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February 3, 2013 |
| Prosperity Gospel | ||
As I was watching TV this week I saw an advertisement for a Christian book. The book is evil and the advertisement was also. The book is called "Getting God To Give". I've never read this book and don't plan to waste any part of my life doing so. But, just from the title of the book you can tell there is a problem. The perspective on God is all wrong. God is not a safe full of money and all you need is the right combination to make the money pour out. This viewpoint is called Prosperity Gospel or Prosperity Theology1.
The advertisement is very carefully worded so those who don't know about Prosperity Gospel won't be driven off and those who do know but haven't had success with other Prosperity Gospel approaches will see this as the answer.
One person in the advertisement says something like "It's good to know my father in Heaven is there to back me up." When understood in the context, she is really saying "daddy is there to crack open his wallet when I need it".
Finally a man, possibly the author, says something like "If you follow the steps described in this book exactly … God is going to bless you". He has to imply the words he would like to say explicitly. That is "God will give you whatever you want." I suspect a lawyer has advised him on the trouble he could get into if he said those words.
In this lesson we'll take a quick look at Prosperity Gospel but the real focus is on the role of wealth in the Christian's life.
The basics of Prosperity Gospel is that there is a method, coupled with faith, by which you can be certain that God will give you whatever you want. This is very similar to a bank machine in that you insert your bank card, enter your PIN number, and the machine gives you money. Or it can also be seen as a contractual relationship with God where God will fulfill his part of the contract if you fulfill your part.
The method is always a well defined series of steps you must take. These also provide part of the way out for the preacher of this gospel when someone doesn't get what they want. He can always say "maybe your faith isn't strong enough. You need to work on that". Or he can say "You must not have followed the steps exactly."
One of the steps in the various Prosperity Gospel variants is always giving. Generally this giving is focused to benefit the preacher of the Prosperity Gospel.
But at its heart Prosperity Gospel is about greed – what can I get out of this. Instead of striving to build up treasure in Heaven, these people want treasure on Earth. Instead of asking God for the things they need and letting God provide his blessings according to his will, these people seek to force God's hand.
We would not bind ourselves into a contract with our children where they could get whatever they want if they clean their rooms. We would not allow our children to treat us like bank machines with a few exact steps to be taken to get money or other blessings. So why would we think that we can treat God like that? Some of the things that our children want we know are not good for them. But they don't have enough understanding or experience to know that. So we do not give them those things. The same is true for our Heavenly father.
Each one of us is given things we must overcome in this life. Some people are born with physical problems. Others are born into poor families, dysfunctional families or limited home environments. Others do not encounter some of the things they must overcome until later in life, perhaps as mental problems or, again, physical problems.
We tend to view all of the things listed above as hardships, instead of opportunities for growth. That is because we often fall into using the world's standards of success and failure. We look on the wealthy as fortunate, on the poor as unfortunate. But the truth is that one of the things that some people have to overcome in this life is wealth.
Wealth is as good a poison for faith as there is. Wealth teaches earthly security, and self-sufficiency, both of which are the opposite of faith. After listening to the siren song of wealth for a while many people forget about God.
Mark 10 21Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." 22At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. 23Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!"
Wealth also teaches that it is the evidence of wisdom. A person can come to think that he came to his success and wealth because of his own wisdom. Therefore he does not give God the praise that is due to God.
Proverbs 28 11The rich are wise in their own eyes; one who is poor and discerning sees how deluded they are.
The same is true for intelligence but in the reverse. Some people are "born with smarts" others have been educated. The world has a siren song for them as well. It says that you are wise and due respect, and usually money comes along with that. Naturally smart and educated people need to overcome the temptations that come with it.
Isaiah 5 21Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.
Proverbs 3 7Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.
As you can see the Christian perspective on wealth is much different from the world's perspective. Christians should not be desiring wealth but only desiring that God will give them the amount of wealth that each one can handle. If you pray "lead us not into temptation" and you also pray for wealth your prayers may be in conflict.
We live in a very wealthy country. But this country has become one where chasing after wealth has become the goal for many. Unable to be happy with the wealth they have, many people are only satisfied if they have more wealth than someone else.
This materialistic view of life has infected many Christians. It leads to the wanting of things that others have, which is greed. And it is the foundation for movements like the Prosperity Gospel.
Many people believe that the seventh of the seven churches of Revelation (Laodicea) is a description of the church of our time. Whether that's true or not, those verses are a correct description of some churches.
Revelation 3 17 You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
In this materialistic society we come to think that everything we get is the reward for something we have done. Therefore if we can do that thing again we can get more reward. But it's important to understand that the blessings we get from God are not a payment for what we have done, but gifts that come from faith and following Jesus.
One of the things that we have seen in this lesson is that each of us has things we need to overcome. While it may have been a surprise that wealth was one of those things, overcoming them or being victorious over them is a key part of the Christian life.
Revelation 3 21 "And I shall grant the overcomer to sit with me on my throne, just as I have overcome and I sit with my Father on his throne."
We also saw that sometimes our blessings can be our curses. Each of us must monitor our lives for things that may be pulling us away from God. We mentioned wealth and intelligence in this lesson but it can include our jobs, TV time, social activities, and many other things.
We also saw that Prosperity Gospel is just greed by another name and idolatry of money.
Luke 16 9I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
10 "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?
13"No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."
14 But when the Pharisees heard all these things, they were mocking him because they loved money.
1. "Few rich men own their property; their property owns them" (Robert Ingersol, 19th century agnostic)
2. "Many speak the truth when they say that they despise riches, but they mean the riches possessed by other men" (Charles Caleb Colton, 19th century writer and Church of England minister)
3. "My riches consist not in the extent of my possessions but in the fewness of my wants" (Joseph Brotherton, 19th century Christian minister and English Parliamentary reformer)
4. "To suppose, as we all suppose, that we could be rich and not behave as the rich behave, is like supposing that we could drink all day and stay sober" (Logan Pearsall Smith, 20th century Anglo-American essayist)
5. "A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions" (Jesus, Luke 12:15)