In 2007 American Evangelical Christian Poets, Toby Mac and Kirk Franklin produced a ‘popular’ song titled ‘I don’t want to gain the whole world and lose my soul’ that appeared on the Toby Mac album ‘Portable Sounds – 2007’. As if to be prophetic, the song was produced before the current global economic crisis.
Yet sometimes the undercurrents of a society are best revealed by their own poets as was the case when Paul the apostle wrote to Titus and quoted one of the poets of Crete who best described the society of Crete…
Titus 1:12-13
(12) One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.
(13) This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;
The modern day poets in Evangelical America, Toby Mac and Kirk Franklin revealed the undercurrents in Evangelical America especially among the younger generation nauseated about an empty false gospel of materialism, prosperity, and riches at the expense of eternal life.
Yet even more revealing was that audience to which the song was mainly addressed, being the American Christian audience. An audience that was for years told that prosperity, materialism, money, wealth, and riches were a sign of The Lord’s Favor.
But the age group of these two poets even showed something more informative; a remnant of young Christians in the Western World begun to re-search for purpose of life in face of eternity and were fed up with the emptiness that came with the prosperity gospel and the pursuit of riches that Pastors in the Prosperity Movement taught. Like the young rich ruler, they wrestle with the idea of following after riches or Jesus Christ…
Luke 18:18-24
(18) And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
(19) And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.
(20) Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor thy father and thy mother.
(21) And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.
(22) Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.
(23) And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.
(24) And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
The song was an indictment against the message of Prosperity and materialism that such gospel makes you ‘gain the whole world’ yet you end up losing your soul to hell. The song revealed the tiredness, emptiness, agony, and pain of a soul that is promised riches, materialism, and prosperity in the Westernized Church, only to realize that the end of such pursuits is the lose of one’s soul.
James 1:9-11Even more traumatizing and haunting to the prosperity movement preachers of the westernized Church are the words of Jesus Christ warning that would it profit for a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul. All that prosperity preachers have cared about is how to acquire the best car, most expensive house, Gulf Stream Jets, designer clothes, celebrity status, and worldwide media attention.
(9) Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:
(10) But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.
(11) For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.
In the Prosperity Movement, there is no difference between a CEO on Wall Street and a Preacher on ‘Church Street’. The only difference is that the Preacher on ‘Church Street’ is working hard to become another CEO on Wall Street.
The Toby Mac and Kirk Franklin song was a negation and a rebuke against the Preachers of materialism in America that they are detached from the Bible and the teachings and sayings of Jesus Christ. It is like a Father telling his son that it is OK to steal and rob banks, yet one day the son comes and tells the day that it is against the Law to steal, that they would rather work with their own hands than spend life in jail.
The song showed another generation that seemed to break away from the worldly philosophies inside Christendom and instead questioned the status quo. The words of Jesus Christ seemed more valuable and real rather than the desire for more wealth. What the Prosperity Preachers worked for years to take away from them, The Lord Jesus Christ through His words, sayings and teachings, restored to His Bride.
Matthew 16:26The song was a testament to the Prosperity Movement in America that they had confused a whole generation, hypnotized them, bamboozled them, and promised them hot air – life in a bubble. Rather than focus on Jesus Christ and carrying our cross and following Him, the young generation was told and deceived into believing that all that there is to salvation is riches and wealth.
(26) For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
A whole generation was lead to believe that it is OK to ‘Love Money’ and Pursue Money; therefore Sound Doctrine was cast aside. The Teachings of Jesus Christ were thrown out of the Church and to this day many preachers are still bent on pursuing materialism.
1 Timothy 6:9-11Yet what the poets Toby Mac and Kirk Franklin revealed in their song was a group of Christians who have only found emptiness and a life without eternity in the pursuit of riches, wealth, and material gain…a testament to what King Solomon experienced.
(9) But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
(10) For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
(11) But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
Ecclesiastes 2:3-11However, a group of remnant Christians seeks and long rather for righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness, and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ detached from materialism.
(3) I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.
(4) I made me great works; I built me houses; I planted me vineyards:
(5) I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits:
(6) I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees:
(7) I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me:
(8) I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I got me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts.
(9) So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.
(10) And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labor: and this was my portion of all my labor.
(11) Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.
