Most
Christians that I have encountered strongly condemn the “prosperity Gospel”,
the idea that Jesus promises health, wealth, and blessing to believers in this age…right now. Yet many people are
deceived by the prospect of receiving a lot of money “supernaturally”, or
getting a new house, or being healed of any and every sickness. This type of
theology is quite detrimental to the Christian faith. Paul says:
“For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have
that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as
if you had not received it? You are
already full! You are already rich! You have reigned as kings without us – and
indeed I could wish you did reign, that we also might reign with you! … We are
fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you
are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored! To the present hour
we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless.
And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being
persecuted, we endure; being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the
filth of the world, the off-scouring of all things until now.” (1 Cor. 4:7-13).
On
the other hand, the Scriptures consistently and repeatedly exhort us to rejoice when we suffer for Christ’s sake.
There is actually a high value in suffering. Biblical suffering is the primary
characteristic for believers in this age.
“Rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings,
that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.” (1
Peter 4:13).
But
most people that I know do not fall into this category. Most people that I know
attend “normal” churches, whether non-denominational, Pentecostal, Reformed,
etc. Regardless of denomination, I feel that churches today are so
similar (maybe a 10:00 am Sunday service starting with three worship songs
and a sermon). The secret prosperity gospel is common to all
denominations.
Though
we condemn the outright prosperity gospel, we preach a subtle, secret
prosperity gospel. What I mean by secret is that churches and pastors
would never tell you that they preach the prosperity gospel, but in everything
that they say, there are hints and threads of the prosperity gospel. The main
issue is that a subtle, prosperity gospel shifts our focus away from God and
His story towards ourselves, our own
lives, our own dreams. It becomes self-centered, rather than God-centered. I
see this on both sides of the theological spectrum and I see this type of
gospel is extremely dangerous. My goal is not to condemn any person or any
ministry, but my intention is to first provide concrete examples of this secret
prosperity gospel and then to warn us to be careful with our language and our
theology.
First,
I have heard Jeremiah 29:11 (“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,
says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a
hope”) used many times to show that God wants to give us a “good future.” It is
impossible for me to accept that interpretation of this passage. The context of this verse is God speaking to
Israel and verse 10 concerns the 70 years of Babylonian captivity that Israel
will have to experience. Verses 12 and 13 concern the latter days (rf. Deut.
30). In addition, chapter 30 of Jeremiah is about the restoration of Israel and
Judah and the time of Jacob’s trouble beforehand. Below is a “daily prayer”
from a typical Christian radio station (Baptist).
Lord,
help us to confidently expect good things from You today! Please, eliminate the
legalistic thinking that You will give us only what we deserve. No way! Your
word says,
“I know what I’m doing. I have
it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give
you the future you hope for.” – Jeremiah 29:11 (MSG)
Father, please remind us that Your love is unconditional for us, and
so are Your plans. You haven’t erased good plans for us because we’ve messed
up! They are still there waiting for us. God, give us patience, and teach us to
trust You completely while we wait. -In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Another
classic example is Phil. 4:13 (“I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me”). It is often used in a very selfish and self-centered way.
Essentially, we believe that “God will help me do whatever I want.” I can play
in the NBA because God will help me. I can become a billionaire because God
will help me. It becomes “I” focused. But in verse 12, Paul is talking about
knowing how to be abased, knowing how to be both full and hungry, and knowing
how to both abound and suffer.
The
story of David and Goliath is also commonly re-interpreted. David, against all
odds, slays Goliath with stones. The preacher often compares us to David and
says that we need to “slay the giants in our lives.” The stones are what God
has already given us and then the “giant” is anything we want it to be. It
could be a mortgage. It could be a new career that you want to pursue. The
“giants” could also be internal things like bitterness, addiction,
unforgiveness, etc. But more often than not, when I ask people about what their
giants are, it is something external.
Here’s
another example:
What do you want? It’s Big Prayer Tuesday.
