Whenever genuine revival breaks out, you not only have massive salvation of souls accompanied by the demonstration of God’s power, but the pretenders are also exposed for who they are. The revival fire that was lit in Jerusalem was carried to Samaria by Philip. A man by name Simon who had taken the city by surprise through his magical arts also pretended to have embraced Christ. However, when Peter came to the city for follow-up and laid hands on the converts to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, the sorcerer wanted to buy the same gift. His attempt to make the gift of God a piece of merchandise received a stern rebuke by Peter.

Any gift of God, be it singing or preaching, vision or prophecy, that we deploy as a way of making money makes us sorcerers of some sort.

Merchandising the gift of God can come in some other subtle ways. Consider a 39-year old Columbian woman by name Martha. The woman who hailed from Medellin has given birth to 19 children and expecting the 20th one. She pledged never to stop having children until her womb can no longer carry a baby. Strangely, the children belong to different men. She sees siring children as business. Hear her: “I see being a mom like a business, practically.” Continuing she said, “The truth is, as the government helps me for each child, I receive a little money for each one”. For her eldest child, she receives $76 per month, and $30.50 each for her younger children. Every month, she receives in total $510 from the Colombian government and she relies on local church and neighbours for further support to take care. Children are described as God’s heritage. To turn them to money-making venture is abhorrent. Any gift of God, be it singing or preaching, vision or prophecy, that we deploy as a way of making money makes us sorcerers of some sort.