The HOT topic among the Asbury students this January is PROSPERITY GOSPEL.
If you aren't familiar with Prosperity theology here it is in a nutshell: the Wikipedia definition.
Prosperity theology, also known as
prosperity doctrine or the
Prosperity Gospel, is the doctrine that prosperity, particularly financial prosperity, and success in business or personal life is external evidence of God's favor. This favor may be
preordained, or granted in return for efficacious
prayer or
merit-making.
With the recent investigations by the US Senate into the financial dealings of several high profile evangelicals, there are some here who are very concerned about the Name-it-claim-it theology that's going around and the cancer-like effect it is having on the Body of Christ. Basically its the idea that since God loves you He wants to bless you, usually financially.
Now I really do believe that God wants to bless you, but what do you consider a blessing and what does God consider a blessings? Jesus said, "
it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven." [Mark 10:25]
Why then would we assume that God would "bless" us with something that would make it harder for us to be with him? Why is this message not only popular but gaining momentum?
Precisely because it allows us to justify our lifestyle as rich comfortable Americans while ignoring our responsibility to our brothers and sisters starving in sub-Saharan Africa and still be able to place the blame on God!
God gave it to us, we reason, because He loves us and wants us to have the best. There's no sacrifice to worry about, no guilt for living beyond our means, no responsibility to capture our imagination. Actually I've even heard of churches that offer door-prizes at worship as a means of attracting visitors. Come to church and win a prize, perhaps a new car!
Yet at a deeper level I believe we have
allbought into the prosperity theology. Isn't it true that we see ourselves and others through the lens that bigger and more is always better. Prosperity Gospel is nothing more than feel good about yourself, trust that more is on the way, and don't look back pop psychology.
I believe it is attractive and always will be as long as we remain rich and comfortable. Which may not be much longer....
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The HOT topic among the Asbury students this January is PROSPERITY GOSPEL.
The big problem with Prosperity Theology, at least in this context, is that it’s only a partial gospel. I do believe that God wants to bless us and wants the best for us. He doesn’t call us to a life of misery, but of fullness and joy. Clearly there is room to argue exactly what that means from God’s perspective and from ours, and we must always remember that our eternal reward is the prize on which we must keep our eyes. But I do think God wants us to be happy.
That being said, the “Prosperity Gospel,” as it is often being preached currently, really only tells half the story. I believe God does want to bless us, but not as an end to itself…he blesses us so we can bless others. I like the way Rob Bell says it in the “Rich” NOOMA we’ve been watching:
“Now, when some hear the phrase ‘laying up treasures,’ they start to think of money and wealth and mansions…(but) Nowhere in (Jesus’) teaching…is the point about getting more stuff. It’s not the goal here on earth and it’s not the goal someday in heaven. For Jesus, it’s about being content.”
He further cites 1 Timothy 6:17-19:
“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.” (NIV)
Chuck Colson says that the “Prosperity Gospel” is failing in the third world (or, as he appropriately calls it, the two-thirds world), because it is no gospel at all. Where we might think folks in depressed cultures would be thrilled to hear a gospel that tells them they can have material riches, what they really want to hear is a gospel of healing and transformation…one that shows God’s people reaching out to them to share the blessings God has poured out on us.
Clearly, there is nothing inheritly wrong with being wealthy…as long as it doesn’t become an end to itself. There’s nothing wrong with being happy that God has blessed us with wealth and prosperity. But we have to complete the story. We have to bless others BECAUSE we are blessed, not so we can become more blessed.
I agree that the prosperity Gospel is failing in the Third world, but I’m amazed we would export that kind of Gospel to them. Do you go on mission trips and encourage them to embrace Christ so you can be like us, rich and powerful? Or are we intentional about the service and giving part of the discipleship journey? Are we as Americans free from the slavery of possessions or consumed by them?
How do you think the Youth of America feel about property for themselves and God’s call on their lives?
Isn’t it possible and probable that God blesses people with the gift of money to see what those people will do with it? Will they tithe 10% of it to their church if they are not among the unchurched? Will they donate a portion of it to one or more of various charities? Or will they hoard it like the husband and wife in the Bible both of whom died instantly because they tried to deceive God. I, for one, would not want to walk in the mocassins of those who do not take their stewardship of God’s gifts seriously. “The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away.” Isn’t it also possible and probable that the gift of prosperity is also a curse? Look at the lives of so many actors and singers who earn millions and millions of dollars. Look at the lifestyle that most of them live — probably devil-created and devil-sanctioned — and look at the number of times that these people go to jail and/or into rehab facilities. Look at the man from here in WV who won the lottery and was BLESSED with a million dollars and the number of times that he was in trouble with the law. I, for one, would not wish prosperity on myself or anyone unless we intend to be stewards the way God intends us to be and unless we intend to remain humble and mindful of “…from whom all blessings flow” and unless we intend to use that which we are given in serivce to others and in God’s name and to His honor and glory.
As is said in The Wizard of Oz, “…we have only to look as far as own backyard.” It’s bad enough that we are shirking our “…responsibility to our brothers and sisters in the sub-Saharan Africa and placing the blame on God,” but what about the homeless and the hungry in this country, in our own hometown? What about the extraordinarily high number of people who live below the poverty level in this country and in our own hometown? What about the senior citizens in our country and in our own hometown who are victims of our ignoring of the “Graying of America” and who have to choose between buying medicine or buying food? At what point in time do we, “…who have been given much…” realize that from us “…much is required….” and, therefore, become “…disciples making a difference” and reach out with our BLESSINGS — be they money, hands, time — to those “…in our own backyard”? An ocean begins as one raindrop falling into a creek that becomes a stream that becomes a river that flows into the ocean. Why not start by preaching and practicing the gospel of prosperity in our own backyard and see if God won’t bless our stewardship and discipleship so that the “…external evidence of God’s favor…” becomes as large as an ocean and evident on all of God’s people, not just an elite few.
Every gift God gives us is a learning experience. Jesus tells us this in the story of the talents. To whom much is given, much is expected. Gifts are for us to grow with not to hoard.
You made some wonderful points here.