Despite the scandals that rocked and still rock the prosperity movement from the 1990s to date, there has been little remorse or change of course with some prosperity teachers. All goes on the same as if nothing much has changed.
The Current Global Economic Crisis has not even changed some prosperity preachers who without shame are going on ahead to take the little money that the congregants have to continue sustaining their flamboyant lifestyles. Yet at the same time as the poets sang that they did not want to gain the whole world and lose their souls, many who truly love Jesus Christ are leaving in large numbers the teachings of the Prosperity Movement.
The song revealed a separation going on in Christendom between those who love Jesus Christ and those who simply follow Him to gain wealth. The song truly revealed an undercurrent in Christendom, a separation of the sheep from the goats going on right now in these last days.
However, The Lord is gracious and merciful, willing that all men would be saved if possible. The Lord in His grace has allowed the current global economic crisis to shake the foundations of society so as to reveal the hearts of men and give them a choice. It is time that preachers and Christians in Christendom decide if to follow Jesus Christ with all their hearts or follow after the fading and evaporating riches of this decaying world.
But the Prosperity Movement was largely dependent on Wall Street. If the believers had good paying jobs and gave a ‘big’ tithe and offering, then the Prosperity preacher was able to support a life of excess and pomposity. Preachers sold books and turned the gospel into consumerism, take the instance of self-help books by Joyce Meyers, Joel Osteen, and of course Tim LaHaye’s Left Behind Series.
However with the burst of the economic bubble, Wall Street unable to sustain excess and greed, the day of reckoning has finally come to America’s Christian Prosperity Movement. Yet still many Christians and prosperity gospel preachers are still living in a bubble oblivious to the fact that the bubble is burst.
Even though some in the Prosperity Movement are in denial and self deception, reality is hitting home. Many Mega churches are being foreclosed and many Churches will have to declare bankruptcy and liquidate property in the near future. Christians who borrowed huge sums of money in order to buy million dollar homes in expensive neighborhood by “faith” are finding it that “Faith” alone is not enough for the banks not to kick them out of their “Faith Homes”.
Soon Preachers like Creflo Dollar, Benny Hinn, and others will have to follow in the footsteps of other Wall Street CEOs – sell off the Gulf Stream Jets and fly couch on a low cost airline.
The days of Christian excess and overindulgence are over. The Prosperity Gospel Movement in Christendom was built largely on the well being of Wall Street and it is one reason why hundreds of Mega Churches took out multi million dollar loans from banks to finance their Mega Church projects.
With thousands of believers losing their jobs, it means that the tithes and offerings have to decrease and thus foreclosures and bankruptcies. The end of the Prosperity Gospel Era has come. The end of Christian greed has finally come.
Regardless of if the economy rebounds and picks up again, the levels of excess and self indulgence that Wall Street provided are over and will not return, at least not to the Westernized Church.
Yet even in this global economic crisis, The Lord is so merciful and gracious that through providence, He is allowing this crisis to keep His Children from being stained and adulterated by the world and its fading riches.
James 4:1-5Interesting is that the Poets Toby Mac and Kirk Franklin in their song, ‘I don’t want to win the whole world and lose my soul’ mention in a question format, “you a pimp, hustler?” words used to describe prostitutes, adulterers, and fornicators.
(1) From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
(2) Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
(3) Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
(4) Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
(5) Do ye think that the Scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
Yet James tells Christian in his letter that friendship with the world is enmity with God and those who engage in such are adulterers and adulteresses. What the prosperity gospel did was to turn Christians into friends of the world and thus being enemies of God and engaging in spiritual adultery.
I am in no way advocating asceticism were one rejects every good thing as evil and basically lives a life rejecting any form of material provision. Our attitude should that we live a life were we totally trust The Lord for our provision and should The Lord provide more than we need, then it is a call for us to begin thinking about others and caring and ministering to the needs of other saints.
I always tell saints and preachers in Africa that if The Lord provides more than you need or more than your NEED then it is a call that whatever excess you have you use to minister to the needs of the other saints.
Yes, there will be a new generation of saints that The Lord will surely bless with material goods in these last days but they will not use the goods they have for pomp, self-indulgence, haughtiness, arrogance, boastfulness, and pride but rather they will be a humble people, unknown and uncelebrated by the world yet they will use their resources in all humility to serve and minister to the saints in the Body of Christ so as to fully proclaim The Gospel of Jesus Christ.
