Televangelists and mega-church pastors strut their stuff for all the world to see. Not all misuse and abuse their positions in this way of course, but far too many do. And how often does mere eloquence, wit, good looks or youth become some of the main qualifications?

In many ways things are not so very different today than what they were 2000 years ago. Problems we face in the church today were problems back then. We might have new names for some of these things, but the core issues continue. Anyone familiar with the two letters the apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Corinth will get my drift.
Back then a major issue Paul had to deal with were the “super-apostles”. These were leaders and teachers (often false teachers) who tended to put their personalities, their prestige, and their power forward as their credentials. They thought they were superior and more authoritative than people like Paul.
In 2 Corinthians especially we find him spending a lot of time dealing with this. In 2 Cor. 11:5-7 he puts it this way: “I do not think I am in the least inferior to those ‘super-apostles.’ I may indeed be untrained as a speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way. Was it a sin for me to lower myself in order to elevate you by preaching the gospel of God to you free of charge?”
He boasts not in great power or speaking ability or popularity, but in his weakness, so that Christ might be glorified: “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. I have made a fool of myself, but you drove me to it. I ought to have been commended by you, for I am not in the least inferior to the ‘super-apostles,’ even though I am nothing” (2 Cor. 12:10-11).
He had made all this clear in his first epistle to the Corinthians (1 Cor 1:26-31):
Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
Today things are no different. Indeed, with the new technologies and global media, it can be even more of a problem, with televangelists and mega-church pastors strutting their stuff for all the world to see. Not all misuse and abuse their positions in this way of course, but far too many do. And how often does mere eloquence, wit, good looks or youth become some of the main qualifications here?
I recall some 16 years ago writing about one of these super-pastors who would not go anywhere without first sending through a list of his demands. I had mentioned a terrific article in Charisma magazine by J. Lee Grady which spoke of the “deadly virus of celebrity Christianity.” This is how he described what one celeb leader required before coming to speak:

a five-figure honorarium
a $10,000 gasoline deposit for the private plane
a manicurist and hairstylist for the speaker
a suite in a five-star hotel
a luxury car from the airport to the hotel
room-temperature Perrier

Wow. Imagine Paul or Peter or John or Luther or Spurgeon or Lewis or Paul Washer sending out such a ludicrous list of demands. Indeed, I once was speaking with a pastor and he discussed having me speak at his church. He asked me what my speaking fee was. I laughed and said it was as much as Paul had charged. I have never had a fee, and I never will.
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We must realize that while we are still on this fallen earth, suffering and hardships will be our companions. And even as we face the reality of suffering, we can wait expectantly for the day when “No longer there will be any curse” (Rev. 22:3). Until then suffering will exist.

Have you heard someone tell you that your suffering, sickness or financial struggle is a result of a generational curse or a sin you committed which opened the door to the curse? They say, “Maybe you were part of a ritual or an offering to a god as a child, and therefore you are facing the consequences now.” According to them, that curse needs to be found and then broken if you are to be free from its consequences. When such things are put before believers, they are often confused or start to think there could be some truth in this kind of reasoning. As always, a good question to ask as a thumb rule is: What does the Bible say about this?
1.The Curse of Sin. Man was commanded not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and was told that the consequence of disobedience would be that he would surely die (Gen. 2:17). However, Satan lied and convinced Eve (and Adam) to eat the fruit anyway (Gen. 3:4). When the first man Adam sinned and fell into sin, it brought the curse of sin over all humanity. Everyone has been plagued with sin since the fall. Not only was man under the curse of sin, but the whole creation is also groaning under this curse (Rom. 8:19-21). Sin brought in suffering, sickness and death.  All suffering today either directly or indirectly exists therefore because of the fall of man into sin. Therefore, all of creation waits and longs to be rescued from sin (Rom. 8:19-21). This means it is not incorrect to say that we are all affected by the curse which was brought about by sin.
But the question is, do Christians face certain sufferings because of curses incurred by past indiscretions (either of themselves or of their ancestors)?
 2. A New Creation.As we seek to think this through, let’s start with a foundational question: Who is a Christian? A Christian is one who has put their trust in Christ, who has repented of their sins and has understood that apart from Christ there is no other way to be saved, that Christ is the only way. A Christian is one whom God has rescued from sin and death through the suffering and death that Christ endured on the cross.
Paul, writing to Christians in Rome, says “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit”(Rom. 8:1-4 ).
The first Adam brought sin into the world, while the Second Adam (Christ) overcame sin and death at the cross.
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God’s control of history ensures that everything happens by his design, but he does not plant evil thoughts and motives in human beings to carry such actions out. The story of Joseph in the book of Genesis is a perfect illustration of this maxim.

