Hey.
I am suppose to be writing an essay but I thought I would quickly write this. quickly I promise.
Prosperity Gospel. I hate the prosperity gospel. I hate that people think the prosperity gospel is correct. I hate that the prosperity gospel is being taught in churches across the UK. God hates the prosperity gospel. But God loves those who are following this so called "gospel".
Hate is a strong word to use so many times in one sentence, but I genuinely struggle with the idea that people think its is correct. There is NO teaching about the prosperity gospel in the bible, it is all man's conceived idea that they will adapt the gospel to reach their own potential and their own ideology.
The prosperity gospel is the idea that God wants us to prosper in success, whether this be in money, healthy, safety etc. As much as this is a lovely idea it is wrong. We all want to be successful, and we all want to make something of ourselves but sometimes this won't happen. This is not because God loves our richer friends more than us, this is simple down to God having a different plan for each individual.
If we look closely at 2 Corinthians 12 it says this:
1I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. 3And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— 4was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell. 5I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. 6Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say.
7To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
I know it is a big chunk but there is so much to take from this, that simply disqualifies any fundamental "facts" about the prosperity gospel.
1) 'I will go on boasting although there is nothing to be gained"
Paul is clear that he knows that boasting about Christ is not about him and not about his gain. He knows that it is all for God and the advancement of God's kingdom. He is not boasting in himself and he is not for his own gain but he is boasting in CHRIST and for CHRIST'S GAIN.
2) I will not boast about myself- There is nothing that we can do here on Earth that is going to gain our salvation. There is nothing we can do that can better ourselves that will glorify God, which is something we should be aiming for.
3) My grace is sufficient enough for you, my power is made stronger in your weakness- This is the biggest fact. God' grace is enough. We do not NEED anything else but grace. When we are weak God is stronger. Why is that appealing? Through that we can be stronger but not through material things but through faith.
4) For Christ's sake I delight in my weakness- Through our weakness he is made strong. We delight in our weakness because it enables us to be clear and thankful for what God has already done.
Prosperity gospel is not evident in this at all. There is no place in God's kingdom for prosperity gospel. We are not saved so we can advance ourselves, we are saved through God's mercy and love. Nothing else.
If anything we should be asking God to be satisfied in him, as John Piper said God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in him. When we are most satisfied in him and not the progression of our successes.
Please take a couple of minutes to watch this quite harrowing, hard-hitting video on the prosperity gospel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGzqIcbvARw
If this is something that you in believe in then maybe you should consider looking back into the word and really try discover for yourself the true meaning of self-sacrificing faith.
Til next time
xx
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2 comments:
I agree with this but I'm intrigued by this idea of success and ministry. In the New Testament it says a good tree will produce good fruit and yet at the same time you're arguing success doesn't follow from being a disciple of God. In terms of ministry do you then think that prosperity is a consideration? Obviously I've taken this idea out of context but I am interested in your views on it.
When Jesus says Good tree will produce good furit I think he is def. talking about our own personal ministries. Whether that be if we run a well known organisation or just in our own lives, is quite irrelevant. If we are passionately seeking God for the right purposes then I think God will bless the work he is doing. I think people's hearts need to be in the right place, for God's work to really show but then again if God wants something to happen then it will, and eventually the glory will be shown on him.
I think successful ministry and prosperity are two v. separate things. Prosperity is when we are out for own gain, and can have a "successful" ministry but in the eyes of God I can imagine that he'd much prefer a successful ministry if the heart of the person is right. When Jesus talks abotu building the house in the sand, (mat 7:24-29) he is saying if the person builds their house on weak sand it is likely to fall come the strom, which can be taken to say if someone builds their ministry on their weak selves then it will fall during the storm. However, if they build their house/ministry on the strong rock/god then it will stand in the storm.
No idea whether that answered your question...sorry if it didn't
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