It is the Americans!
Yes, it is always the Americans. Blazing a trail in every field, including evangelism. You have to applaud them for figuring out how to monetize everything, not excluding Bernie Sanders’ glum look with mittens and all (it must be added though that, that money went for a good cause) at President Biden’s inauguration. They must take credit for showing the way to us Indians that the Gospel also is fertile ground to make a quick buck.
Duraisamy Geoffery Samuel Dhinakaran in all probability had a genuine soul transforming experience back in early 1960s when he first tasted the love of Jesus and understood what it meant to receive salvation through His precious blood shed on the cross. No doubt it was a move of commitment and dedication when he quit his job in the State Bank of India to found “Jesus Calls” – a ministry with a focus on spreading the love of Jesus and reflecting His compassion to the down and out. Dhinakaran also became a prayer warrior and took to his knees in interceding for the health of those suffering from a variety of diseases.
(credit: youtube.com)The megaphone of his message in the early years was the radio which was replaced by the television when the technology emerged in India. The notion that evangelization should follow the model Jesus set out in Luke chapter 10, was soon discarded when his mass appeal multiplied. Jesus’s command to ” carry neither purse, nor scrip”(Luke 10:4) was quietly given up; the collection of offering from the thronging crowds looking for physical healing, became a top priority. The fact that many people came for the soul stirring songs and the prayer of compassion rather than the proclamation of the Gospel in the sermon that followed, was carefully factored in the proceedings; the collection was strategically arranged well before the message in order to ensure the widest coverage.
Though you may smile at the way in which it was cleverly managed, you really can’t find too much fault with that, for Jesus Himself said the “the worker deserves his wages” (Luke 10:7). As usual Paul goes further and elaborates on this principle quoting from the Old Testament “Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn” (1 Timothy 5;18). Demands were made as to the number of people expected to attend, the kind and wattage of lights, the publicity posters, collection expected, stage arrangements etc., etc, for any meeting in which Mr.Dhinakaran was to participate; but you may be disposed to overlook these as the zealous stipulations of the reconnaissance team; after all he was a big ticket and growing bigger by the day.
(credit: missionariesoftheworld.org)
While the above method of money collection differed considerably from the blatant manner in which the American tele-evangelists went about this task – waving dollar bills and promising multiple returns – the insidious American influence of was slowly but definitely creeping in.
The thirst of the Indian populace -of any religion – for divine blessing was soon exploited with subtle schemes designed to gradually milk their money. It is hard to ignore the similarity with the medieval Catholic practice of selling “indulgences” for a price – something which Martin Luther fought tooth and nail.
Among the many plans carefully crafted to cater to the needs of people in every conceivable situation, such as Job Blessing Plan, Hope & Healing Wall, Young Partner Plan, Family Blessing Plan and Business Blessing Plan, to my mind the Young Partner Plan stands out; it is brilliant in its simplicity. The Jesus Calls website announces that ” this partner plan is specifically for children/grandchildren from birth to age 25. Intercessors at Jesus Calls Prayer Towers pray fervently for all our Young Partners daily.”
And what do they pray for?
- · Protection from evil (Psalm 121:7)
- · Divine Wisdom (James 1:5,17)
- · Prosperity in life (Psalm 115:14)
The site goes on: “The faithful support of our Young Partners allows Jesus Calls Ministry to continue to spread the love of Jesus Christ around the world. All of the generous donations help fund Prayer Festivals, Prayer Towers, Prayer Intercessors, and Humanitarian Outreach Programs. “For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” (Matthew 25:29)
“We stand with all our Young Partners in prayer for success, sustenance, and stability in every aspect of life. We believe that the Lord`s marvelous works shall be manifested and His mighty hands shall surely prosper all that you do in a very special way. Those who are faithful in what they are given will surely be abundantly blessed by the Lord.”
“As A Young Partner You Will Receive
- · A certificate with their photo and a promise verse.
- · Daily prayer from the Dhinakaran Family.
- · Daily prayer from intercessors.
- · Meet and pray with the Dhinakaran’s in partner meetings.
- · Contact the Dhinakarans in writing during crucial time.
- · Receive special blessing and promise verse on birthdays.
You or your parent can consider your partnership to Young Partner plan for a minimum donation of $300.”
I don’t quite know what the corresponding figure mentioned in Indian Rupees is, but I doubt it will be unaffordable to most middle class families. Now tell me what mother who grew up in Sunday School and has seen the wonderful picture of Jesus blessing little children, does not want the same for her children?
