The Tribune

By Pastor Matthew Allen

It is amazing how today’s church and its leaders take great delight in majoring on minor issues while minoring on major issues. And then to further add insult to injury, the blatant hypocrisy on the issue of which many are majoring has made some look silly and has exposed their natural and spiritual immaturity.

The national hot button issue of today is gambling, and like a lamb being led to the slaughter the pharisees and Sadducees of the Bahamas Christian ‘Sanhedrin’ Council wasted no time in making their hypocritical, double standard religious position known concerning gambling.

As it relates to gambling, there is no doubt that the bad by far out weighs the good. Please let me make this emphatically clear: I do not and will ever support gambling but I am also mindful of this fact: gambling is an act of individual choice; everyone has free will to do or not to do.

As I am hearing these religious leaders make their hypocritical appeal against gambling I cannot help but to conclude that they are primarily speaking out against Bahamians being allowed to gamble, because in truth there is no such thing as illegal gambling in the Bahamas. If gambling is illegal in the Bahamas, both former and present governments have failed to inform casino operators at Atlantis and Crystal Palace and the future Baha Mar.

If it took the mentioning of a referendum on gambling by the government to expose the hypocrisy of the Christian ‘Sanhedrin’ Council then I really wonder what will happen to the church if the government were to announce that it is considering a referendum on homosexuality, adultery, fornication, lesbianism, financial greed and fleecing of the poor within and outside the church.

The religious stand against gambling is no different from that of the ancient white knights and a few coloured influential Bahamians who stood for prohibiting Bahamians from gambling in the casinos.

It is obvious that the position of these religious leaders has absolutely nothing to do with spirituality, no matter how much they try to sell the negative moral affects on society. For had these financial fat cat (bishops, doctors, prophets, apostles, pastors, etc) truly been concerned about the morals of society they would also be consistently crying out against homosexuality, fornication, and other immoralities, especially amongst the church leadership where morality is at an all time low.

I would strongly advise these religious fat cats who are making their fortunes and building their own kingdoms as a result of their merciless fleecing of the poor to open their eyes and

for once try to be real; try giving back, sowing financially into the lives of the congregation and community, instead of banking, storing up the tithes to cater to the needs of the so-called “Mand-of-God” with is friends, family and lovers.

It is pathetic and nauseating to listen to some religious trying to scripturally justify their opposition to gambling, whereas it is some of these very same religious leaders who are called upon to say the opening prayer and pronounce blessing upon various resorts and casinos. How hypocritical could one be?

Today’s church has strayed so far away from God and his principles to the point that God’s economic plan for the church is not a part of today’s church agenda, despite all of the twisted, incomplete prosperity messages that are going forth.

When and wherever God’s economic is not in operation, the enemy Satan will stop at nothing to put his plan in motion. For the religious church, the enemy’s economic plan is that of the twisted, incomplete prosperity gospel that primarily financially fattens religious leaders. The world enemy’s economic plan is that of gambling, which financially fattens the owners and operators of such gambling systems.

Here is a glimpse of God’s economic plan:

NLT: Acts.4: 32. All the believers were of one heart and mind, and they felt that what they owned was not their own; they shared everything they had.

1. There was no poverty among them, because people who owned land or houses sold them

:35. and brought the money to the apostles to give to others in need.

The believers of the early church did not have to resort to gambling as church-folk do today. The true apostles did not bank and hoard the money unto themselves; they did not built luxuries

homes and buy expensive cars as is being done by today’s religious leaders; they simply followed the leading of the holy spirit and worked God’s economic plan.

In closing, here is a question to consider: How can the Christian ‘Sanhedrin’ Council say that they are crying out against gambling, which does have the potential of being detrimental to the moral fabric of our society, but then conveniently remain silent on other issues that are also detrimental to the moral fabric of society, such as homosexuality, fornication, adultery, lesbianism, etc? Could it be for not wanting to offend fellow clergymen and other prominent leaders of society? If this is not hypocrisy in the highest order, then stop the world and let me off.

Either we are gonna live for God, or not.

• For questions and comments contact pastormallen@yahoo.com.