1 Timothy 6:17-19The days of the Creflo Dollars, Benny Hinn, Joyce Meyer, and all other ‘name and pomp’ preachers in the Prosperity Movement are over; for their foundation was one built on the sinking sand of Wall Street and not Jesus Christ.
(17) Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded; nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;
(18) That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate;
(19) Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life
The current Global Economic Crisis is certainly a chastisement at least to the Church that we place not our trust in the uncertain riches of the world but in Jesus Christ. This is a chastisement and a rebuke that we should heed and not reject.
Revelation 3:17-19
(17) Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
(18) I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see.
(19) As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
God Bless You
In Christ Jesus
Kato Mivule
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"Lose My Soul" - Toby Mac, Kirk Franklin, and Mandisa
"Man I wanna tell ya'll something man"
"Man I'm not gonna let these material things get in my way ya'll"
"I'm trying to get somewhere"
"I'm trying to get somewhere that's real and pure and true and eternal"
"Toby can you do it yo boy"
"Let's go"
Father God, I am clay in your hands
Help me to stay that way through all life's demands
‘Cause they chip and they nag and they pull at me
And every little thing I make up my mind to be
Like I'm gonna be a daddy whose in the mix
And I'm gonna be a husband who stays legit
And I pray that I'm an artist who rises above
the road that is wide and filled with self love
Everything that I see draws me
Though it's only in You that I can truly see
that its a feast for the eyes - a low blow to purpose
And I'm a little kid at a three ring circus
I don't want to gain the whole world and lose my soul
Don't wanna walk away let me hear the people say
(I like that there)
I don't want to gain the whole world and lose my soul
Don't wanna walk away let me hear the people say
"Mr. Franklin, step up to the mic sir."
"Check it out."
The paparazzi flashes and that they think that it's you
But they don't know that who you are is not what you do
True, we get it twisted when we peak at the charts
Yo before we part from the start where's your heart?
You a pimp, hustler?
Tell me what's your title
America has no more stars now we call them idols
You sit idle
While we teach prosperity
The first thing to prosper should be inside of me
We're free!
Not because of 22's on the range
But Christ came in range we said yes now we changed
Not the same even though I made a fall
Since I got that call no more Saul now I'm Paul
"Yup"
I don't want to gain the whole world and lose my soul
Don't wanna walk away (I like this!) let me hear the people say
I don't want to gain the whole world and lose my soul
Don't wanna walk away let me hear the people say
Don't wanna walk away, walk away, walk away
"Mandisa come on!"
How do I sense the tide that's rising?
De-sensitizing me from living in light of eternity, eternity
(Watch me now)
How do I sense the tide that's rising?
(The tide is rising ya'll)
It's hypnotizing me from living in light of eternity, tell me
How do I sense the tide that's rising?
De-sensitizing me (It's makin' me drown) from living in light
Livin' in light of eternity
Lord what we gonna do?
We're relyin' on you
All eyes are on you Lord
All eyes are on you
All eyes are on you Jesus
I don't wanna gain the whole world and lose my soul
Light a candle ya'll!
Lift it high ya'll, come on!
I don't wanna gain the whole world and lose my soul
"No profit in gainin' the whole word and lose your soul, Yes sir"
I don't wanna gain the whole world and lose my soul
"Every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess"
This is my honesty, father won't you cover me.
"Come on!"
I don't wanna gain the whole world and lose my soul
"Lift 'em up ya'll, left'em up!"
Don't wanna walk away, and all His people say
I don't wanna gain the whole world, and lose my soul
No I, don't wanna lose, I don't wanna lose my soul.
"Come on!"
Lord forgive us when we get consumed
By the things of this world that fight for our love
(Yes Lord) and our passion (Yes Lord)
As our eyes are open wide and on you (Talk to 'em)
Grant us the privilege of your world view
And may your kingdom be
What wakes us up, and lays us down
Hallelujah, hallelujah
(No, don't let me lose my soul)
*door opens* *broom sweeping*
"Hey excuse me. I'm lookin' for some dude named Toby?"
"Yah, last door on the left, you'll hear 'em."
"Thanks."
"No problem."
http://lyricwiki.org/TobyMac:Lose_My_Soul
