Didn’t Jesus teach his followers to take care of the poor? Then why are so many churches and pastors rich? Why do so many Christians talk about “victory” and God’s blessings? It’s all part of prosperity theology – and it’s a scam. That’s the topic of my YouTube video today.
The following is a text version of this posting.
Here’s what they claim: The Bible promises prosperity and success to believers. If you want prosperity, then talk positively about God, think positively about God’s blessings, envision your prosperity, and above all, give to the church. If you do all that, God will bless you with prosperity and victory over difficult things in life. This is the heart of Christian prosperity theology. It grew out of the American Pentecostal movement and became popular in the 1950s with Oral Roberts. Most importantly, prosperity theology has nothing to do with Jesus and the teachings of Jesus.
Prosperity theology continues to grow not just in the United States but in many other parts of the world. It’s become an integral part of conservative Christianity. It was taught by Oral Roberts and Billy Graham. It’s the heart of the message of Joel Osteen and Rick Warren. The message isn’t limited to major televangelists. Countless Black and Latino preachers have embraced prosperity theology as have white conservative Christians.
Prosperity theology embodies American biases about hard work and wealth. The self-made person works hard, makes money, gets ahead, and becomes a success. Let’s admit the truth: hard work doesn’t lead to success. Today, many people work hard, trying to hold down two or three different jobs in the service industry, and can barely pay rent in most US cities. Prosperity theology builds on these Great American biases about poverty and wealth and wraps them with pious theological words while manipulating people out of their money. After all, in prosperity theology, you won’t get rich unless you believe and give your money to the church. It’s a religious-sounding pyramid scheme in which preachers are essentially swindling people.
Part of the immorality of prosperity theology is that it has nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus. Jesus clearly says to a rich man in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 19, “Sell all you have and give it to the poor. Then come and follow me.” Jesus tells his followers in the sixth chapter of Matthew: “Don’t store up for yourself treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
These statements of Jesus are echoed by the writer of the letter to the Hebrews in chapter 13: “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have,”
In the Acts of the Apostles, we learn that the early followers of Jesus sold all that they had and lived a common life where everyone’s needs were met. (American Christians don’t like talking about this because it sounds socialist, doesn’t it?)
It isn’t just that authentic followers of Jesus understand that money and prosperity aren’t important. Rather, and more importantly, they understand that sharing with others and giving generously, is at the heart of the teachings of Jesus.
In the end, Jesus didn’t promise that his followers would get rich. He taught that we shouldn’t worry about the clothes we wear, the food we eat, or where we’ll sleep. He didn’t. He lived a simple life. Further, early followers of Jesus faced suffering and martyrdom. They weren’t focused on their wealth and prosperity or having their dreams come true for personal success.
Prosperity theology deceives people. It perverts the teachings of Jesus to focus on wealth and success making people selfish and self-centered. Instead, the central teaching is to love others and to be generous toward those in need. What did Jesus promise his followers? His basic premise is that they would find grace and strength to get through difficult times, but Jesus did not promise he’d make difficult times disappear.
Thanks Lou for your thoughts on this. The concept of the health wealth group may seem harmless to us but I have known a couple people go into debt as they thought giving large sums of money away to the right Prophet would make them rich. It turns God into a Vegas slot machine. Their results were going into financial trouble. I see no signs that Jesus and his early followers were rich. Matter of fact all his disciples except John were martyrs.