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When Power Borrows Jesus: A Trinity of Articles on Faith, Money, and False Prophets

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When Power Borrows Jesus: How Churches and Nonprofits Turn Christ Into a Brand

For two thousand years, the people of God have wrestled with a recurring temptation: the urge to use Jesus not as Lord, but as leverage. The early church confronted it in the Roman Empire. Medieval Europe baptized it in political power. Modern America has perfected it through branding, fundraising, and political mobilization.

Today, churches, nonprofits, and political movements alike invoke Jesus to sanctify their mission. But when the name of Christ becomes a marketing tool, Scripture calls that false prophecy.

This is not about partisan preference. It is about biblical integrity.

Jesus warned that false prophets would come “in sheep’s clothing” while serving their own interests (Matthew 7:15). He condemned religious leaders who used God’s name to gain wealth, status, and political influence. He overturned the tables of those who commercialized faith.

When any institution—church, nonprofit, or political machine—uses Jesus as a brand asset, Christians must test the fruit.

The Larger Problem: When Institutions Use Jesus for Influence

Across the American landscape, Jesus is routinely deployed as a tool for:

  • Fundraising
  • Political mobilization
  • Brand identity
  • Cultural authority

Churches do it. Nonprofits do it. Political movements do it. And the results are often the same: Jesus becomes a mascot for earthly power rather than the crucified Lord who calls His followers to humility, repentance, and enemy‑love.

The scale is unprecedented. Never before have so many institutions used the name of Jesus to build platforms, raise money, and mobilize political identity. And never before has the gap between His teachings and their messaging been so stark.

Serving Two Masters: Jesus’ Warning About Money (ESV)

Jesus could not have been clearer about the spiritual danger of wealth and religious authority intertwining:

“No one can serve two masters… You cannot serve God and money.”

— Matthew 6:24, ESV

This is not a suggestion. It is a diagnostic.

Whenever religious institutions—whether megachurches, global denominations, or political nonprofits cloaked in Christian language—begin to accumulate wealth, power, and influence, Jesus tells us exactly what happens:

they will choose money over God.

And they will do it while insisting they are serving Him.

Defilement Comes From the Mouth — Jesus’ Diagnostic for Hypocrisy (ESV)

Jesus defined defilement not as ritual impurity, but as the overflow of the heart expressed through speech:

“It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person,

but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”

— Matthew 15:11, ESV

“What comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.”

— Matthew 15:18, ESV

In other words:

Defilement is revealed by speech.

Hypocrisy is revealed by rhetoric.

False prophecy is revealed by messaging.

This is why Christians must pay attention not only to what institutions claim, but to what they say — their slogans, their branding, their political rhetoric, their fundraising appeals, their public statements.

Because Jesus told us plainly:

If the mouth is corrupt, the heart is corrupt.

Spiritual Blindness: When the Blind Lead the Blind

Jesus warned His disciples about leaders who claim spiritual authority but cannot see the truth themselves:

“If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

— Matthew 15:14, ESV

This is not merely a warning about misguided teachers — it is a diagnosis of the human heart.

Scripture teaches that when people choose deception, God eventually allows them to remain in the blindness they prefer. Paul describes this soberly: God “gave them up” to the desires they insisted upon (Romans 1:24–28).

Blindness becomes judgment.

Not because God delights in it, but because people refuse the light.

This theme is explored more deeply in the Hippocratic Party article:

https://hippocraticparty.org/whoever-believes (hippocraticparty.org in Bing)

where the danger of self‑chosen blindness — and the tragic comfort of following blind guides — is laid bare.

When institutions use Jesus as a brand rather than a Lord, they do not lead people into the light.

They lead them into the pit.

The Transparency Gap: Churches vs. Nonprofits

Churches are the least financially transparent institutions in the entire nonprofit sector.

Under federal law (IRC §6033), churches are exempt from filing Form 990, the public document that discloses:

  • Executive salaries
  • Travel perks
  • Related‑party transactions
  • Revenue sources
  • Lobbying expenditures
  • Vendor payments

This means:

  • Lakewood Church, the largest church 501(c)(3) in the country, does not disclose a single dollar of compensation for Joel Osteen or any staff member.
  • No one outside the church leadership knows the exact financial structure.
  • No IRS document exists showing salaries, bonuses, or travel benefits.

Meanwhile, political nonprofits must disclose everything.

This creates a strange moral landscape:

The institutions most likely to invoke Jesus are the least accountable for how they steward money in His name.

Beyond Lakewood: The Immeasurable Wealth of the Roman Catholic Church

If Lakewood is opaque, the global Roman Catholic Church is a financial black box on a scale unmatched in human history.

Its worldwide wealth includes:

  • Vast real‑estate holdings
  • Priceless art collections
  • Global investment portfolios
  • Centuries‑old endowments
  • Untold billions in land, institutions, and assets

No unified financial statement exists. No global Form 990. No consolidated disclosure.

This is not an accusation—it is a reality.

And it underscores the central problem:

The institutions most likely to invoke Jesus are the least accountable for how they steward money in His name.

The Biblical Standard: Humility, Stewardship, and Light

Scripture does not forbid compensation. “The laborer deserves his wages.” But biblical leadership is marked by:

  • Humility
  • Sacrifice
  • Accountability
  • Stewardship
  • Service rather than status

Jesus modeled downward mobility, not upward compensation. Paul refused financial privileges to avoid the appearance of exploitation. Early church leaders shared resources rather than accumulating them.

The problem is not wealth.

The problem is using Jesus to justify it.

When institutions invoke Christ’s name while hiding their finances, Scripture calls that hypocrisy.

And hypocrisy is the soil where false prophets grow.

A Call to Discernment

Scripture commands believers to “test everything; hold fast what is good.”

Jesus warned that wolves disguise themselves as sheep.

And Paul taught that the Holy Spirit gives every believer the gift of discernment — the ability to distinguish truth from deception, righteousness from manipulation, the voice of Christ from the voice of false prophets.

The church must reclaim that gift.

Because the wolves are no longer hiding in the forest.

They are on stage, under lights, holding microphones, and selling Jesus as a brand.