The Prosperity Gospel

I remember sitting under my home pastor in Kingsport, TN, Rev. Bobby Russell, and listening to him in the mid and late 80's preach with conviction on things that at the time made no sense to me. One of those things was, as he put it, the "name it and claim it" preachers. Rev. Bobby Russell was concerned at "those guys on television" who were making the argument that if we name something we want in Christ, then we are to just claim that thing in Christ and He will deliver it to us. This drove him nuts.

So, I notice on the cover of Time Magazine the cover story "Does God Want You To Be Rich?" Pastor Russell's concerns were correct, this misconstrued ideological methodology has found a home in mainstream Christianity, especially prominent in some of the larger, megachurches out there. I have personally dealt with this recently with very good meaning Christian leaders who have simply absorbed this mindset without realizing its potential damage. Not long ago I attended a function where a 16 year old was being praised for his "claiming" a Nissan 350 Z at an earlier age and then "keeping his faith up" in order to receive that car. Obviously, we were there in honor of his receiving the car when he turned 16, apparently because he had named it and claimed it. Without hurting the feelings of the very good intentioned youth worker, I subtly spent the next few weeks teaching the teenagers the reality of the Prosperity Gospel, and what it leaves out of the true Gospel.

You see, its not that everything this philosophy teaches is wrong. Some of it is, but what makes it completely off base is what it leaves out.

My wife is taking courses toward a certificate of study at Southern Seminary that stresses the family, the husband and wife relationship, and what it means to be a pastor's wife. Last week in her course material, one of the quotes she was memorizing for her class is that as a couple, we are to "remember the cross together and die daily." She was at first kind of weirded out by that, but I felt a deep connection with it. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a tough message. Prepare yourselves for suffering, ridicule, stress, anxiety, fear, confusion and days of just wanting to give up. Without a daily dying to self, a person cannot withstand those elements for very long. The prosperity gospel would never dare preach a message of dying. That is why we have more and more lifeless, selfish, pointless Christians in the pews than ever before.

Mark chapter 13 is an eye opener. The disciples, in their perpetual confusion, ask Jesus about the destruction of the temple he had just prophesied, the end of history and their own apparent forth coming ministry. Listen to the words of Christ from Mark 13: "You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. 10. And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. 11. Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. 12"Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 13All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

That's positive stuff don't you think? Be prepared to be flogged in the synagogues! All men will hate you, you will be arrested, etc. And, of course after reading the book of Acts and other historical works, we know that the disciples experienced exactly those things in the days ahead.

Finally, my last example is Mark 10, the story of the rich young ruler. What makes this account of Jesus so remarkable is not that Jesus asked him to sell all his possessions, but the stark contrast between this particular teaching of Christ and the OT. An OT understanding of being rich was that of being deeply blessed by God. Being rich was seen as God's favor on you. Christ brings the counter to that message of prosperity. It's not the wealth of the man that finds favor with God, but instead it is that very wealth that is preventing him from even having a relationship with God. Obviously Christ didn't expect everyone to sell everything they had in order to follow Him, or He would have said that to every person He came in contact with. Trust me, I do not take a vow of poverty and live as a monk. I enjoy being able to experience things that require money. But here He finds a man who the Bible says Christ loved (which is interesting) but Christ knew that the money was just getting in the way.

So why go through all the dying, suffering and heartache that the Gospel requires? Because the story doesn't end there. The same God has promised joy, contentment, blessing and eternal life. This same God has promised not to forsake us or leave us, He will not forget. And this same God has promised us sustaining and sufficiency.