Imagine Jesus is sitting across from you sipping on a cup of coffee
calmly and asks you directly, “What do you want me to do for you.” You then
respond with…
“I want to _____ !”
Maybe you want to get married, start a business,
get out of debt, start a ministry, or get healthy. Don’t play it safe!
Go for immediate change. Ask for him to restore, or ask him to make
you new!
This
is the typical positive, encouraging message we hear. The message is framed in
a way that we are the ones asking God to do something for us. We are encouraged
to pray for “big things”, but they are big things in our own lives. Do you see
the pattern here?
Finances
are also subject to this secret prosperity gospel message. I have often heard
it taught that if you are faithful in your tithes and offerings that those
blessings will “bounce back” and you will be blessed in return. I have no
problem with being “blessed”, but I also have no problem giving my money to the
Lord and not receiving anything in return. Is that not the definition of an
offering? Here is an example from my Facebook feed from a Pentecostal church.
#FinancialBreakthroughtestimony
Here is a testimony on how ones obedience in giving turned into a major blessing.
A few weeks ago *PERSON X* encouraged the church to give a sacrificial offering. My wife and I were led to give. A few weeks later, I was promoted and my wife received a substantial increase in her pay. #Milkandhoneybook#milkandhoneyturntup
I have
no problem with this couple receiving a promotion or a pay raise. That’s
actually fantastic. But what bothers me about this post is the hashtag, “milk
and honey turntup”. The implication of this hashtag is that just like God
promised the Israelites the promised Land, which was flowing with milk and
honey, God is promising us financial breakthrough and blessing.
Healing
is another prime example. A common passage is the Isaiah 53 “by His stripes, we
are healed”, used to support the idea that the blood of Jesus and the authority
in His name heals every single sickness and disease. Most people are well-intentioned,
but when healing does not happen, there are several possibilities: either it is
not “God’s timing”, the people involved do not have enough faith, or we just
refuse to talk about the incident. Sometimes, it almost feels as if some refuse
to believe that we live in a sinful world, where sin and death still reign. I
certainly believe in healing and we are commanded to heal and to perform signs
and wonders. The Holy Spirit acts in power to confirm the Gospel of Christ, but
when healing is taken to the extreme, we begin to have a twisted view of God,
almost as if we deserve something from God or that we can somehow demand it
from Him.
Another
phrase that circulates quite frequently is that we must “break the poverty
mindset.” The implication is that God doesn’t want us to be poor (either
spiritually or literally), He wants us to be rich. But the problem is Jesus
says on the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the poor in Spirit!” How can we
break the poverty mindset/spirit, something that Jesus said was blessed? It
does not seem to make sense to me.
Another
example I hear is the idea of vocational ministry, that our jobs in the
marketplace are to glorify God. This is definitely true, but often, it is
framed in a way that amplifies our own dreams. I have heard things like, “Go
make a ton of money because then you can glorify God with all that money.” “Go
become a really famous person so that you can be a testimony.” We claim that we
will be a faithful witness when given position, glory, and riches, but is this
actually true? Did Jesus not warn us that it is difficult for a rich man to
enter the kingdom of God?
My
final example is a quote from a recent evangelist that I heard speak: “People say the
Bible says we're supposed to give up everything, but my bible says we're
supposed to possess everything.”
I
could continue on with more examples, but I hope I made my point. The end of
the age will be incredibly tumultuous and there will be a time when we will
have to stand for the truth. There will be a time when you may have to suffer
for righteousness’ sake. There will be a time when you may have to be willing
to lay down your life. How will you interpret these events when they come upon
you? We must be prepared for what lies ahead of us in this age and be prepared
to be a faithful witness. I strongly urge and plead with you to consider the
Scriptures. This secret prosperity gospel is toxic and misleading, and most
importantly is not preparing us for His return.
“And
they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony and they did not love their lives to the
death.” (Rev. 12:11).