prosperity "gospel"

Last week I had the immense privilege of hearing the gospel spoken simply and truthfully by a friend during a small group meeting. It occurred to me in that moment that I had probably never heard the gospel truly preached before. The gospel that the Apostles preached and gave their lives for. The gospel of a coming King. A righteous Judge. A jealous Bridegroom. Who longs to restore creation to it's fullness, because of His zeal, His passion, not only for the creation itself, but for His own name. For this reason He will remove all that gets in the way of love. He has removed the block between God and man. Jesus, the Lamb who was slain for the world. Repent therefore, for His Kingdom is at hand. The time is short. He will come quickly and bring justice. He will have His full reward. Lay down your life that you may find it truly in the age to come. Persevere and you will receive your reward...

In my consideration of Western Christianity, I am often dismayed at the message being preached. It is most likely because we just have no idea of what it means to suffer. If you tell the Chinese Church that you're praying for the persecution to stop, they will tell you not to pray that. Because it is good. I confess, this absolutely blows my mind. Warm and safe in our bubble, American Christians largely have no idea of the actual power of the gospel of Jesus. This isn't our fault neccessarily... we grew up here... we can't help that.

But I think that it creates a breeding ground for deceptions, misconceptions, and downright doctrines of demons. I talked about the deceitfulness of riches in my last post... I stand firm in believing that Western society is full of weeds and thorns that choke the truth...

The problem with the "health, wealth, and prosperity" gospel.

There really isn't a problem with health, wealth, and prosperity in and of themselves. Poverty is a terrible thing and a tragic reality for people all over the world. But in the West, I feel that we have a gross misconception as to 1. what poverty really is 2. the actual need for most things we deem necessary. But mostly 3. What Jesus is actually saying when He says, "all these things will be added unto you".

The message that is preached most often in the United States, in Western Christianity in general sounds alot more like "Come to Jesus. God will give you a better life and take your problems away" than like "Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand".

Its like we need something to justify people coming to Jesus. I know that I felt this way for years when speaking the Gospel to someone. I felt the need to justify... Why should I come to Jesus? Why should I obey all of these rules? What benefit is it to me???

You'll be happier. You'll be whole. You'll find comfort. You'll be healed. You'll have access to the Father.

I felt that often when speaking about Jesus to people. The need to explain His benefits so that people can see, yes, this is a good idea. I will get a great return on my investment.

So then when all of their problems don't go away, people can get confused, frustrated, disillusioned, and actually, because they have not grown in the truth of the worth of Jesus, they can't remember why they signed up, can't follow all the rules, so they leave the church.

If you're questioning whether or not this is true, let me share a an astonishing statistic with you:

The church in America has not grown by one single person in 20 years.

Fact.

So something about the way we've been doing this Christianity thing in this culture is not ok.

We know from reading the Gospels that the Holy Spirit showed up in power wherever the gospel was preached. Thousands and thousands of people were saved. Revival was Christianity for the first 100 years.

What was it that drove people by the thousands to John the Baptist to repentance before Jesus even came?

What was it that drew thousands to the Apostles after His resurrection??

We know that neither the Apostles nor John the Baptist preached the prosperity gospel. It was as simple as Jesus is worthy. Repent. The Kingdom is coming.

ok I am off track...

But I am just really so struck. We get so perplexed at the fact that there are so many signs and wonders in other nations.... and wonder why they are not as prevalent here. I am not saying this is true, but maybe, just maybe it has to do with what we're preaching?

Throughout the Bible, signs and wonders were there to bring people to repentance. They were to demonstrate that the gospel is truth when the message seemed too hard to believe.

Except it doesn't take a miracle to buy into the gospel we're selling.

In fact there is a lot more in the New Testament (and written in red) about suffering and persecution than there is about having plenty or upgrading your BMW. I just think we have our priorities out of wack.

I dunno, I'm just pondering, here.

The other thing that strikes me about this gospel, is that I feel personally that when I have plenty, when I have more than I need, when I have everything I want, I grow petulant, demanding my own way more often, and my heart becomes more dull... I understand now what Jesus was saying when He said that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.... I would love to go into the fasted lifestyle discussion, but that is for another day....

I am not saying that the Lord does not want wealthy believers.... I just think it takes a heck of a lot of character and vigilance to not let riches deceive you. And no, I don't think God meant for all of us to be rich.

Conclusion: The problem with the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel is that it's flat out not the gospel.


ok...
I have digressed too far and not used enough Scripture. Well, take my ponderings for what they are.... thoughts, the working out of my faith.


I can't articulate it or even back it up quite yet, but my spirit is stirred with this thought :

We have GOT to reestablish the truth in the gospel again.
No more humanistic Christianity. No more prosperity gospel. Because this world is fading away. It will be gone in the blink of an eye.

He is simply worthy. He is simply God. Come to Him. Give Him worship.

God forgive me for diluting the gospel with a message you never preached. Give me grace and humility to preach the TRUTH pure, and undefiled.
So that in that day, I am not confused by the state of the world or disillusioned that all of my riches have been brought to nothing....


What are your thoughts?? Let's talk about it....