The Bible is crystal clear: God is sovereign over all his creatures. Everything that happens unfolds according to his plan, without exception.
If you’re encountering these ideas for the first time, you likely have a few questions, especially with regard to God’s sovereignty over evil. If God planned all things that ever come to pass, how is he not also the author of sin, seeing that sin is among all the things that take place in human history?
Questions like this are even more pertinent when we consider the severity of human suffering. How can a God of love allow the kind of suffering that we see in the world today? If he is truly in control of the world and has the power to stop wickedness and suffering, then why wouldn’t he?

In this addition to the Church Questions series, pastor Conrad Mbewe explains the Bible’s teaching on God’s sovereignty, addresses the common questions that it raises, and shows how it affects one’s outlook on salvation, suffering, prayer, and worship in the Christian life.

This second question has prompted many people to assume there are only two options: (1) if God is sovereign, then he could not possibly be holy and good; or (2) if God is holy and good, then he must not be completely sovereign.
Are either of those true? Most Christians know we should dismiss the first option out of hand. If the Bible is clear on anything, it’s clear on the holiness and goodness of God. But what about that second option? Are Satan and evil human actions simply outside of God’s control? Is God simply doing his best to hem evil in but occasionally failing to keep it at bay—just managing the whole affair to work for good after the fact?
If you’ve been tracking with all of the biblical passages we’ve been examining, then you’ll realize that the Bible never presents God as powerlessly subject to the decisions of his human creatures—simply responding to them as best he can. No, according to Scripture, God is absolutely sovereign over all the actions of his creatures, even their sinful ones. As Amos 3:6 says: “Is a trumpet blown in a city, and the people are not afraid? Does disaster come to a city, unless the Lord has done it?”
God brings disaster on a city, and yet Scripture maintains that he remains holy and good. His sovereignty doesn’t compromise his holiness, and his holiness doesn’t compromise his sovereignty. In fact, the biblical authors never even acknowledge any supposed tension between these two ideas. They simply reveal that God is sovereign, holy, and good.
Let’s look at how Scripture affirms both ideas: first, God is sovereign over evil; and second, how he remains holy and righteous.
1. God is sovereign over evil.
The Bible teaches that God sometimes hardens human hearts resulting in people doing moral evil. For instance, God said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go” (Ex. 4:21). God did the same to Sihon, king of Heshbon, in Deuteronomy 2:30: “But Sihon the king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for the Lord your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might give him into your hand, as he is this day.” Israel’s experiences in Egypt and on the road to Canaan, their cruel oppression by Pharaoh and the resistance they met from the Canaanites, ultimately came from God’s sovereign hand.
We see this same point taught not only in the books of Moses but in the Psalms as well. The psalmists referred to the way God’s people suffered in Egypt as something that God planned and carried out. “He turned [the Egyptians’] hearts to hate his people, to deal craftily with his servants” (Ps. 105:25). As I’ve already pointed out, perhaps the greatest display of God’s sovereignty over human sin was the events surrounding the arrest, trial, and crucifixion of his Son. Remember the prayer of the apostles in Acts 4? “This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men” (Acts 2:23).
2. God is sovereign over evil but is not the author of evil.
At the same time, Scripture is clear that God cannot and does not commit sin.
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