Prosperity Gospel (Cont.)

So, a couple months ago I started writing about the what is known in Christian circles as the "Prosperity Gospel". Lately I have been thinking more about this topic and want to share some things.

I think the problem of this prosperity movement is that the proponents of this ideology have the wrong view of what "prosperity" actually means. (At least according to the Bible) Grant it, they understand the idea of earthly prosperity. They understand what our culture views as prosperous. (such as, a profitable fiscal return on an investment, cars, lots of money.) I'll give you an example.

The other night I was watching the Daystar Network, (it is one of those channels where all kinds of televangelists say all kinds of things) and a prominent prosperity guy was on there. He kept talking about "sowing your 1,000 dollar seed". He would say, "if you give this money, God will surely bless you." (This is just speculation on my part... but by saying people will be "richly blessed" by what/how much they give is an easy way to get alot of money for your ministry... its makes you wonder...) Another guy that was with him, was talking about how God will change your financial situation. He kept saying how God will bless your financial investments, real estate purchases, and things like that. One of (the many) funny things that I heard on the show, was the title of this guy's book. It was entitled, "God, Please Don't Repo My House" He said, in this book, he talks about how God transformed his investments. From what I gathered of his explanation of the book, by trusting in the power of God, he was able to have unbelievable returns on his money.

(Now I am not saying that God doesn't want us to make good profitable investments. But it seems these guys are using God as a means to their own end of being of rich. I think I mentioned this before, but it seems, they are making God kind of like a genie that grants their wishes of earthly wealth.)

Is this how Jesus and scripture view prosperity? I would have to disagree. In my opinion, this is a short-sided and perverted view of what the Bible views as true prosperity.

If you look at the life and ministry of Jesus, He was all about being "counter-cultural."

First of all, he lowered himself to nothing when he came to earth. He was GOD and he chose to be born to a peasant family that lived in one of the poorest regions of the Israel (Nazareth). I mean, this is huge! He was the Creator of the World (Colossians 1:15-17, John 3:3). He could have been born and lived in the finest palace on earth, but he chose not to be. He never even owned his own home (Matt. 8:20). Check out what Paul says about this (Philippians 2:6-8).

Now think about this... What would our culture tell us to do if we had all the power in universe to do whatever, live wherever, and buy whatever we wanted? (Being fully God on earth, Jesus certainly had the power to do this.) Looking at the common theme of America, (and human nature for that matter) you gotta get all you can. What's the American dream?... to live in the nicest house, drive the nicest car, and make the most money. If this is the true meaning of prosperity, why wasn't this the method Christ used when he came to the earth? If we are suppose to have the mind of Christ (Phil 2:5), then should we be craving what our culture views as prosperity... Or, should we be "counter-cultural"?

Think about it.

More to come...