THE DAY THE UGANDA MEDIA CONFRONTED THE ROTTEN PROSPERITY GOSPEL IN UGANDA

Prosperity and the gospel


http://www.sundayvision.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=7&newsCategoryId=525&newsId=577140


The Sunday Vision undercover report on prosperity preachers has ignited a debate about the authenticity of the prosperity gospel. Moses Mulondo sought out the views of Francis Katongole, a prominent prosperity preacher, and Alex Mitala, the chairman of the National Fellowship of Born Again Pentecostal Churches...


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Apostle Francis Katongole
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Is the prosperity gospel in line with the Gospel?

If the prosperity gospel is removed from salvation, then Jesus’ coming was in vain. Salvation is not only about one thing: it includes holiness, healing, faith, hope, and prosperity as well.

In Galatians 1:8, St. Paul tells the Galatians that if anyone preaches a gospel different from the one that he preached to them, should be cursed.

Paul was not referring to the prosperity gospel. This is because Paul himself was a preacher of the prosperity gospel. Read 2 Corinthians 8:9: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.”

Apostle Alex Mitala recently advised Christians to run away from a church where a different gospel overshadows the gospel of repentance. What is your take on that?

Well, when what is preached overshadows the repentance gospel, it doesn’t mean that what is being preached is wrong. That doesn’t remove the truth. That doesn’t mean it should not be preached. All we need is to balance the different gospels preached. You have to preach about holiness, faith, healing and money. You get it, sow it and keep some.

What is repentance? I think repentance should be preached to the non-believers. Do you think people come to church to repent? Do you think we always have to be preaching repentance in the church to people who repented? The answer is no. If the dominant gospel preached in the church is of repentance, that means we are not yet saved.

But 1John 1:8 says: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”

That means whether you are a pastor or an apostle we all sin somewhere somehow. What about that? I think the kind of repentance talked about in that scripture is that you don’t have to judge others, while thinking you are so holy.

So do you mean there are some people in the church who have reached a level where they no longer need repentance?

No. If the need of a person is repentance and yet there is no repentance gospel in the church, one is free to leave the church.

What did Jesus mean when he said: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and the rest shall be added unto you”?


The Kingdom of God is not only about holy living. It embraces a lot of things including the material wellbeing of believers. Seeking his kingdom, therefore, means seeking all the knowledge about his kingdom, including the prosperity knowledge. It is through the preaching of the gospel of prosperity that a person acquires the knowledge that will lead him to a prosperous life.

So if you are putting material things in the bracket of the Kingdom of God, what then is in the category of the rest that shall be added unto us?


The answer to that is simple. Once you have acquired the knowledge about how to become rich through the prosperity gospel, then afterwards riches will come to you if you have put that knowledge in practice. The kingdom is a package.
The gospel of repentance should be preached everywhere, but for those who are already saved, they need more than a repentance gospel. They need the gospel of hope, faith, healing, and prosperity as well. It is the combination of all these that makes up the salvation that Jesus brought.

If a person sows, gives, and tithes but when he or she is still walking under sin, will that person reap?

Instead it is an abomination and a sin for a person who is still a sinner to give and tithe. God is holy and looks at the purity of the hearts of those that give. He doesn’t reward those with impure hearts.

Is it true that the more money one sows in the church the more one prospers, as some prosperity gospel preachers say?

It is true. But it is matter of time. Some reap soon, others take longer. It is God, to whom the gifts are given, who decides the reaping time. In Luke 6 Jesus said, “Give and it shall be given back to you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your lap. Another scripture in 2 Corinthians 9:6 says: “He who sows sparingly shall reap also sparingly and he who sows plentifully shall reap plentifully.

But there are many people who become rich without sowing.

That’s true. Actually there are three major ways of getting rich: working, begging, and stealing. You can get rich in any way, but once you are a child of God who has been washed by the blood of Jesus, God asks you to give to Him back part of your wealth. If you fail to do that, then there is a problem between you and your Maker. You are expected to use your money for the work of God and through that God, blesses you.


