The Church of Jesus Christ

If you are 50 now, then you were born the year of the’59 Chevy Impala’s gull-wing fins and wrapover windshield — a true sign North American Culture was at least halfway to the pot at the end of the rainbow. If you are 80, then some of your youthful memories could include the end of the Great Depression and the tantalizing blush of colour that was making its way into the glories of Hollywood by the early 1940s.

The world is no longer the same. Upswings, downswings, cycles and dead-ends — no matter what period of history we inhabit, the world out there is always in flux.

Which brings me to my theme: Prosperity.

Joel Osteen popped up one Sunday morning on my TV. I’d heard of him, caught snippets of him here and there, but had no idea what his ministry was all about. I was stunned by the size of the arena in which he was preaching — not much smaller than the Roman Colosseum, and filled to capacity. But it was the stained-glass roof that really impressed me. It was a cause for wonder. Imagine the Rogers Centre in Toronto with a blue, back-lit, stained glass dome! Echoes of Chartres Cathedral.

As for the sermon, well, the week’s message was about the abundant life, cups overflowing and not being poor (because being poor means you’re content not to improve your lot in life and use all of God’s blessings to your advantage). It was about being eager to get more than the next guy because “to him who hath, more shall be given, and to him who hath not, all shall be taken away.” It was the strangest mixture of spiritual teaching and American daydreaming I’d ever heard.

In past years, I might have been offended. But now I was curious. There were 22,000 adherents to this faith assembled in this luxurious colosseum, raising their hands in spontaneous applause for both the message and the handsome, youthful messenger. My goodness!

I remember the hard, oak pews in the old St. Andrew’s Church on Larch Street (the black granite building that was demolished before it finished sinking into the quicksand below). I remember sitting there wishing our family could be rich, not from ‘this side’ of the tracks where life was so difficult, and prosperity was only a daydream as you whittled willow whistles on your back porch steps. Lucky me — I had a jackknife.

As I was saying, I was more than curious about this church (the colosseum), because I didn’t think anyone under 50 could possibly understand the change it truly represents.

“Live long, and prosper!” Shades of Star Trek! Many would say that Star Trek paved the way for the New Age religion.

As the second Great Depression now engulfs us, we don’t realize, or I should say, the younger generation doesn’t realize. The material values which keep our economy on the high road of prosperity are as shifty and dangerous as the unseen quicksand on which the original St. Andrew’s was built.

Am I too old to understand this new slant on the scriptures? Does being poor really mean you’re content not to improve your lot in life and use all of God’s blessings to your advantage? Money might buy love and happiness, but does it buy passage into the Kingdom of Heaven?

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This is starting to sound as if I should be on the Spirituality page of The Mag, or maybe the Editorial page. Be that as it may, I’m pretty sure there are a lot of old folk out there who wonder what the heck is going on. And it’s only those to whom this page of the Mag is dedicated who will really understand that more babies got thrown out with the bath water way back when than you can shake a stick at.

And that’s not old age grump — it’s the truth!

* Dan Racicot retired from teaching in Toronto in 1997 and moved back to Sudbury to begin a second career in creative learning styles. In 2003, he opened Mountaintop Enterprises, which focuses on freelance photography, writing and publishing, and the promotion of men’s studies. More information at www.mountaintop.ca.

Tags: God, prosperity preachers, religion