Simony, n. The buying or selling of church positions, spiritual power, or miracles. Putting a temporal (finite) value on something spiritual (infinite) in nature.
If a priest was promoted to bishop after paying a bribe, the priest committed simony. The name comes from Acts 8:18-24. A man named Simon wanted to buy a gift only God could give. (Imagine having a SIN named after you!):
“When Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, ‘Give me this power too, so that anyone I lay hands on may receive the Holy Spirit.’ But Peter told him, ‘May your silver be destroyed with you, because you thought the gift of God could be obtained with money! You have no part in this, because your heart is not right before God. Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity’” Acts 8:18-23.
But simony? Could anything be less relevant? When was the last time you heard of anyone offering money for a church staff position or a promotion to lead pastor, or maybe money in exchange for the ability to work miracles? Simony does not come up every day.
But simony DOES come up. What did Simon do wrong? He saw a miracle and offered to buy the power to perform the miracle himself. Peter rebuked him:
“You thought the gift of God could be obtained with money! … Your heart is not right before God” Acts 8:20-21.
Americans fall for this every day. When a TV preacher offers healing in exchange for money, he is tempting you to commit simony. When a TV preacher says ‘send us $5.00 and God will send you $50.00,” I believe he is tempting you to commit simony. And of course, such comments do not come only from television preachers.
If anyone presents you with an offer that equates to: give us money and your prayers will be answered, then you are being offered a chance to commit simony.
Do you need a healing? Have you sent money to a ministry because a smooth talker convinced you that you had to send in some “seed money” in order to reap that miraculous harvest? Did it work? Did you receive the healing?
I would NEVER discourage appropriate giving to the work of God. “The Lord loves a cheerful giver” 2 Corinthians 9:7. We are called to give, and God will bless us for giving. The notion of sowing and reaping is Biblical and I do not wish to undermine that. But there are silver-tongued speakers in this world that we must watch out for, wolves in sheeps’ clothing that can speak so skillfully that the naked deceit of their plea is all but hidden. It can be hard to get past the music and emotionalism and drama of great oratory. But if, when boiled down to simple terms, the message is: give us money and God will grant your wish, then you may be looking at simony. Watch out for those who encourage you to believe, as Simon did, that “the gift of God can be obtained with money” Acts 8:20.
Instead, give, expecting nothing in return (Luke 6:35), or at least nothing SPECIFIC. Bless God and let Him decide how He may bless you in return.
Yes, give with an expectant faith, knowing that “he who sows bountifully, will reap bountifully” 2 Corinthians 9:6. But never give as though you are in some heavenly market, purchasing some specific miracle, or healing, or financial blessing from God.
God is not a Genie, granting wishes for a price (if He were, you could afford NOTHING). He is your Heavenly Father who loves His children and “GIVES to His beloved, even while they are sleeping” Proverbs 127:2.
God freely gives to His children. There is no price. We should freely give to Him.
A final thought: those who offer miracles for sale are bringing a marketplace mentality into the church. Do you remember what Jesus did when the marketplace began to invade the temple? John 2:14-16.
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