christians understand how disgusting we actually are to God. In our sinful state, we are mortal enemies of the Most High. James 4:4, “whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world IS the ENEMY of God” and again in Romans 5:10, “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” And there it is. Christ’s death on the cross provides salvation from the wrath of God (upon His enemies) that will inevitably come. Remember, it is appointed unto man once to die and after that the judgment. We are all going to die and we will all stand before Him in judgment, regardless of our possessions.
Mary J. Blige believes that God has told her He wants her to be the “hottest” thing out there. But according to scripture, she is wrong. The scriptures say that “he that is to be the greatest must be the servant of all.” She has not properly studied the Word of God and it is evident by her remarks. She says that God wants her to have “bling,” but the Scriptures say that we must deny ourselves, pick up our cross and follow Him. Unfortunately her doctrine is false and people who believe like she does jeopardizes the possibility of their faith. Even worse is the image of the gospel she is presenting. How many people will believe what she says and take it to heart?
Lastly, I bring up this story of Ms Blige because it immediately had me think of another one. A young man in Pakistan was found out to be a Christian. The Muslims took him, beat him down and molested him. When the police (who were Muslim) found out, they did nothing to arrest the men who committed the crime. When the boy was taken to the hospital he was refused treatment and medication (the doctors were Muslim). With little work and no money, the family presses on in Christ. The boy has suffered for being a Christian and continues to suffer because he is a Christian with no money. This stands in stark contrast to Mary J. Blige believing that God wants her to be the “hottest” and that her god wants her to “bling.” But I say this, the scriptures have only one interpretation, either we are to glorify God in denying ourselves or God saves us to look good. You decide.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12137215/
http://www.persecution.org/suffering/newsdetail.php?newscode=5405
No comments:
Post a Comment