Stop using religion for personal gain

PASTORS should act as shepherds caring for the flock.
This includes teaching the congregation.
Pastors are the ones who watch over the spiritual needs of the congregation.
They should be experienced in their faith, decision-makers and managers of church affairs.
The word “pastor” is derived from a Latin word meaning shepherd.
A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people.
Less common are preachers who preach on the street or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach components such as a moral or social world view or philosophy.
Most members of the Christian clergy and many lay people have been preachers to the unconverted.
That is the difference between being evangelical and being charismatic. Is it evangelical that pertains to the gospel of the Christian new testament while the charismatic is of, related to, or having charisma, which is the exercise of a compelling charm that inspires devotion in others relating to the movement in the Christian church?
Some opportunists turn to take advantage of religion.
These people are usually spiritual opportunists.
Spiritual opportunism refers to the exploitation of spiritual ideas for personal gain, partisan interests or selfish motives.
Usually, the implication is that doing so is unprincipled in some way, although it may cause no harm and involve no abuse.
Religion becomes a means to achieve something that is alien to it or things are projected into a religion that does not belong to them.
Any human being has at least some sort of spiritual sense developed through personal reflection or undeveloped but evident from lifestyle and communication, which defines human existence, the purpose of life, the meaning of the universe and one’s own place in it.
This belief system may or may not be expressed through the categories and concepts of religion; it could only be assumed, rather than explicit.
Whatever the case, such beliefs can be used in a way that they become a source of profit.
If a religious authority acquires influence over the hearts and minds of people who are believers in a religion and their force can tap into the most intimate and deepest-felt concerns of believers, it can gain immense power from that as well.
This power can be used in a self-interested manner, exploiting opportunities to benefit the position of the religious authority or its supporters in society.
This could be considered inconsistent with the real intentions of the religious belief or it might show a lack of respect for the spiritual autonomy of others.
The good faith of people is then taken advantage of in ways that involve some kind of deceit or some dubious, selfish motives. People tend to realise that they can use the Bible to make money and make many people go astray in their original belief in God.
They are wolves in a sheep coating.
People need to stop believing other people without consulting reliable references.
They don’t have to continue saying yes to everyone who tells them that they are the messengers of God.
They might be the messengers of Satan, the devil.
They might be the devil themselves.

Rodney Noruma