In Louis Trichardt on Wednesday 22 August 2012, my bakkie needed some help. I struck up a conversation with a man from Thohoyandou who was also waiting at the workshop. The man had a job and a nice car. Not five minutes after this conversation, I jotted down the dialogue as exactly as I could remember it on paper in my bakkie.<\/p>\n
Man: Just seconds after meeting me, he asked me if my church gave me a lot of money.<\/p>\n
Seth: \u201cYou haven\u2019t even known me for two minutes, and you are already asking me about money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2026<\/p>\n
Seth: Some comment about how we must love Christ more than money.<\/p>\n
Man: \u201cMy pastor loves money too much.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2026<\/p>\n
Man: \u201cAt my church, they cast out demons every week.\u201d He went on to tell me about the miracles that their church does because Jesus said we will do greater works than His.<\/p>\n
Seth: \u201cThe greater works are people leaving their sin and turning to Jesus Christ in faith. At my church, we only have about 30 people, but they truly love Jesus more than money. The real greater works are when a young 21-year old man who is committing fornication and looking at pornography, gives it up because he loves Christ more. That is the greater works.\u201d<\/p>\n
Man: \u201cThat [referring to young men genuinely leaving their sins] is impossible.\u201d He repeated this line with \u201cNo, no, no.\u201d several times.<\/p>\n
\u2026<\/p>\n
Man: \u201cAt my church, if you miss one month of not paying your tithe, they will phone you. They will come see you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seth: \u201cThat\u2019s because they love money more than anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2026<\/p>\n
Man: \u201cYou should tell your people at church to pay the tithe. They will give you money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seth: \u201cBut I don\u2019t want their money, I want their souls to be saved. I don\u2019t love money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Man: \u201cYou must love money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2026<\/p>\n
Seth: \u201c1 Timothy 6:12 [I got the reference wrong while talking to him, it\u2019s actually 6:10] says the love of money is the root of all evil. But I\u2019ve heard a pastor saying that we should love money. Who is right: the Bible or the pastor?\u201d<\/p>\n
Man: \u201cThe pastor is right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seth: \u201cYou\u2019re contradicting the Bible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2026<\/p>\n
Seth: \u201cWhen Jesus comes back the second time, 2 Peter 3:10-12 says that He will destroy the earth with fire. That means that your nice car and my bakkie will all be destroyed. So we must live for eternity, we must not love money. Everything we do should make us happier in eternity, not here on this earth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Man: \u201cThere is no life after this. This life is all there is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seth: Some expression of shock and total disagreement.<\/p>\n
Man: For the second time standing not one meter from me, \u201cThere is no life after this. This life is all there is. [Pause.] No, I\u2019m lying.\u201d He then turned and began walking away without another word.<\/p>\n
I have had similar conversations numerous times, though admittedly not all are as openly outrageous as this one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In Louis Trichardt on Wednesday 22 August 2012, my bakkie needed some help. I struck up a conversation with a man from Thohoyandou who was also waiting at the workshop. The man had a job and a nice car. Not … Continue reading