The prosperity gospel is just another way for people to rationalize their fleshly lusts, particularly the lust for money and material things. This type of doctrine is not the highest goal of any true disciple of Christ. Christ Himself, holiness, and righteousness are. These so-called prosperity gospel preachers encourage their followers to focus more on riches rather than telling them to turn from their evil ways, repent, and turn to Christ. In a way, I see these preachers as the devil’s minions from the pit of hell, and they are proving that the way to eternal life is indeed narrow and only a few will make it.
The New Testament exalts poverty because those with less material possessions have much less to be attached to in this world. It’s a mental thing in a way. Do not seek to be poor, but seek the humility and lack of earthly attachment of the ‘poor,’ because only with such a character can one truly accept Christ. Anyone who boast of themselves by saying, “Look! Jesus said poor people are closer to God, so I’m better than you!”, as poor as that person may be, nonetheless fall under the other rule Jesus preached, that those who exalt themselves will one day be humbled.
God doesn’t have it for every one of His children to be uniformly rich or poor. God has given to each one their proper yoke. Be comfortable with who you are and what you have. If you are financially prosperous, praise God. If otherwise, praise God, still. We are told in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, that we should be thankful for any and every situation we find ourselves in, for it is the will of God for our lives. The most important thing, either rich or poor, is to always praise God and live lives that will bring glory to Christ.
The problem I have with prosperity preachers is that they take advantage of those that are not Biblically sound. How unfortunate it is for a Christian to sit before an open Bible and like a blind man, see nothing. That’s a sign that we are not reading the Word of God as much as we need to. It’s a sign that we are backsliding, as 2 Timothy 4:3 puts it:
“For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.” (NLT)
Because some want an instant miracle, they feel the need to go to false preachers to fulfill their needs. One thing is for certain, no one can buy God’s blessings. If He wants to bless you, He will bless you. No matter what any prosperity preacher might say to you, it is still God that has the final say. God’s blessings add no sorrow, Proverbs 10:22 tells us. We were warned in the Bible that the devil can come and steal the Word of God from us easily, without us even recognizing it until we’re well over the edge of being backslidden.
“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.” Matthew 6:24 (NLT) This verse is simple. Whoever chooses to follow the gospel of prosperity, choose to follow the mammon god. It is a legitimate, sincere, and faithful faith in the god of money that has its worshippers and preachers preach salvation by the acquisition of material and temporal goods. They believe that they are deities and, therefore, worship themselves.
In a wicked world with so many false ambassadors of the Kingdom of God, it is still encouraging that we still have a few preachers out there, who are not afraid to preach the truth of the gospel. As we are living in the last days, make sure you’re filled with the Holy Spirit, continually reading God’s word, and spending time in God’s presence to discern the truth. Jesus Christ is the truth. If you truly know the truth, you’ll discern the lie. So, focus on getting to know the truth.
“I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake, I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with Him.” Philippians 3:7-9a (NLT)
If Apostle Paul, whose life we ought to imitate as Christians, could do away with worldly riches for the sake of Christ, who are we to cling on to the little riches that we have? “We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us.” Ecclesiastes 5:15 (NLT). To those prosperity preachers out there, who deceive their followers into giving out their hard earned money in the name of “seed-sowing,” God’s judgment awaits you. To those that fail to warn their members of the dangers of living in sin, you’ll answer to God on the day of reckoning.
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Joseph! Thanks for writing about the truth. : ) The prosperity gospel is being preached in a lot of churches these days because they want more people and the more people they get the more money they’ll receive. The old church I used to visit was guilty of the prosperity gospel. God was taking my entire family out of there.
Thanks for stopping by, Lorraine, I appreciate you for that. Indeed, prosperity gospel is being preached in so many churches today, and it is becoming a problem. People have to dwell more on God’s Word to discern what’s true and what’s a lie. Each and every day, I’m thankful for Times Square Church, and I hope you are, too. 😊