(credit: pinterest.com.au)And here is somebody promising you that blessing. How can you not avail it? How can you take the chance that your child will miss out on blessing accruing to kids in Jones’s house next door? Surely you want your child to do well in school. You want her to be healthy and free from disease. You want her to finish with flying colours so admission to a college of choice won’t be a problem. Better to enroll her.
Given the middle class mentality in Indian households, every mother and her neighbour – whether Christian or not – will think the same way. And therein lies the key to the Plan’s overwhelming success. There are glowing testimonies of God’s abundant blessing recounted by these children covered by the Plan and I am sure they are all being sincere and truthful. For, I do not doubt that prayers go up from the Prayer Towers and the Dhinakaran family, but more than that, you can be sure that the mothers don’t just leave it to others. They pray and wherever possible include the child, and it is no surprise that God sees from heaven, takes note and blesses the child (Genesis 16:13). It is another matter where the credit goes!
It would have been nice if the organization had also indicated “Saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ” in the prayer points for the young partners. Indeed, critics had always held that Jesus Calls pointedly omits to emphasize the fact that ” He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed”(Isaiah 53:5) to the same degree as it spoke of the love, compassion and forgiveness available through Christ. Yes, it is “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son (that) cleanses us from all sin. … (1 John 1:7). Many well meaning Christ followers also opined that the evil of sin was swept under the carpet and never condemned.
But still, D.G.S.Dhinakaran was the biggest star in the evangelical firmament of Tamil Nadu after Paulaseer Lawry and it is an irrefutable fact that many, many people found salvation in Christ though his ministry. And Mr.Dhinakaran was certainly empowered of God to carry out acts of healing and call out to individuals (in a huge crowd) he never knew to start following the Master.
It is to their credit that the Dhinakarans as a family overcame the terrible blow of their daughter’s death in a tragic road accident. Far from causing them to blame God, this tragedy drew the family together and they continued to serve Him. No doubt this resilience resonated with the public which became even more attentive to “Jesus Calls”.
I believe Dhinakaran spent many hours in personal prayer in the early days of his ministry. He claimed he was rewarded with extra ordinary heavenly revelations during these times. At one time he said that angel Gabriel’s wings grazed against him, something that bemused even a man like Benny Hinn no mean miracle crusader himself.
But somewhere along the way the adulation seems to have gotten to Mr.Dhinakaran. Political parties, always conscious of people power, perceived him as an influencer. Leaders of the land began to acknowledge his growing prominence. And it was not long before he thought it fit to leverage his stock in high places and establish an educational institution. Thus was born the Karunya (Deemed) University modeled after the Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, OK, U.S.A.
(credit: shiksha.com)In fact the influence of American evangelists such as Oral Roberts became more and more perceivable in Dhinakaran’s ministry and it was not long before that he began to smell money. I suspect he got this wonderful idea of selling blessings for a price in this manner. Karunya University, for all its educational rigour and the assemblage of academicians of excellence administering it, also served as a legitimate channel of resource mobilization in the blighted climate of “buying admission” prevalent in Tamil Nadu. Many political leaders of disparate hues were appeased in getting the necessary permits for this institution which in time became the ‘go to’ place for the rich and the powerful.
So much so that Dhinakaran’s death in the year 2008 became a public event and in a nod to his popularity the stretch of road where his headquarters stood in Chennai was named after him. By this time the organization was well established and his son Paul proved a worthy successor in emulating his father’s ways and donned the mantle with finesse and aplomb. In time he acquired the status of some sort of political seer and even met Prime Minister Modi and predicted his victory in the upcoming elections. What is more in earlier times, the father and son were regarded as the representatives of Christianity as a religion in India and were called for consultations by the powers that be. Thus it was that the duo met with the Kanchi Sankaracharya in Delhi at one time. Nothing wrong with that of course but it was reported that the Dhinakarans presented the Seer with some ornaments of Hindu religious significance – an act that was seen as an abject compromise of their faith in the Lord Jesus.
And so on and so forth. At some point the Dhinakaran family shifted to North America but unfortunately it cannot be said that they lived happily ever after. Whoever was holding up the long arm of Law in India on their behalf could not do so any longer. I would say their failure was basically not paying sufficient heed to the biblical injunction: “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal”. Instead they succumbed to the temptation of laying up for themselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal” (Matthew 6:20-21).
To say nothing about unearthing by Income Tax inspectors! (https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/it-raids-on-paul-dhinakaran-expose-120-crore-of-unaccounted-income/article33641163.ece)
Maybe they forgot Jesus’s words in Matthew 6:24 that “You cannot serve God and mammon”.
__________________________________