Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Isaiah 5:20
No one who is truly born again wants to call anything cursed that God has called blessed. Yet, many Christian televangelists and Bible teachers are doing exactly that. They routinely accuse two segments of society – the poor and the sick – as being cursed of God. They also assert that Jesus Christ himself was wealthy, and therefore His followers should be as well. If you are broke and sick, you must be doing something wrong in God's eyes. If you are healthy and wealthy, you must be doing something right in God's eyes. The common name for this heresy is "Prosperity Gospel," but it is really greed wrapped up in the guise of doctrine.
Let's examine the most fundamental claim, that Jesus was rich. Luke 8:30 says,
And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him, and certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance.
"Substance" in this case refers to financial support. Joanna, Susanna and other disciples financially supported Jesus' ministry.
Look at Matthew 8:20:
And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
Clearly the the idea that Jesus was wealthy has no support in scripture.
As for health and material gain being a sign of godliness, check out Luke 6:20:
And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.
Notice that this is not the verse that says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit..." That is elsewhere, but the meaning in this context is clear: The poor are blessed of God!
Luke 6:21:
Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled.
The hungry are blessed of God!
Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.
The sorrowful are blessed of God!
Healthy and wealthy people aren't poor, they don't weep and they don't hunger, poor and sick people do. In light of this, why do so many Christians seek out lavish-living, mansion-owning, private jet-flying "Bible teachers" for spiritual insights? Why do these teachers not simply repeat the scriptures; they always put their conclusions into their own words? They can't directly quote from the Bible because their conclusions aren't found in the Bible! The truth is, the life of a prophet in ancient Israel was difficult. So is the life of a disciple today. If the teachings you receive make your flesh feel good, they are probably not the truth.
Examine the description of behavior in Romans 1:22-26:
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections.
We should at least consider that the riches these Prosperity Gospel teachers seem to enjoy are not necessarily a sign of God's blessing. Rather, it may be a sign that they are the people whom God has given over to their reprobate desires.
On March 29, 2007, the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel reported on a boat carrying 102 Haitian migrants that landed on Hallandale Beach. The boat spent several days sailing in the water. The passengers had a strong chance of dying just making the journey. The Sun-Sentinel reported that, "...one man was dead and the other 102 on board were bruised and dazed, their bodies parched from a diet of seawater, their lips whispering Creole prayers. 'God is the only reason we didn't die,' said Cynthia Toussaint, 24, who boarded the 35-foot vessel from Ile de la Tortue with her cousin."
The above scene is descriptive of true spiritual prosperity. If that sounds incredible to our carnal minds, consider the account of Matthew 8:5-10:
And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, and saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
Indeed, Jesus would not find many in "prosperous" North American Christianity with such faith as Toussaint expressed. It is the same faith by which Abraham was justified in the eyes of God. You know, the "blessing of Abraham," that phrase "prosperity" teachers like to throw around? The blessing was faith, not material riches.
Romans 4:2-3: For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Most Christians know the the story of the moneychangers in the temple. Do these millionaire televangelists know the story? Maybe not, but they soon will, by being on the receiving end of a large whip.
Showing posts with label prosperity_gospel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prosperity_gospel. Show all posts
Monday, April 30, 2007
Sunday, February 4, 2007
HOW "PROSPERITY GOSPEL" TEACHINGS HARM BLACK AMERICA
(While I believe the primary emphasis of a Christian church should be getting people saved as opposed to reforming society, the author makes some important points. The money filling the coffers of these millionaire megachurch CEOs/pastors is money that won't be used to invest in black-owned businesses or give alternatives to inner-city children trapped in failing public schools. Tithing is not a requirement on the New Testament Church anyway, but whatever we giving we do, we should give joyfully and not out of necessity as per 2 Cor 9:7. That giving should be to those in need, i.e. local ministries and those serving full-time in the ministry, widows, orphans, the poor; not to those who own a private jet or two. And it should be for no other motive than to bless others, not to make God subordinate to your personal wishes, which is the way of occult religions. - AT)
Commentary: Emphasis on Wealth in Some Black Churches Costs in Spiritual Currency
Date: Wednesday, May 17, 2006
By: Tonyaa Weathersbee, BlackAmericaWeb.com
www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/sayitloud/weathersbee517
It’s the kind of controversy that I pray will turn into a productive conversation among black people of faith. Last weekend, James H. Cone, a prominent theologian who has used the teachings of compassion for the downtrodden espoused by Martin Luther King Jr. to shape a generation of black ministers, decided to sit out graduation ceremonies at the Interdenominational Theological Center after officials invited Bishop Eddie Long to speak at its commencement. A number of students had also threatened to boycott the ceremony as well. Long is senior pastor at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, an Atlanta church that boasts more than 25,000 members.
Theologians such as Cone and others have begun to speak out against the teachings of many megachurch pastors because they tend to focus on worship as the path towards earning personal riches rather than as a tool to enrich the lives of people who grapple with injustice and oppression. In other words, they preach -- or rather, the message that many in their flock absorb -- is that obedience to God is all about making their wallets fatter, not making the world a better place. That trend troubles Cone. And it troubles me as well.
In a stark turnabout from the days in which King conjured the powers of the black church to fight segregation and other forms of injustice that sapped opportunities and esteem for black people, prosperity gospel has now made the quest for personal riches a spiritual rather than an earthly desire. Not long ago, for example, The Washington Post reported that heavy tithing -- an offshoot of the prosperity gospel movement -- had catapulted predominantly black Prince George’s County, Md., into the top five counties in the nation for charitable giving. It also reported that among all black people, nine out of 10 charitable dollars went to religious institutions.
