Miss Ghana is a recognized national beauty pageant in Ghana. I hate it with all my soul because the event organizers are partial and always manipulate the outcome. I need not explain because their actions are evident. However, I think it is prudent for me to do so for the sake of clarity.

For a long time, the same person has been crowned the winner and this is very nauseous. How can it be that the majority always support this longtime winner who does not even deserve it? If you have realized, whenever a better person tries to outrun her, the judges find a way to rig the results.

I thought the Christian devotees would know better and fight against this injustice; however, some Christians are in bed with the players of this malpractice. Ask them and they will defend their stance with some skewed interpreted Bible quotes.

Since I'm tired of this wrong, I wish to undress the incumbent Miss Ghana and her cohorts to public shame. Yes, I will name and shame! Her name is Miss Poverty. Lady Poverty has won the hearts of many Ghanaians and she is celebrated in the street corners and public squares. She has reigned for a long time and her deceptive fragrance is felt everywhere.

Some politicians support her through lies and corruption. They steal from the poor masses and make them poorer. Close to election time, they coverup their failure by sharing rice and oil. Those in power share money for no work done; whereas those in opposition struggle to do the same and miss the time they were in office.

Miss Poverty also has a huge fan base from false prophets. They make their followers believe that God would rain manna from the skies if they pray. This encourages laziness and puts Poverty in a comfortable lead. Meanwhile, as the fake prophets campaign for her, they secretly sack her from their homes. They do so by charging consultation fees and selling oil at an exorbitant price.

Sadly, the blind Christian relish and settle in his impoverished state and comfort himself, with Matthew 5:3 - "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." This discourages him to work harder to better his life. He wouldn't dare escape from poverty and miss heaven. But look, Jesus did not say blessed are the poor in the pocket; he said poor in SPIRIT. The poor in spirit is the one who acknowledges that he is spiritually empty and need God to rescue him.

Those who do not understand this see all rich people as evil. Any emerging opportunity to make them wealthy brings upon them an unbearable load of guilt. More to this menace is their misinterpretation of what Jesus said after his conversation with the rich man in Mark 10. After the rich man revealed his righteousness in keeping the entire law, he asked Jesus if there were yet other requirements remaining. Jesus told him to sell all he had and give the proceeds to the poor, after which he was to return and follow him.

Herein Jesus asked the man to prioritize him over his riches. Because the man had great wealth and was not receptive to Jesus' admonition, he went away sad. Seeing this, "23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, 'How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!'...'25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.' 26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, 'Who then can be saved?'"(Mark 10:23, 25?-?26, NIV)

Concerning the aforementioned passage, many focus on Jesus' declaration without paying attention to the disciples' reaction. Truly, it is difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. And the disciples had just understood why. However, their response was as though they were thinking, "If it is difficult for even the rich man to enter the kingdom of God, what about the poor man?"

The disciples certainly knew the poor man won't have it easier either. Perhaps, the reason why they asked, "Who then can be saved?" Therefore, if Jesus said it is difficult for the rich man to enter the kingdom of God, there is no inherent basis that suggests that it is easier for the poor man to be saved. Hence, this text does not condemn rich people. Moreover, "difficult" does not mean "impossible." Both the rich and poor are saved by God's grace (Mark 10:27). Understand this and strive to unfollow Miss Poverty.

Again, if riches were that bad, why would God endorse the wealth of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Solomon and other devout men? Assuredly, these men were exceedingly rich but they esteemed God higher than their wealth. Their lives show us how one can be very rich and still worship God faithfully.

Interestingly, the work of God even requires money; in fact, a lot of it! The presence of rich people in the early church helped advance God's work to a large extent. Barnabas sold his land and brought all the proceeds to the church (Acts 4:37). Also, Gaius supported evangelists from his pocket (3 John 5-8). Therefore Miss Riches should be supported to win.

Furthermore, be careful to ignore those who say "Money is the root of all evil." Nowhere in the Bible is this quote seen. What we rather see is "The LOVE of money is the root of all evil" (1 Tim 6:10). What entices people to do all kinds of evil is not the possession of money but a STRONG UNQUENCHABLE LUST for it.

Precious one, Miss Poverty has been entertained for far too long. If it is now apparent that she isn't as good as she appears to be, then let's join hands and unseat her. We can do this by holding our politicians accountable, exposing fake prophets, and enlightening Christians to be hardworking and innovative even as they pray.

I hope this write-up encourages you, my cherished reader, to drive away Miss Ghana, Madam Poverty.

Enjoy the Grace of God!

Amen!


NOTICE

Miss Ghana is a reputable beauty pageant that is organized with honourable standards. The writer used "Miss Ghana" as an analogy to represent "Poverty," which has been unconsciously embraced and celebrated by most Ghanaians.