The Weeping and Gnashing They No Longer Preach About...

 

The Weeping and Gnashing They No Longer Preach About: Matthew 5, Mammon, and the Lost Light of Christianity...

A reflective critique of prosperity gospel Christianity, religious prejudice, Mammon, and the forgotten teachings of Matthew 5, exploring faith, judgment, “weeping and gnashing of teeth,” and Christian-Muslim coexistence in Nigeria.

They try so hard to vilify Islam, because Islam will not submit.

What evil did Islam do, except drag Europe out of the Dark Ages, reconnecting it with its own past?

The barbarians who overran the Roman Empire, boy, were they barbarians?

They burned libraries.

Denied science.

I once read a description of the Visigoths, and you would have thought they were describing contemporary figures.

We accept that Christianity has been hijacked by non-Christian forces, but not Islam?

The same way you judge yourself, you do not want to judge others?

I hold brief for no religion.

What could I possibly know about them?

I can only hold brief for the only religion I know, and it forbids me from hating any religion.

It tells me to be the salt of the earth, the light of the world, to let my light so shine that people may see my good works.

Read it yourself:

“…let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

— Gospel of Matthew 5:16

Read the whole of Matthew 5, morning, afternoon, and night, until you get it.

You who abandon Matthew 5 and scour the Old Testament looking for clefts where you can hide and remain comfortable in your hate and prejudice…

You?

Repent- lest ye die in sin!

The Verse That Bothered Me

As a kid in Edo College, behind the Technical Drawing Room where we gathered each evening for the SU prayer meeting, one of the verses that bothered me deeply was the one about “weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

I would like to take a poll and see how many young Christians who know the lyrics to every Sinach song even know that verse exists.

Why?

Because the entire Gospel, the light of the Gospel, has been filtered through the prism of the prosperity gospel.

Pure white light goes in.

Seven different colours come out.

Everything becomes about self-fulfillment.

Mammon has taken over.

Isn’t it interesting that Jesus Christ in Gospel of Matthew 6 spoke about Mammon, not the devil, when He said:

“No man can serve two masters…”

He made it clear that Mammon, meaning wealth, money, or material possessions, is a spiritual competitor to God, one that demands total allegiance.

Let me repeat:

You who abandon Matthew 5 and scour the Old Testament looking for clefts in its teachings where you can hide comfortably with all the baggage you carry, your hatred for blacks, greens, reds, whites, Muslims, Palestinians, Nigerians…

You?

You are a strong candidate for the weeping and gnashing of teeth spoken of in the Bible.

Where?

Gospel of Matthew 8:11–12

“But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Gospel of Matthew 13:41–42

“The Son of Man will send out his angels... They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Gospel of Matthew 13:49–50

“The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Gospel of Matthew 22:11–13

(Parable of the Wedding Banquet)

“Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Gospel of Matthew 24:48–51

“He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Gospel of Matthew 25:30

“Throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Suggested Reading: 

The "Worthless" Servant:

This refers to the servant who, out of fear or laziness, 

hid his talent instead of investing it (Matthew 25:14-30).

Suggested Reading: Theologia Acediosa: How Lazy Theology Sanctifies Evil https://donkenobi.blogspot.com/2026/02/torpor-animi-how-lazy-theology.html

Imagine This

Imagine a world in which:

“…your light shines before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

If the world is not glorifying your Father in heaven, perhaps your light is not shining.

Nigeria Once Knew Better

As I wrote this very last sentence, stories of a time when Muslims and Christians lived in perfect harmony across Nigeria filtered into my consciousness.

Living side by side.

Kids eating together.

Playing together.

Sometimes sleeping over in one another’s homes.

No one cared about religious differences.

I would like to pinpoint the exact moment all that ended, and see if it correlates with my deepest suspicions.

“Love your neighbour as yourself.”

How can you love those who hate you?

Tough question.

As a true Nigerian, I will answer that question with another question:

Why do they hate you?

Is it because of the fruits and aroma of the Holy Spirit you exude?

I rest my case.

Don Kenobi

#OldManInTheMolue

#MyFrancisEssays