PROSPERITY GOSPEL
BY: ELISABETH C. TUNSTALL
INTRODUCTION
It’s called prosperity gospel, the branch of pseudo Christianity that proclaims the more faith you have, the more wealth and health you’ll gain. In other words, if you are poor or sick, you must be doing something wrong. Other names for this controversial belief is Health and Wealth Gospel or the preferred name, the Word of Faith Movement.
HOW IT ALL BEGAN
This theology started as early as the late 19th century, with influences from Pentecostalism and the New Thought Movement, which focused on the power of the mind to achieve prosperity. Post World War 2, prosperity gospel had meager beginnings through local congregations and tent revivals. But the movement gained traction through the use of radio and television and became firmly established by the 1980s due to the rise of televangelism. Core beliefs include:
CORE BELIEFS
1. God wants believers to have material wealth and good health.
2. Positive declarations and thinking lead to positive outcomes, which is associated with the phrase, “name it and claim it.”
3. Visualizing and focusing on desired outcomes will attract those very circumstances in one’s life.
4. Tithing to the church and ministries is a sure way to become wealthy.
5. Through Christ’s death and resurrection, complete healing was “purchased” for believers while on this earth.
FATHER ABRAHAM
In addition to these tenets, prosperity theologians teach that the covenant established between God and Abraham was for the primary purpose of blessing Abraham’s material wealth and that Christians are in fact heirs to Abraham’s material riches and blessings.
PROMINENT FIGURES
Oral Roberts is credited as a pioneer for the idea of financial prosperity through religion. In the 1940s he established what was known as the "Blessing Pact." Roberts promised that God would return donations "seven fold” and offered to refund any donation that did not meet this financial expectation. Other prominent figures in prosperity gospel include Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, the king and queen of televangelism in the ‘80s as well as Paula White-Cain, a popular American televangelist and avid supporter of health and wealth theology.
Oral Roberts
PROMINENT FIGURES
In this current day, prosperity gospel is widely practiced in the United States, Africa, Asia and Latin America. In fact, 52% of American Protestant church goers believe that they will be blessed with wealth if they give tithes to their churches. Some popular prosperity gospel pastors include:
• TD Jakes (estimated worth: $20 million)
•Creflo Dollar (estimated worth: $30 million)
•Joel Osteen (estimated worth: $50 million)
•Kenneth Copeland (estimated worth: $300 million).
What do these men have in common? Obviously, they are all very wealthy, lead mega churches and promote their lies to millions upon millions of people throughout the world via television, radio and social media.
PROSPERITY PREACHERS
These prosperity preachers have not gotten wealthy because they teach the truth about the gospel. They merely use the name of Christ, mixing small portions of the truth with an overwhelming amount of their own ideologies and lies, (Isaiah 4: 1). This is liken to the abomination of desolation, when they offered pagan sacrifices on the altar of truth during the time of the Maccabees, (I Maccabees 1: 54-56).
PROSPERITY PREACHERS
These pastors also exploit people, becoming wealthy off of the backs of their membership. They hate the poor. In fact one preacher by the name of Keion Henderson, recently came under fire for a sermon in which he tells his congregation there is no benefit in giving to the poor. Instead, only tithing multiplies your income. While it is true that we should give our tithes and offerings (Genesis 14: 18-20 & Leviticus 27: 30), this stance discourages people from giving to those in need, directly opposing what Christ teaches us in the Bible.
WOLVES IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING
These pastors are nothing but the wolves in sheep’s clothing that Christ spoke about in Matthew 7: 15, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” Paul also spoke of what false prophets would do to the church. Acts 20: 28-30, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.”
WHAT DOES CHRIST SAY
These men are like their father the devil. They are nothing like Christ. There are so many scriptures in the Bible that oppose this doctrine. Christ teaches us not to treasure the things of this world, including wealth, but to mind the things of God. Matthew 6: 19-21, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
WHAT DOES CHRIST SAY
It is more important to Christ that we are rich in faith as opposed to possessions.
James 2: 5,
“Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?”
THE RICH MAN
Recall what Christ said to the rich man who asked what he needed to do to be saved. The Lord told him to sell his possessions to the poor and to follow after him. But we know how the story goes don’t we, (Matthew 19: 16-22)? The rich man went away sorrowful because he couldn’t part from his wealth. Christ’s response, “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God,”
(Matthew 19: 23-24)
GIVING UNTO THE POOR
Despite what Mr. Keion Henderson said, there is in fact great benefit to giving unto the poor. It is the inheritance of the kingdom of God, salvation. How we treat our fellow man is liken to how we treat Christ, (Matthew 25: 31-45).
GIVING UNTO THE POOR
God also instructs us to give alms. In Tobit 4: 7-11, “Give alms of thy substance; and when thou givest alms, let not thine eye be envious, neither turn thy face from any poor, and the face of God shall not be turned away from thee. If thou hast abundance give alms accordingly: if thou have but a little, be not afraid to give according to that little: For thou layest up a good treasure for thyself against the day of necessity. Because that alms do deliver from death, and suffereth not to come into darkness. For alms is a good gift unto all that give it in the sight of the most High.”
FATHER ABRAHAM
It is true that Abraham was a very wealthy man. It is true that God granted him prosperity. But this was not the sole purpose of the covenant established between God and our forefather. This promise of blessing and prosperity was contingent upon Abraham’s obedience and did not merely center upon material wealth but on the gift of God’s word and salvation. When God chose Abraham he told him to walk perfectly before him and that is exactly what he did (Genesis 17: 1-7).
FATHER ABRAHAM
Abraham held nothing back from God and was about to sacrifice Isaac, his own son, because the Lord asked him to. This was a test of Abraham’s great faith. Therefore Isaac’s life was spared, (Genesis 22: 1-10).
CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM
The children of Abraham are those that obey the commandments of God and the blessings that are inherited are again, his word and eternal life. Galatians 3: 29, “And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.” God’s people are in every language, kindred and tongue throughout the world. Indeed, there are saints that are well off. There are saints that are healthy. But there are many saints that are poor, in spiritual prisons, sick and in dire straits. And these saints will all have a testimony of how God saved them.
IN CONCLUSION
In conclusion, prosperity gospel is one of so many religious organizations out there that use Christ’s name in vain all for the sake of their personal gain and profit. They have misled so many people throughout the world, placing blinders over their eyes. As such, most people don’t truly know God and are lost and scattered. The truth has been buried and hidden and has been so since the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD and the death of the apostles.
IN CONCLUSION
And Mystery Babylon has reigned but her kingdom will not last forever. God will soon shine a beacon of light in the darkness and the uncovering of his truth will take place on a large scale throughout this world. These so called pastors, or more appropriately, ravening wolves, will no longer be able to spread lies that have harmed so many. So let us be thankful that we are not deceived. And let us be thankful that we have the privilege of spreading God’s unadulterated gospel that is not about material gain but the gaining of one’s soul salvation. May God be with you all. Amen.
