Prosperity Gospel

Convergence: April 12, 2007
Teachers: Paul Bentham & Phil Lapointe

Biggie size theology
You need to have increase on your mind. When you go to Wendy’s you need to biggie size it – even if you’re not going to eat it all. You show Satan that you have increase in your life and on your mind.
-Creflo A. Dollar

Basic equation
Give more money to the church = health + more $$ (for you and the church)

Oft-quoted scriptures
Malachi 3:10
10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty. 12 "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty.

Mark 11:24
24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

John 14:14
14You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it

It is dangerous to take these scriptures out of context. Prosperity gospel teaches that you will receive the desires of your heart…not necessarily God’s will for your life.

What are the problematic implications of an increase mindset?
Focus: heavy on self, low on the kingdom of God.

Motivation: this theology produces a bad motivation for engaging God (don’t boil down the church to your return on investment.)

Assumption: God can be manipulated or bought: If we give him more money, he gives us more back (God is not a guaranteed lottery ticket, the solution to all you’re economic worries.)

Blessing: in prosperity gospel, blessing equals money (historically, God’s blessings have been more lasting than money like a Godly heritage, believing children.)

Sustainability: we need to be aware of money in the context of the entire globe. Some lifestyles (i.e. a majority of North American’s) are simply not sustainable.

There is a foundational truth to God’s law, as basic as the laws of nature: when you honor God, God will honor you. But, Jesus also said that many people have done great things in his name, but he doesn’t know them…

Let’s take a look at the Bible…
When we look at scripture as a whole, we ultimately see that God’s plans are good for God (think about the story of Job.)

The gospel is about relationship with God, not monetary increase.

1 Timothy 6:7-10
7For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

We’re not preaching a poverty-mentality; we’re talking about good stewardship. Throughout the gospels Jesus talks about the topic of money second only to love. He doesn’t paint a pretty picture: for the rich man, getting into heaven will be like pulling a camel through the eye of a needle. Ouch.

Think about our character discussions: if you are the type of person who spend $150 on jeans and gives nothing to children who are starving throughout the world, then you care more about a pair of jeans than a human being.

Why do we care?
Prosperity gospel is marketing a distorted version of the church. If we concerned ourselves with every sector of questionable theology we would spend all our time protesting false doctrine instead of doing church. Our concern is the large-scale impact of this situation.

Churches who preach the prosperity gospel are attracting millions of people across North American to their mega-churches through super-charismatic tele-evangelists in designer suits with 7-figure salaries. This is the much-publicized face of Christianity in North America.

Religious leaders influence a majority of North American philanthropic giving. The president of the United States meets with evangelical leaders such as these, and eighty percent of the religious right vote on religious issues defined by these leaders. There is a lot of economic and political power tied up with the prosperity gospel.

The prosperity gospel teaches that Jesus was just a great man who was anointed, and is a model what a man of anointing can do. This serves their leadership structure, because their leaders are also anointed and determine who will do what in the congregation.

These churches have multi-million dollar operating budgets, much of which includes extravagant ‘perks’ for their pastors. The IRS is investigating many of these organizations for a lack of fiscal transparency.

We believe that pastors should be paid their worth, the money that pays their salary is from our tithe (i.e. what we give to God) and so we are accountable to consider the priorities and values that Jesus taught. Many people stop giving to churches and missions when they see the extravagant lifestyles of people within the church. The spending of these leaders is irresponsible and lacking integrity, which filters down throughout the organization and influences the mindset and values of the whole.

Many of the people within this church are experiencing major financial issues. The “prosperity” part works for about 30-40% of the congregation who are good at what they do (and would probably be successful with or without this prosperity teaching.) These individuals testify of their success, and the rest take this as a cue that they should keep running the race (to keep up with the Jones.) This is a major issue in lower-income African-American communities where the prosperity gospel looks the most attractive.