Yet, none of the tithing people whom the Post quoted said a thing about giving in the hope that the Lord might bless Prince George’s -- which struggles with bad schools and burgeoning crime -- with a solution to those problems. All these people talked about was how their own financial situation or their personal blessings improved once they began giving.
In a way, there’s nothing wrong with that. Obviously, if someone’s personal finances improve, he or she is in a better situation to give money to help others or to make a difference. Yet, I rarely, if ever, hear regular church givers make that argument. All I hear them say is that by giving their 10 percent, they’ll get more blessings, i.e., money, in return.
To me, that makes worship more shallow than spiritual.
Now, I’m not one who believes that modest living ought to be the price of piety. I like being able to live well just like everyone else. But when I give to charities -- and I give to charities regularly -- I don’t give simply on the hope that I will be blessed with more stuff. I give because I want to see others blessed. When I give to Doctors Without Borders, for example, which goes into places like Haiti and the Congo to provide desperately-needed medical care, I do so in the hope that one less child will die from a preventable illness. The reward, for me, comes with the knowledge that I’ve done something to make a difference for those who don’t have the power to make a difference for themselves, not because I’ve contributed to building a new house of worship, or because I might get a new house or car.
Another problem that I have with an emphasis on giving as a means of getting back is that it further exacerbates the crass materialism that, in many ways, has hurt black communities. It feeds a culture that causes young black men to rationalize selling drugs as being business as usual. It also is the thing that drives rappers to have no qualms about thanking God when their profanity-filled, bitch-and-ho videos win awards. Because they see their prosperity as a blessing, they figure they must be doing something right. That’s a shame.
So I hope that at some point, pastors such as Long and Cone begin a dialogue on the spiritual direction of black people, on how to harness our generosity and compassion so that more of us find our blessings in seeing unjust laws change and social justice realized -- not in just getting a raise or a new Mercedes.
If that doesn’t happen, or if too many of us continue to equal material gain with godliness, we’ll be writing a prescription for spiritual death, not life.
Commentary: Emphasis on Wealth in Some Black Churches Costs in Spiritual Currency
Date: Wednesday, May 17, 2006
By: Tonyaa Weathersbee, BlackAmericaWeb.com
www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/sayitloud/weathersbee517
It’s the kind of controversy that I pray will turn into a productive conversation among black people of faith. Last weekend, James H. Cone, a prominent theologian who has used the teachings of compassion for the downtrodden espoused by Martin Luther King Jr. to shape a generation of black ministers, decided to sit out graduation ceremonies at the Interdenominational Theological Center after officials invited Bishop Eddie Long to speak at its commencement. A number of students had also threatened to boycott the ceremony as well. Long is senior pastor at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, an Atlanta church that boasts more than 25,000 members.
Theologians such as Cone and others have begun to speak out against the teachings of many megachurch pastors because they tend to focus on worship as the path towards earning personal riches rather than as a tool to enrich the lives of people who grapple with injustice and oppression. In other words, they preach -- or rather, the message that many in their flock absorb -- is that obedience to God is all about making their wallets fatter, not making the world a better place. That trend troubles Cone. And it troubles me as well.
In a stark turnabout from the days in which King conjured the powers of the black church to fight segregation and other forms of injustice that sapped opportunities and esteem for black people, prosperity gospel has now made the quest for personal riches a spiritual rather than an earthly desire. Not long ago, for example, The Washington Post reported that heavy tithing -- an offshoot of the prosperity gospel movement -- had catapulted predominantly black Prince George’s County, Md., into the top five counties in the nation for charitable giving. It also reported that among all black people, nine out of 10 charitable dollars went to religious institutions.
Yet, none of the tithing people whom the Post quoted said a thing about giving in the hope that the Lord might bless Prince George’s -- which struggles with bad schools and burgeoning crime -- with a solution to those problems. All these people talked about was how their own financial situation or their personal blessings improved once they began giving.
In a way, there’s nothing wrong with that. Obviously, if someone’s personal finances improve, he or she is in a better situation to give money to help others or to make a difference. Yet, I rarely, if ever, hear regular church givers make that argument. All I hear them say is that by giving their 10 percent, they’ll get more blessings, i.e., money, in return.
To me, that makes worship more shallow than spiritual.
Now, I’m not one who believes that modest living ought to be the price of piety. I like being able to live well just like everyone else. But when I give to charities -- and I give to charities regularly -- I don’t give simply on the hope that I will be blessed with more stuff. I give because I want to see others blessed. When I give to Doctors Without Borders, for example, which goes into places like Haiti and the Congo to provide desperately-needed medical care, I do so in the hope that one less child will die from a preventable illness. The reward, for me, comes with the knowledge that I’ve done something to make a difference for those who don’t have the power to make a difference for themselves, not because I’ve contributed to building a new house of worship, or because I might get a new house or car.
Another problem that I have with an emphasis on giving as a means of getting back is that it further exacerbates the crass materialism that, in many ways, has hurt black communities. It feeds a culture that causes young black men to rationalize selling drugs as being business as usual. It also is the thing that drives rappers to have no qualms about thanking God when their profanity-filled, bitch-and-ho videos win awards. Because they see their prosperity as a blessing, they figure they must be doing something right. That’s a shame.
So I hope that at some point, pastors such as Long and Cone begin a dialogue on the spiritual direction of black people, on how to harness our generosity and compassion so that more of us find our blessings in seeing unjust laws change and social justice realized -- not in just getting a raise or a new Mercedes.
If that doesn’t happen, or if too many of us continue to equal material gain with godliness, we’ll be writing a prescription for spiritual death, not life.
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