(A perspective on the faith of Bishop Edir Macedo, by Bishop Marcelo Crivella)

Faith, revolt and sacrifice are the essence of a life with God. The prophet Habakkuk showed us a great example of faith, when at that time, Jerusalem was surrounded by Nebuchadnezzar’s army and destruction was imminent. His book only has three chapters and begins with a question: Why?

Who hasn’t, at least once in their life, asked “why?” Why would a child be born with birth defects? Why would lightning strike and destroy a poor person’s home? Why would a stray bullet shot in a poor community kill an innocent child? Why?

While reflecting, Habakkuk received a brilliant and beautiful revelation deep in his heart that could only come from God: “The righteous will live by his faith.” What else could we possibly add to this?

In such an unfair world filled with so much injustice, only faith can guarantee a fulfilled life. Without it, we are overcome by worries and fears; we become doubtful, flavorless, neither hot nor cold, a leaf carried by the wind; the living dead.

Faith naturally sparks a revolt against all these things, creates a sacrifice and ultimately acheives victory. This straight and narrow path is what God planned for the birth of the Universal Church.

As a young man Bishop Macedo attended an evangelical church on the south side of Rio de Janeiro for about 10 years. His desire was to preach, but the leaders didn’t feel that he had virtue or talent worth noticing. He wasn’t even given the opportunity to serve as an assistant. Ten years is not 10 days. Anyone else would have given up. Anyone else would have gotten discouraged, but he didn’t. Faith was responsible for that.

Moved by the desire to serve God, he and two friends went to another church in the suburbs. I was just a boy at the time but remember the new pastor evaluated them to be all on the same level. After some time, his two other friends were consecrated as pastors, but not him. Once more he was pushed aside, belittled and put down; again he faced new prejudices, discouragement and frustration. Again, anyone else would have felt discouraged. Anyone else would have given up.

One day, I was having lunch at my grandmother’s house when he came in. And let me stop here to modestly pay homage to that very special lady. She was an exceptional example of selflessness, devotion and love.

The bishop was stopping by to tell us that he was leaving his job to begin preaching the Gospel. By this time he was already married, had a daughter and his wife was expecting their second child. This was an extreme act of faith for someone who had been discredited by everyone. For a humble family like ours a government job like he had, guaranteed a life free from unemployment.

My grandmother simply pondered: “Don’t forget to pay your taxes to ensure your retirement fund when you get old.”

When I now hear the degrading and ridiculous insults, the hatred, the relentless hounding, the flood of name-calling, slander and defamations written with great conviction that his plan is to exploit the poor leaves me deeply bitter, because I know that such things are being published due to misguided opinions of the bishop and the church. Certainly, they know nothing about the Universal Church or who we are and where we came from.

It may have happened in one of our churches in Brazil, Africa, Europe, Asia or anywhere else in the world, that someone, sometime, placed a similar sacrifice on the altar but none greater than his. He gave everything he had. He gave his job without any guarantees, without any expectations, just faith.

A month later, his second daughter was born and he went to visit her in Iaserj hospital that morning. She was born with a cleft palate, and babies with this type of birth defect are also very thin, with dark circles around their eyes and facial deformities. There was an open wound in her mouth. She was missing a part of her lips and the roof of her mouth, making it impossible to breast or bottle-feed because she couldn’t produce suction to drink, causing her to often choke. It was days, months even years of terrible suffering.

On the way back, all the way from the Red Cross Square until Glory Square, with every step along Riachuelo Street there was were tears falling from his eyes. Like Habakkuk, I wondered why? Why would a poor yet faithful tither, at a crucial point in his life, after deciding to leave his family’s only source of income in order to preach the Word of God, be awarded this, the worst kind of punishment? I don’t know if there’s any greater pain than when a father enters the hospital nursery only to find out that his daughter is the only sick, frail, suffering and crying child, while all the other babies are so beautiful.

As usual, during crucial times, my family would gather at my grandmother’s house. He arrived in the afternoon. He was obviously sad, but he said two things that I will never forget. The first was: “I’m going to like her even more than the other one.”

The other one that he was referring to was his first daughter, a beautiful child. I don’t think that you can like one child more than the other but there was a deeper meaning to what he was saying. It was much more than a father just compensating, protecting or venting his pain.

Later, I realized that the essence of those words would be reflected in the formation and function of the Universal Church, which is more inclined to help the suffering, poor and needy. From there we begin looking for the lost souls who are at life’s crossroads, in the slums, the centers of witchcraft, in mental wards, entombed by addictions, amidst the destruction of broken homes. This is when the assembly halls, auditoriums and theaters began to fill with the sick, poor, unemployed, afflicted and possessed in search of relief and deliverance. The people that once walked in darkness began seeing the light.

The second thing he said was: “I’m not angry with God. I’m angry at the devil. Now, I’m definitely going to invade hell to rescue lost souls.”

It was no longer a doubtful young man that stood before us. It was then that a leader was born. It was also when a nation was born, able to face the greatest of challenges and virulent persecutions. A nation of quality and strength that won’t turn back, won’t bow down, won’t run away from the fight or fear sacrifice. A nation with their eyes set on God’s promises to reach their perspectives in the horizon of their destiny; determined, formed and sealed by faith in God. This is all because; during the hardest, cruelest, most difficult moment a righteous man lived by his faith!

The Universal Church didn’t rise from the determination of an assembly of illustrious men, or a group of executives or a notable foundation, nor was it subsidized, sponsored, paid for by government funds or a generous millionaire. This church is a simple, direct and faithful answer of a God who honors faith, revolt and sacrifice.

The phrase, “I’m not angry with God. I’m angry at the devil,” marks the uprising of faith. If he became angry at God, he would have been rebelling. The result would have been an ocean of failures, a Himalayan-sized frustration. Rebellious people blame God for life’s misfortunes. Rebelliousness is subtle and can be manifested in many different ways. Some rebellious people challenge God’s commandments by their disobedience to Him with sins and crimes. Others are cold and indifferent with the things of God, making their lives a huge waste of time and a sad story of mediocrity. There are also the Pharisees, they are the rebels within the church, who know the Word but don’t practice it.

Abraham was angry while he was wandering in the desert, waiting for the promise to arrive. However, he never rebelled. Moses felt a sense of revolt at seeing his people enslaved just like Joshua wanted to revolt when he found walls and giants in the Promised Land, but they were never rebellious. David became revolted with the affronts made by Goliath. Job, the most revolted of them all, at the height of his suffering cursed the day he was born, yet never rebelled. Even after all this time, he continues to be the most powerful example of what a man can endure and overcome when moved by faith. It was because of his sacrifice that God restored his fortunes sevenfold.

To live a righteous life doesn’t mean you must live in a convent, a monastery on top of a mountain or be an absolute saint. It is a life of faith, where you have to face the struggles of ordinary daily life. You’re your virtues and imperfections, suffering injustice and persecutions like a sheep among wolves, when you may cry at times but know you’ll be comforted, when you hunger and thirst for justice but know that you’ll be satisfied. Simple humble people from the bottom of their soul. They are people who put their hand to the plow and don’t look back, whatever the cost may be, even if it hurts. Neither weaklings nor cowards, they are the sons of faith, revolt and sacrifice.

Tags: Bishop Macedo, Bishop Marcelo Crivella, faith, revolt, sacrifice

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