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Apostle Alex Mitala
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Is the prosperity gospel the Gospel of Jesus?

First of all, people need to understand that there is nothing called the prosperity gospel. That description is a creation of the media and other misinformed people.
As a theologian, I know that the Gospel of Jesus is one but with different components or ingredients. It would be a serious mistake if I said sowing and giving offerings are not biblical. The truth is that they are components of the Gospel of Jesus. The mistake only comes in emphasising a particular component of the Gospel.

Does that mean that you believe in the teaching: The more you sow in a church the more you will reap?


The Bible doesn’t restrict sowing to the Church. That is the major thing people need to know. While the tithes and offerings are restricted to the Church, giving or sowing is not restricted to the Church.
You can sow outside the Church by feeding the hungry, helping needy people like orphans and widows, and in many other ways as you please. The Bible says God will reward you for that.

What is your interpretation of the scripture: “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

To seek the kingdom of God is to do godly acts that propel you towards becoming a new creature that is in the nature of God. Jesus was mainly referring to nonbelievers who had not yet accepted him as their personal saviour. But after one has embraced the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, then all the benefits that are supposed to be enjoyed by the children of the kingdom come to them.

Is seeking riches part of seeking the kingdom of God?

Riches, cars, marriage, etc, are in the category of the rest, which have to be added unto us afterwards. It is God’s desire that your life is transformed before you can get all these things. That is because if you are not transformed you cannot be a good steward of these things. Even marriage cannot stand the storms of life if the marriage partners don’t have the character of Jesus Christ.

Many churches teach more on wealth than holiness. Is that okay?

It is not okay. The foundation of Christianity is the gospel of holiness. However, my message on this goes to all religions. I warn anyone who claims to be following Jesus Christ: If there is no move in your church to abandon our sinful nature, then run away from it. You can only claim to be a child of God if your deeds are godly.
In Romans 6, the Bible says the Kingdom of God is about holy living. That is what it means to be born again. And that is what Jesus meant when he said: “By their fruits you shall know them.

The media leaves out the positive news — like stories about people who were drunkards, prostitutes and witchdoctors, but who have changed their lifestyles after getting saved. When a mulokole steals it is news, but when a Catholic or Muslim steals, it is not news.

You are the leader of born-again churches in Uganda. What are you planning to do to counter the acts of pastors robbing their flock?

That is a common mistake the media makes. I am not the leader of all born-again churches. There are many umbrella organisations for balokole. I only lead one of them, called the National Fellowship of Born Again Pentecostal Churches. There are others like the Evangelical Fellowship. It doesn’t mean those who don’t belong to my organisation are not born-again Christians, and there are also many churches that don’t belong anywhere.

Pastors of such churches act independently for fear of checks and balances from the codes of conduct of the existing umbrella organisations. It is in that category that you get many churches like that of William Muwanguzi in Namulanda.

What you have said seems to give a picture of a church that is segmented. Don’t you think there is need for unity to bring all these churches under one leadership?

The thinking that churches are segmented is your assumption. The purpose of the umbrella groups I have talked about is for checks and balances, not leadership. Pentecostals don’t operate like the Catholics, who are under the leadership of one Pope.

We reserve that glory for Jesus Christ as the leader of the Church, because that is what the Bible teaches us.

For instance, the Anglican Church, which is under the leadership of the Archbishop of Canterbury, is currently grappling with the problem of gay bishops. Spiritual leadership is therefore not the problem.

What should be the way forward for the mushrooming fake churches you have talked about?

We have come up with a resolution requesting the Government to formulate an Act of Parliament regulating and guiding all religious denominations in the country. The act of registering churches or mosques as NGOs and companies should also stop.
Registration of churches should be removed from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the Ministry of Ethics and Integrity. In this ministry, there is need to establish a strict religious affairs department to monitor religious activities in the country.
Otherwise, our people will continue to fall prey to the predatory hands of these ill-intentioned churches similar to that of Joseph Kibwetere in Kanungu. But of course these regulations should not deprive people of their freedom of worship.

Published on: Saturday, 21st July, 2007