The Real Prosperity Gospel

"This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." - Joshua 1:8

OK, if you've been involved in evangelical Christianity for any amount of time during the last decade or two you've at least heard of the body of doctrines called THE PROSPERITY GOSPEL (PG). It's also been called the "Name It And Claim It" doctrine or any variation on that theme. In the event that you aren't familiar with this teaching, I'll give you the Reader's Digest version:

The PG's basic foundation is built on the reaping and sowing teaching that is actually found in scriptures (Job 4:8; Hosea 8:7; Galatians 6:7). The PG teacher will use this concept and marry it to the tithing and giving scriptures (Matthew 7:11; Luke 6:38; among many others) creating a concept that is very attractive to a materialist driven society like ours. You want to be successful and prosperous? Give and God will reward you 1000-fold. You want to be rich and have nice things? Sow "seed" (ie. money) into [insert your ministry here] and you'll receive your heart's desires. God wants to give you good gifts; He's just waiting for you to name your gift and claim it by planting seeds of prosperity into God's Kingdom.

You need two things in order to separate the lies from the truth in this teaching. Number One: You need a good understanding of God's Word...ALL of God's Word. I find this is a serious deficiency in a majority of churches that needs to be rectified. More on that later.

Number Two: You need to understand how the enemy of our souls operates. Satan LOVES to mix his lies with JUST enough truth to make it palatable to the spiritually undernourished. A primer of Satan's tactics can be found in Genesis 3 with his deception of Eve in the Garden of Eden. The Prosperity Gospel is a textbook example of one of Satan's favorite "wiles".

Somebody smart once said, "only a fool gives money to a rich man". In the case of most of these PG teachers, that is exactly the case. I have a real problem with pastors and churches who "reap" millions of dollars only to spend a fraction of that money on actual ministry needs like what is mentioned in scriptures (Mark 9:41; James 1:27). In other words, what kind of difference would be made in the world if the millions collected by PG churches went to meet needs instead of building the next Christian Taj Majal.

I plan on bringing some unvarnished truth to this debate and get some feedback from you, our listeners. I know there are many who believe whole-heartedly in the concept of reaping and sowing as taught by PG preachers.

Let me say that I believe whole-heartedly in the reaping and sowing doctrines too. What I have a problem with is the selfish motive behind the "name it and claim it" doctrines. Churches that major on teaching this stuff without feeding the sheep the WHOLE counsel of the Word of God are churches filled with immature, self-centered baby Christians (at best) or self-deceived, unsaved charlatans (at worst). This isn't a judgment call on my part. God himself said as much (Revelation 3:14-22).

The Prosperity Gospel has transformed God into the great "sugar daddy in the sky" in the eyes and hearts of many people. The truth of the matter is, God DOES want us to prosper and have good success. The problem is the definition of "prosperous". As with many things, man's definition and God's definition of these words are polar opposites. God wants us to be spiritually and emotionally mature Christ-like saints working and serving to benefit God and His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Man wants to have all of his material, emotional and spiritual needs met to his or her satisfaction while working and serving to benefit ourselves and our little kingdoms on the earth.

God's way is God centered. Man's way is man centered. We want God to work for us. God wants us to serve Him. These are the basic concepts in constant battle with each other. There can be no compromise on this issue. Christ said it: "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." (Matthew 6:24).

If you want GOD' formula for prosperity and success, just read Joshua 1:8. There in plain Queen's English for all the world to see is God's path to prosperity. You'll note there is not one word in that passage that talks about money. What you DO see is God's focus on reading, meditating and doing His Word. In short, Daddy is saying, if you want to be successful in this life, then do what I tell you to do at all times. Pretty basic stuff.

The PG is poison wrapped up in scripture. Churches are filled with carnal saints who are fighting one another to get to the tit of this bloated doctrinal sow. So, into this ginormous elephant in the auditorium we will venture this weekend; to boldly go where many pastors have gone before in trying to bring truth to the lies and half-truths masquerading as "gospel" messages. I hope you have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches this weekend...

To be continued...